Cover of “Murder In Mesopotamia” by Agatha Christie.I’m back with another book review, and this time I’m reviewing the book “Murder In Mesopotamia” by Agatha Christie! I’ve read other works by Christie before and enjoyed them, so I look forward to reviewing this one. Here’s a quick summary so we know what it’s about:
“An archaeologist’s wife is murdered on the shores of the River Tigris in Iraq…
It was clear to Amy Leatheran that something sinister was going on at the Hassanieh dig in Iraq; something associated with the presence of ‘Lovely Louise’, wife of celebrated archaeologist Dr Leidner.
In a few days’ time Hercule Poirot was due to drop in at the excavation site. But with Louise suffering from terrifying hallucinations, and tension within the group becoming almost unbearable, Poirot might just be too late…”
Plot Development: 4 out of 5 stars
I initially disliked how it took at least the first third of the book before the murder occurred, but then I realized how clever it was when the main character isn’t Poirot. Instead, it’s Nurse Amy Leatherman’s point of view given here, so the first third details her time with the victim before said victim’s death. I thought that was pretty clever since it helped give background on the characters’ various relationships with each other.
I also enjoyed finding out a few plot twists involved in the mystery. It needed the beforehand context presented in the first third of the book before the murder happened, for everything to make sense.
Character Development: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Most of the characters don’t develop much outside of their pre-existing relationships with the other characters. However, I do like that Amy Leatherman had her own point of view and got to give her own commentary on everything that happened in the book. Without her insights, the book would be less interesting.
If this book was written in, say, omniscient third-person rather than Amy’s point of view, the character development, and plot development could both be ranked down a star each. That’s how much her point of view mattered with bringing the story and the characters to life.
Overall, I’m rating this book 3.5 out of 5 stars!
I honestly wish I could write more about both the plot and character development, but I can’t due to risking giving away major spoilers.
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