Reviews

Death Comes as the End by Agatha Christie

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mysterystarship's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

electricjuicebox's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I was super bored by most of this book. The action started to pick up for me midway through, but overall it was a slog to get through. I did enjoy the characters and found some of them entertaining, but I wouldn't recommend this one.

There were too many dashes - and ellipses... which I found annoying, but I wonder if this is just a habit of Christie's (I am not super familiar with her work), or maybe a product of the time, since this book was published in 1945? idk.

cerizeseries's review against another edition

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4.0

What a story! It was quite hard for me in the beginning since the Egyptian names are hard to pronounce - and there were so many characters! Anyway, I like the fact that there are so many things going on at once like: The quarreling wives of Sobek and Yahmose and Imhotep bringing a new, beautiful, smart and bitchy concubine who everybody dislikes and Henet, god I hate this woman. Henet is like that Maester in Game of Thrones that pretends to be old and frail but still has time to have sex with sexy, pretty, young women and goes on following orders to who he thinks is the most powerful (in this case, Imhotep) and would leave them immediately if he found someone higher.

But when Satipy died I knew immediately who's the murderer. People who play meek and slow are very dangerous people. Stupid people too are dangerous. Poor Esa who is very careful still died, and get this, she died with a salve. A SALVE. Apparently, wanting your aching muscles to be relieved is a deadly thing.

What puzzles me is, why Henet sent Renisenb at the tomb. She knows that Yahmose did it but how does she know that Yahmose would be there that time?? And why was Imhotep acting like he suddenly has full blown alzheimer's??

But Hori, ah, I love Hori. And Renisenb picked him over Kameni! I was like, GIRL KISS HIM ALREADY. HE'S HEAD OVER HEELS FOR YOU BUT HE DOESN'T WANT TO SHOW IT UNLIKE KAMENI WHO SINGS THOSE SONGS EVERY TIME YOU'RE AROUND. Made me smile in the end to be honest.

aegkidd's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

growe16's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

4.0

I need to preface this by saying how surprised I was to learn that Agatha Christie KNEW HER STUFF when it came to Egyptology. She didn't just take a quick trip there and decided to write books based on it. No, Christie's second husband was an archeologist in Egypt. She learned about ancient Egyptian religion, hieroglyphics, daily life, etc. around the height of the Egyptian dig and relic hype.

Christie decided to write this story after hearing about the curse inscribed in the seal on a particular tomb, and the archeologist who died shortly after uncovering and entering the tomb.

This book is unlike any other Christie book I've ever read in the sense that 1, it takes place is Ancient Egypt and is immersed in a realistic daily life from back then and 2, it is one of her only novels that has never been adapted to film.

It is very much like most Christie books in the sense that one might briefly guess at the killer, but the red herring are sufficient to throw readers off. The three characters I suspected most all died. 😅

Like all Christie books I've read, this didn't change my life or alter my brain chemistry. But it was a really enjoying, and difficult puzzle to solve. And I LOVED her immersive and effortless portrayal of ancient Egyptian life. She didn't belabor or over explain anything about history, but she still captured it very well. This is a hidden gem for mystery or history fans. Bravo to Agatha Christie!