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A review by balancinghistorybooks
Death Comes as the End by Agatha Christie
3.0
Apparently, Death Comes as the End is the only one of Agatha Christie’s novels to have an historical setting. It is set in Egypt – on the West Bank of the River Nile at Thebes, to be precise – in 2000BC, ‘where death gives meaning to life’. The novel begins with a widow named Renisenb, who has returned to her childhood home with her child, Teti.
From the very beginning, Christie sets out the familial relationship within Renisenb’s home rather well. Unlike some of her other novels, the murder in Death Comes as the End does not come to the fore until around a third of the way in. Instead, the sense of place and the building of the characters have been focused upon. Whilst the setting has been well considered, the novel does not feel as though it has been entirely fixed in time. Parts of it seem suspended without any real, concrete details, and could quite easily relate to a different time period entirely. Nothing really made it feel as though it was fixed within Ancient Egypt, as I was expecting it to.
Whilst the plot of Death Comes at the End was rather clever, I must admit that I did guess it whilst it was still quite a way from the end. It is not my favourite of Christie’s works by any means, but it was interesting to see how an historical setting both inspired and affected her work.
From the very beginning, Christie sets out the familial relationship within Renisenb’s home rather well. Unlike some of her other novels, the murder in Death Comes as the End does not come to the fore until around a third of the way in. Instead, the sense of place and the building of the characters have been focused upon. Whilst the setting has been well considered, the novel does not feel as though it has been entirely fixed in time. Parts of it seem suspended without any real, concrete details, and could quite easily relate to a different time period entirely. Nothing really made it feel as though it was fixed within Ancient Egypt, as I was expecting it to.
Whilst the plot of Death Comes at the End was rather clever, I must admit that I did guess it whilst it was still quite a way from the end. It is not my favourite of Christie’s works by any means, but it was interesting to see how an historical setting both inspired and affected her work.