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
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.
nice!!!
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