Book Review - Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Why I chose the book

While I was at Popular Bookshop at shopping centre which I could not remember, I happened to come across this book. Not knowing the author, I asked my parents, who told me that Agatha Christie was a favourite author of their time. Intrigued by my parents' culture when they were younger, and the fact that the book was a detective story, I decided to pick the book, which happened to be on sale too :)

Plot Summary

Hercule Poirot is a famous detective who is on vacation in this story. He happens to be on a (River) Nile ship with the richest girl in England, Linnet Ridgeway, or rather, Linnet Doyle as she has just got married a man called Simon Doyle just a few months before her 21st birthday. Unfortunately, during Linnet's honeymoon, she was shot in the head. In the cabin where she was killed, a big red 'J' stained the wall. The race was on to find out the mastermind of the story.

Poirot vividly remembered an experience just weeks when he was talking to Jacqueline De Bellefort, the best friend of Linnet, but was later furious that Linnet stole her fiance, Simon. She told him that she loved to bring her pistol against her beautiful head. Jacqueline was been stalking the Doyles throughout their honeymoon, thoroughly annoying the couple and pushing Linnet into a state of distress. However, Poirot could not pinpoint her immediately, for she had alibis to cover her. Simon Doyle was also not suspected, for he too had alibis. This was due to an incident the night before, when Jacqueline accidentally shot Simon in the leg and everyone who was still awake were in a frenzy to get treatment for Simon. Poirot had to look for other potential suspects.

As the story develops, the other characters on the ship (some were introduced earlier) began to show their intentions for being here as well as their backgrounds. A brief summary of the characters would be as follows:

• American novelist Salome Otterbourne, who found out the murderer but was killed before she could tell Hercule Poirot 

• Salome's daughter, Rosalie Otterbourne (fell in love with Tim Allerton, and their love is shown during Poirot's investigation

• Mrs. Allerton (Mother of Tim Allerton)

• Tim Allerton (fell in love with Rosalie)

• Linnet's American trustee, Andrew Pennington, who "happened to run" into her in Egypt, but had, in fact, purposely had the trip to let Linnet sign some documents to ensure that her property and heirloom would still be hers for the time being

• Linnet's maid, Louise Bourget, who was, like Salome, killed when she found out who the murderer was

• American socialite Marie Van Schuyler 

• Marie Van Schuyler's cousin, Cornelia Robson

• Bowers, Miss Van Schuyler's nurse

• A young traveler named Ferguson, an outspoken Socialist;

• Archaeologist Signor Richetti, also known to be a foreign agent and murderer whom Colonel Race was after

• A diffident young man named James Fanthorp, who had been sent by Andrew Pennington's company to keep an eye on him

• An Austrian physician named Dr. Bessner, who treated Simon when he was shot in the leg and became to Cornelia Robson

• Colonel Race, who assisted Poirot in the investigations

In the end, Poirot began to look at the situation in a different angle. He finally found out the truth, and it involved Simon and Jacqueline hatching an elaborate plan to kill Linnet but with each other as alibis. The plot is as follows:


Jacqueline pretended to shoot Simon; he faked being wounded with red ink, concealed in Linnet's nail polish bottle. While everyone was preoccupied with getting Jacqueline back to her cabin that night, Simon picked up the gun, ran to Linnet's cabin, shot her in the head using Jacqueline's pistol which she dropped onto the floor, and then came back to the lounge and shot himself in the leg, throwing the gun overboard before anyone came back. As a result, Dr. Bessner confirmed that his wound left him unable to have left the lounge upon examining Simon.

Before the murder, Jacqueline or Simon drugged Poirot's bottle of wine at dinner, ensuring that Poirot would be a deep sleep through the night and be unaware of any commotion that night, hoping that would render Poirot unable to solve the mystery.

Louise Bourget and Mrs. Otterbourne both announced that they had seen the guilty party in Simon's presence; he managed to warn Jacqueline – once in private, and once by yelling at Mrs. Otterbourne in a voice loud enough to carry to Jacqueline – who acted quickly and killed both witnesses.

Analysis of major Characters


Jacqueline De Bellefort

Jacqueline is a complicated character. She starts off as a innocent young lady, faithful to her boyfriend Simon, appearing to Linnet Ridgeway as a gentle and caring friend asking for a favour. However, when Linnet tried to steal Simon away from Jacqueline, she became furious and revealed a darker side of her: cunning, scheming and a woman with an appetite for revenge. However, as long as she has her love, she doesn't really care, even if it meant killing her best friend and other innocent passengers.

Simon Doyle

Simon is a simple-minded man who loves Jacqueline and likes money since he is poor. When Simon met Linnet, he liked her riches rather than her looks. He tells Jacqueline that he wants Linnet's money. Which ultimately resulted in the elaborate plan to kill Linnet. Simon is also a rather timid character who admitted the truth the minute he realised that Hercule Poirot had found out about the plot.

Linnet Ridgeway

Linnet is rumoured to be the richest girl of England, inheriting a fortune from her father and her father's business. Using her looks, charisma, brains and power, she was able to influence anyone to do things her way. She tries her best to help others, starting with the donation of huge sums of money to charity. She also helps Jacqueline in any way she could without ruining Jacqueline's integrity. However, she is a little of a spoilsport.This could be seen when she attempted to steal Simon away from Jacqueline, trusting that her riches and her beauty would attract Simon's attention. She died a horrid death as a result of being too rich.

Hercule Poirot

Hercule Poirot is a Belgian detective who was on holiday in this story. He has a knack at solving cases in which the clues don't seem to add up. He is depicted as an extremely polite person who is amicable, approachable and a person who has many contacts and friends due to his character.

Hercule Poirot is a very famous character created by Agatha Christie and helped to spice up the story.

My view on the book

This book is very interesting, even surprising me with such an incredible twist at the end. The only thing that intrigues me is how Jacqueline De Bellefort would be able to afford 2 guns and travelling fees if she was not that rich. Perhaps Simon passed her the money when Linnet was not looking. Overall, this book has lived up to Agatha's name and is a story worth reading.

Post-Reflection on"The Soldier" by Rupert Brooke

"The Soldier"

Rupert Brooke

If I should die,think only this of me:

That there's some corner of a foreign field 

That is for ever England. There shall be 

In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;

A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, 

Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam;

A body of England's, breathing fresh air,

Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart,all evil shed away,

A pulse in the eternal mind, no less

Give somewhere back the thoughts by England give;

Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;

And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,

In hearts at peace under an English heaven.

• Annually, we need young men in Singapore to do national service. Why do you think NS is compulsory in Singapore and why is this important?

I would say that compulsory NS is the only way Singapore is able to build up a strong enough defence force. Moreover, NS instills patriotism in the younger generation and creates a sense of pride for Singapore in the male population. It is a way where Singaporeans can give back to the Singapore.

• In the above poem, the speaker expresses his love for his country, England. Do you have the same spirit of patriotism towards Singapore? Why? Do you find this same spirit of patriotism in Singapore?

 I guess it would be a no, at least not at the moment. I am still in a bubble, and have not seen the full picture of Singapore. In fact, I may not understand certain matters concerning Singapore. Perhaps when I become a young adult, when I have matured in thinking, as well as gone through NS, only then will I have this patriotic spirit.

I do see such spirit of patriotism in Singapore, particularly in the older generation. The elderly have been in Singapore, watching Singapore grow through the years, experienced the hardships with Singapore in the earlier times. Thus the X-generation people are quite nostalgic of the place already.

On this other hand, though this spirit of patriotism has lived on in the younger generation. Many do not see the full picture of Singapore and do not realise how blessed they are living in such a nice city. A minority even complain about Singapore's shortcomings instead of looking at the better qualities. This could be due to the fact that they are coming from a wealthier family where Singapore has been developed and they have everything they need.

• Do you consider yourself a patriot of your country?

Not in the moment, but in time, I will grow to be one. After all, I have been "dust whom (Singapore) bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam; A body of (Singapore's), breathing fresh air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home". If I don't give back to my country, I am being unappreciative of my upbringing. 

Book Review - The Broker by John Grisham

Why I chose this book

I was browsing through some books in Times bookshop when I came across this book. After reading the back cover, I realised that this book is a face-paced adventure full of action, which was exactly what I wanted to read at that time.

Plot summary

Joel Backman was an extremely rich and successful power broker who led a luxurious and promiscuous life (6 wives and many more affairs) and had an empire to his name. However, after his greed to attempt to sell the technology to control a powerful unknown spy satellite (JAM) to the Saudis and Isralis, he landed himself in jail when the deal fell through and the US authorities came to know about his illegal actions.

6 years later, he was suddenly granted a controversial last-minute pardon by the outgoing president, with the government stating decent behaviour. He was smuggled out of the country in a military cargo plane, given a new name, Marco, a new identity, and a new home to stay in Bologna, Italy. The government ensured that he fitted in perfectly by learning the language well with the help of government agents in Italy, by employing Ermanno and Francesca (Joel's later love interest and helper in his escape), 2 locals in Bologna.

However, behind the seemingly innocent plan to live in another country due to security purposes, Teddy Maynard, director of the CIA, has hatched an elaborate plan to set Joel Backman up by 'leaking' Joel Backman's coordinates anonymously to the Chinese, Russians, Saudis, and Israelis who were suspected of creating the spy satellite. The actual job of the government agents helping Joel were to observe who would be sending assassins in first to kill Joel. That would reveal the creator of the spy satellite once oand for all.

Joel manages to discover what he has gotten himself into and quickly escaped. With the help of his son, Neal Backman, Joel got himself some money, a new phone and a new outfit to elude the US agents in Italy. From there, we proceeded to Zurich, where he kept his most prized possession: the JAM software, used to hack into the unknown spy satellite and the software that landed him in jail, and a huge sum of money.

He later returned to the US using  without being detected, with the help of Francesca, of course, using her husband's passport. He made contact with several of his old acquaintances: his business associate and a senator whom he personally knows to hand the JAM software to the Pentagon, in turn asking for protection from the Saudis, Israelis, Russians and the Red Chinese. He creates a distraction by calling for a media interview, and while the assassins of all countries remain confused, Backman returns to Bologna, promising to keep in touch with Neal more often. It is also implied that he spends the rest of his life with Francesca.

Character Analysis of Joel Backman


Joel Backman is like a bad guy turned good. At first, with so much of wealth in his hands, he thought that he could get away with anything with the mere influence over the US government. He had been pampered by his own empire he had made, yet was still hungry for more fame, power and influence. He had completely ignored and did not pay much attention to his son, Neal Backman, and his 6 wives. After he had come out of jail, Joel had been humbled, and realised the importance of family, thus treasured Neal all the more, especially when Neal had been helping him to escape from the US agents. He had finally found his real love, Francesca. By abandoning his former life in the US to lead a more simple life in Bologna with Francesca, it shows that Joel Backman had repented and turned over a new leaf, letting go of his greed for power.

My opinion on the book and Recommendation

I believe that this John Grisham has done a great job in writing this book. It has taught me this lesson that, even if you have so much of power in your hands, you need to be mindful of your actions all the more, and it would be much satisfying if you learn to appreciate life more compared to treating life as a race for power. With so much of heart-stopping adventure throughout the whole story, it is a book worth reading over and over again. Besides, there is a wide range of vocabulary to learn in this book!