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Fiction. Mystery. Historical Fiction. HTML: Suspicious events at a Middle Eastern archaeological excavation site intrigue the great Hercule Poirot as he investigates Murder in Mesopotamia, a classic murder mystery from Agatha Christie. Amy Leatheram has never felt the lure of the mysterious East, but when she travels to an ancient site deep in the Iraqi desert to nurse the wife of a celebrated archaeologist, events prove stranger than she could ever have imagined. Her patient's bizarre visions and nervous terror seem unfounded, but as the oppressive tension in the air thickens, events come to a terrible climax�??in murder. With one spot of blood as his only clue, Hercule Poirot must embark on a journey not just across the desert, but into the darkest crevices of the human soul to unravel a mystery which taxes even his remarkable powers.… (more)
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The first time I read Agatha Christie's 1936 novel about murder and mayhem on an archeological dig in Iraq, I dismissed it as one of her lesser efforts. The murder scene (despite a typical Christie floor plan)
That was four years ago.
Time wounds all heels, I guess; and now, after a second reading, I realize I was unjustly unkind to the book. Oh, it's still not perfect—-Christie's descriptions of the archeology compound can be quite tedious, and most of the bland characters blend into one another-—but I found myself drawn in deeper this time around. I'll admit, my heart was even pounding with anticipation in the pages leading up to Hercule Poirot's Big Reveal in the next-to-last chapter. It appears I really did forget whodunit.
I may have brain-blurred most of the book's details in the four-year interim between readings, but one thing I most certainly did not forget was the way in which the killer actually carried out the murder. Of course, I'm bound by personal oath not to reveal "how" or "who," but suffice to say Christie really cooked up an ingenious demise this time.
There's no doubt this was a book written from her heart. Christie had a long-standing love affair with the Middle East, specifically Iraq and the digs near Ur and Nineveh. It was in Iraq in 1930 when she met and consequently fell in love with the man who would become her second husband, archeologist Max Mallowan. Christie's travels and impressions of the excavations and nearby cities invariably made their way onto the pages of her novels, but you can get an even better flavor of the area from her autobiography.
Here, for instance, is a brief portrait she paints in that memoir:
I fell in love with Ur, with its beauty in the evenings, the ziggurat standing up, faintly shadowed, and that wide sea of sand with its lovely pale colours of apricot, rose, blue and mauve, changing every minute. I enjoyed the workmen, the foremen, the little basket boys, the pick men—-the whole technique and life. The lure of the past came up to grab me.
And here is what Amy Leatheran records in the pages of Murder in Mesopotamia:
It took us about four hours to get to Hassanieh, which, to my surprise, was quite a big place. Very pretty it looked, too, before we got there from the other side of the river—-standing up quite white and fairy-like with minarets.
If her description is not quite as effusive as Christie's, that's because 32-year-old Amy Leatheran is, for the most part, a woman who holds her emotions in check, only letting herself speak freely when someone questions her credibility. She's a reluctant narrator, having been urged to write the manuscript by Dr. Reilly, a friend who tells her the world needs "an unvarnished plain account of the Tell Yarimjah business."
That "business" forms the basis for Murder in Mesopotamia and Nurse Leatheran, despite her initial qualms, is soon off and running as she relates how she was hired by archeologist Dr. Eric Leidner to look after his wife who has "fits of recurring nervous terrors."
Louise Leidner has been receiving ominous, anonymous letters which threaten to dredge up a chapter from her past she'd rather forget. Then, too, she's been hearing things outside her room at night, and there have been ghastly faces appearing at the window. Her nervous fits have the whole household on edge out at the dig site and Dr. Leidner hopes that Nurse Leatheran can help restore a sense of peace and calm so the archeological work can continue without incident.
Unfortunately, soon after Nurse Leatheran arrives, there is an incident-—a deadly, gory incident—-and poor Louise is found crumpled and lifeless on her bedroom floor. There's a spot of blood where her head's been bashed in, but no apparent murder weapon; and nearly everyone on the expedition seems to have a solid alibi.
Ah, but those alibis will soon shimmer and dissolve like a desert mirage once the esteemed Hercule Poirot comes on the scene. He is, conveniently, traveling through the area ("just in the neighborhood," as they say) and he agrees to visit the Hassanieh murder scene to determine not just how Mrs. Leidner was killed, but more importantly, why.
At the end of the novel, Poirot declares: "The pattern of this case, to my mind, all revolved round the personality of Mrs. Leidner. Until I knew exactly what kind of a woman Mrs. Leidner was I should not be able to know why she was murdered and who murdered her. That, then, was my starting point-—the personality of Mrs. Leidner."
Poirot takes on Nurse Leatheran as his ad hoc Watson—-a rather transparent plot device on Christie's part, since this allows the reader more mobility throughout the investigation. With her assistance, Poirot questions the rest of the archeological dig's entourage about who Louise Leidner really was.
One character says, "She was a clever woman and she was bored and she experimented—-with people—-like other people experiment with chemicals." Another admits to Poirot, "Well, of course, she was temperamental. A lot of ups and downs. Nice to people one day and perhaps wouldn't speak to them the next. She was very kind, I think. And very thoughtful for others. All the same you could see she had been spoilt all her life." Nurse Leatheran, on the other hand, is quite taken with Mrs. Leidner from their first meeting: "Her eyes....were lovely. They were the only eyes I've ever come across that you might truly describe as violet. They were very large, and there were faint shadows underneath them. She was very thin and fragile-looking, and if I say that she had an air of intense weariness and was at the same time very much alive, it sounds like nonsense—-but that's the feeling I got. I felt, too, that she was a lady through and through. And that means something—-even nowadays."
Amy Leatheran proves to be an enjoyable Watson (I can't fathom what I didn't like about her the first time I read Murder in Mesopotamia) and thoroughly plunges into the role of playing second fiddle to Poirot. At one point, she asks Poirot if he's going to tell one of the suspects that he's caught her in a lie, but the detective turns to the nurse with a twinkle in his eye and says,
"Always it is unwise to parade one's knowledge. Until the last minute I keep everything here." He tapped his forehead. "At the right moment-—I make the spring—-like the panther—-and, mon Dieu! the consternation!"
As always, the Big Reveal erupts in a cacophony of consternation and emotions. By now, anyone who has read more than two of Christie's mysteries will recognize the precise symphony her detectives conduct in the closing pages: a slow and patient unfolding of the case facts, punctuated by several sharp jabs of hypothetical accusations, followed by much huffing and puffing from the much-maligned suspects ("Lies! It's all damned lies, I tell you!")....and then slowly and cleverly the detective slips the noose over the real murderer's neck and pulls the rope tight against the throat.
None of which we readers have seen coming. At least, I didn't. Not even the second time around.
It's really no surprise when Louise is murdered early one afternoon. After all, this charismatic woman has been adored and reviled in equal measure--often by the same person!--by everyone on her husband's archaeological dig. All have a motive, all have the opportunity...and most have an alibi.
What's the local constabulary to do but call in Hercule Poirot, passing through on his way to Baghdad. Poirot, always up for an intriguing case, enlists Nurse as his assistant (scrub nurse to his surgeon, as she thinks of it), and together they suss out the facts. And the facts, of course, lead to a most surprising conclusion.
Thoroughly satisfying, Murder in Mesopotamia is charming, clever, and funny. A must read, particularly as M. Poirot, after his visit to Baghdad, is heading off on the Orient Express, where he will surely find himself embroiled in another baffling crime.
Told from the perspective of Amy Leatheran, a nurse hired by a Dr. Eric Leidner to take care of his wife Louise at an archaeolgical excavation out in the deserts of Iraq. The nurse arrives to find that
As I said, not one of my particular favorites, but it was still fun to see Poirot unraveling a rather twisted plot. The ending is a bit of a surprise, so it's well worth the ride.
Recommended for those who are fans of Hercule Poirot, or of Agatha Christie, or for readers of British mysteries in general.
This story never really worked for me. As usual for a Christie, a lot of the story is tied up in the conclusion, and I suspected the villain from the start. Real-life police work tells us that the husband is one of the first suspects, and you can always dig up a
A fun, comfortable read.
A nice quirk to this particular book is that it's written from the Nurse's perspective rather than Poirot. She is engaged to attend to the wife of an Archeaologist digging in Iraq whose nerves are 'bad'. She thinks her first husband has come back
It just so happens that Poirot will be passing on his way to Baghdad and he is persuaded to call in and investigate.
Of course, if you've seen the TV adaptation, you know what happens, but the nice thing about actually reading the book is that it isn't exactly the same and the way the nurse's attitudes to the people and to Poirot change as the book progresses is nicely played.
As always, reading Agatha Christie, you are reminded why she is still the 'Queen of Crime Writers'. Beautifully done.
The investigating officer Captain Maitland learns that the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot will be travelling through Baghdad from Syria. Poirot is persuaded to assist in the investigation. He treats Nurse Leatheran as his confidante, and she becomes his "Hastings". It is her account of the investigation that we read.
I really read this too close to watching the latest TV production with David Suchet as Poirot. (see the Youtube video embedded below)
If you watched that television production, you will remember that Poirot visits the dig quite early in the story because his friend Captain Arthur Hastings is there. There is a "memorable" scene at dinner where Hastings makes an absolute mess of explaining the meaning of the word Mesopotamia.
Well, it may not surprise you to find that Hastings is not actually in the original book.
In actual fact in the book Poirot does not arrive until well over half way through the story. Mrs Leidner is already dead.
I think that in MURDER IN MESOPOTAMIA Agatha Christie toyed with the concept of the unreliable narrator. You will remember that she had already done this previously in THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD.
Nurse Leatheran prides herself as being an excellent judge of character, she says nurses generally are, and so there are times when we need to take her conclusions with a pinch of salt. In fact Poirot does come to recognise that because Nurse Leatheran is so observant she may also be in real danger from the murderer.
Several aspects of the way that Poirot works are highlighted for us: the way he encourages people to "gossip" with him; the way he whittles down the list of suspects; his romantic streak; his liking for young women.
After I learnt that the novel had originally been published in serial form, I looked for signs of fragmentation, perhaps discontinuity from one part to another, but I didn't find any.
It is quite a detailed novel, showing how much Christie undestands about life on an archaeological dig, and a number of side stories run simultaneously with the main murder mystery.
Nurse Leatheran is called to a dig in Iraq to care for the wife of the head archaeologist. Mrs Leidner is afraid she will be murdered and eventually
I did enjoy the last few passages that wrap-up what happened to everyone in the crew. Poirot is said to have be traveling home via the Orient Express and had to solve another case. I thought it was nice tie-in to one of Christie's more famous novels.
Some Poirot books are great and others and interesting. There are few that I didn't enjoy. I think the only one was The Big Four.
In this tale Poirot arrives at the scene of the crime
I personally enjoy Captain Hastings narration but we work with what we have.
A nurse is hired by a archaeologist to take care of his wife not because she is sick but because she of mental health. She is receiving some letters from the brother of her previous husband. Eventually she is killed and Poirot arrives at the scene. And it seems that someone from the expedition is the culprit and everyone has it's motifs.
As I learn, Agatha Christie was married to archeologist so this novel but be a special one in her career. I enjoyed the novel and it's a good one. But the ending is not as solid as other novels by her.
Not quite a puzzle in the traditional Christie sense - not that you really ever have much chance of solving them - but Poirot takes pains to point out that his entire reconstruction of the crime is based on personality rather than direct evidence. I was pretty taken in though, and didn't really have an inkling of the murderer's identity until the denouement. I never really got a feel for the personality of the victim that seemed to be all-important to the case - maybe we Midwesterners don't have enough experience with that sort of person. But an excellent mystery, and one of Dame Agatha's finest IMO.
To go into the details of this Poirot story would spoil the read for some so I won't.
However, there is one question I have that has driven me nuts every single time
How did she not know?!?!?
Christie, Agatha. The Mystery of the Blue Train: Hercule Poirot Investigates
Murder in Mesopotamia finds Nurse Amy Leatheran travelling abroad to keep Mrs Louise Leidner company while her husband archaeologist, Dr Leidner leads the dig. But a nervous tension stalks the party and then there's a murder and Poirot is called in to solve the case.
Unfortunately Hercule Poirot doesn't make much of an appearance in this one. It wasn't until about a third of the way through that he enters which isn't a dealbreaker as such - when the other characters are interesting. When they are merely tolerable, it becomes more a struggle. I liked Nurse Leatheran but the rest of them were bland. The mystery was average. Like usual, I guessed some parts and totally missed others. Not the best Poirot book. 3 stars.
Bonus points for the narrator being a nurse. Despite being almost 100 years