From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Death Comes as the End

Agatha Christie

Start date: May 1, 2021

Finish date: May 31, 2021

Discussion: Group Challenges

Why we're reading this: The May choice in our Agatha Christie challenge for 2021.
[close] The May choice in our Agatha Christie challenge for 2021.

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Group Challenges

* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) by Agatha Christie
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last updated Sep 12, 2025 08:12PM

* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) - SPOILER Thread
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What Members Thought

Apr 13, 2021 Susan rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is one of the few Agatha Christie novels I had not yet read and – I believe – her only historical mystery, set in Ancient Egypt, at the suggestion of a friend. However, in many ways this is a typical Christie setting; with the murders happening within a family home, even though the setting is a house by the West Bank of the Nile, in 2000 BC.

Renisenb has returned to her father, Imhotep’s, house, after the death of her husband. She returns with her young daughter and resumes her old life, wit This is one of the few Agatha Christie novels I had not yet read and – I believe – her only historical mystery, set in Ancient Egypt, at the suggestion of a friend. However, in many ways this is a typical Christie setting; with the murders happening within a family home, even though the setting is a house by the West Bank of the Nile, in 2000 BC.

Renisenb has returned to her father, Imhotep’s, house, after the death of her husband. She returns with her young daughter and resumes her old life, with brothers, Yahmose, Sobek, their wives Satipy and Kait, their children, younger brother, Ipy, her grandmother, Esa, plus an assortment of servants, including Hori, her father’s man of business and Henet – a ‘devoted,’ drudge, full of self-pity and gossip. However, Renisenb soon finds that nothing that can stay the same, especially when Imhotep returns from a trip with a new Concubine, the beautiful, unhappy, Nofret.

With a new woman in the house, tempers flare, with the unhappiness fanned by the devious Henet. Before long, death descends on the house and fear begins to haunt the inhabitants of the family.

This is an odd addition to Christie’s body of work and, while I am pleased that I have read it, it is not one of my favourites. There is little sense of Ancient Egypt, despite the character names and setting. You feel you could pluck all of the characters, rename them, and plump them down in a traditional country village, and the story would work as well. The spite, jealousy and troublemaking, as well as Imhotep’s blustering ways, mean he could, as easily, be the Country Squire, with a dependent family and a tendency to change his will and parcel out their inheritance at his whim…

Although I liked the characters, Renisenb is more naïve than most of Agatha Christie’s characters and this mystery suffers from a central investigator, as different characters muse on what is happening and Esa and Hori keep secrets, which means that Renisenb – like the reader – is unaware of everyone’s suspicions. Still, I am pleased I read this. I prefer Christie’s novels set in her present, but this was an interesting attempt at a historical novel. Rated 3.5.

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Jan 06, 2016 Kavita rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, egypt, historical-fiction

This is one of my favourite Agatha Christie book, despite its different setting. Imhotep is a priest and a businessman and a farmer. His two elder sons, Yahmouse and Sobek, look after his business while he is away. His younger son, Ipy is considered too young to take much responsibility. Then there is Esa, his mother, Hori and Kameni, his scribes, and Renisenb, his beloved daughter. Yahmouse, Sobek and their wives, Satipy and Kait, live together along with the other members of the household, inc ...more

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May 08, 2021 Frances rated it liked it · review of another edition

A standalone Christie, this one set in ancient Egypt (possibly the first historical mystery?) and once again Christie does her usual Christie thing to keep me guessing until the end. Not as good as her Marples or Poirots, but a fun read nonetheless.

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