Death on the Nile
The death on the Nile (original title Death on the Nile ) is the 22nd detective novel by Agatha Christie . It first appeared in the UK on November 1, 1937 at the Collins Crime Club and the following year in the US at Dodd, Mead and Company . The German first edition was published by Scherz Verlag in 1959 under the title Death on the Nil ; In 2005 a new translation by Pieke Biermann was published by S. Fischer Verlag .
It determined Hercule Poirot together with Colonel Race . The novel is set mainly in Egypt on a Nile steamer .
introduction
The beautiful millionaire heiress Linnet Ridgeway marries the former fiancé of her friend Jacqueline de Bellefort, Simon Doyle, and goes with him on a honeymoon in Egypt. During their honeymoon they are surprised again and again by Jacqueline, who is also in Egypt and who has resolved to spoil their good mood. Linnet Doyle then turns to Hercule Poirot to put an end to this inconvenience. When the young couple set off on the Nile steamer Karnak , Jacqueline de Bellefort was already on board. But Linnet Doyle also notes something else: she claims that all the guests on board are her enemies.
action
One late evening, while Linnet Doyle was already asleep, Jacqueline, while drunk, pulled out her gun and shot Simon's leg with it. He asks the two eyewitnesses Mr. Fanthorp and Miss Robson to take care of her so that she cannot harm herself.
The following morning, Linnet Doyle is found shot dead in her cabin. But Jacqueline was guarded by a nurse during the possible time of the crime and therefore cannot have committed the murder. Hercule Poirot and his secret service friend , Colonel Race, begin the investigation. But these are not as easy as hoped. There is still a notorious terrorist on board . Linnet Doyle's pearl necklace was also stolen. Louise Bourget is later stabbed to death and Mrs. Otterbourne shot.
Poirot determines that Simon Doyle and Jacqueline de Bellefort are still in love. Both of them planned both the wedding and the murder of Linnet Doyle together to get Linnet's fortune. Doyle's injury was only fake, he shot his wife while everyone took care of Jacqueline. Then he shot himself in the knee so as not to be suspected. The other two murders were committed by Jacqueline after the two victims revealed that they could pose a threat to both of them as witnesses.
characters
- Hercule Poirot , Belgian master detective
- Colonel Race, senior British secret service official
- Linnet and Simon Doyle, young couple on their honeymoon
- Jacqueline de Bellefort, Doyle's former fiancée
- Marie van Schuyler, rich American; Cornelia Robson, her younger cousin and Miss Bowers, Miss van Schuyler's nurse
- Mrs. Allerton, elderly lady, and her son Tim
- Andrew Pennington, Linnet Doyle's American Trustee
- Salome Otterbourne, eccentric writer of many scandalous novels, and her daughter Rosalie
- Mr. Ferguson, staunch communist
- Dr. Ludwig Bessner, Austrian doctor
- Jim Fanthorp, young man in the secret service of Mrs. Doyle's British trustee
- Guido Richetti, Italian archaeologist
- Louise Bourget, Doyle's maid
- Fleetwood, mechanic aboard the Karnak
References to other works
- Death on the Nile is also the title of a criminal story that was only translated into German in 2010 and published by Agatha Christie in the book Parker Pyne Determined in 1934 . Both stories have no similarities except for the title and the setting.
- Egypt, at the time of the Pharaohs , is also the scene of a plot in the novel Avenging Spirits . For the first time, the author addresses the country in the crime story The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb from the collection of Poirot stories published in 1924 Poirot accounts . Christie knew Egypt from her youth through an extended stay there with her mother.
- In chapter 12 Miss Van Schuyler mentions in conversation with Poirot a mutual acquaintance, Mr. Rufus Van Aldin, whom the reader from The Blue Express knows.
- In Chapter 21, Poirot tells Colonel Race that he has found evidence, a red kimono , in his luggage, relating to a murder on the Orient Express .
Adaptations for theater and film
Murder on the Nile (play)
Agatha Christie adapted the novel herself for the stage. The premiere took place on January 17, 1944 at the Dundee Repertory Theater under the title Hidden Horizon . On March 19, 1946, the play had its premiere in London's West End under the title Murder on the Nile . It premiered on Broadway on September 19, 1946.
Death on the Nile
The novel was filmed in 1978 with a top-class cast. As in five other Agatha Christie films, Sir Peter Ustinov plays the role of Hercule Poirot .
Agatha Christie's Poirot
The novel was adapted for the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot in 2004 with David Suchet as Poirot.
Important English and German language editions
- 1937 Collins Crime Club (London)
- 1938, Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
- 1959, first edition in German, Scherz Verlag (Bern)
The first publication of the novel was as a serial in the British weekly magazine The Saturday Evening Post from May 15, 1937 (volume 209, number 46) to July 3, 1937 (volume 210, number 1) with illustrations by Henry Raleigh.
Audio books
- 2003 Death on the Nile (3 CDs): with the original Miss Marple film melody. Read by Thomas M. Meinhardt. Director: Caroline Neven Du Mont. Abridged version by Neville Teller. Translated from the English by Dinka Mrkowatschki. The Hörverlag (Munich)
- 2005 Death on the Nile (8 CDs): unabridged reading. Speaker: Martin Maria Schwarz. Director: Hans Eckardt. Publishing house and studio for audio book productions (Marburg / Lahn)
- 2013 Death on the Nile (1 MP3- CD): unabridged reading. Speaker: Gerd Anthoff. Translated from the English by Pieke Biermann. The Hörverlag (Munich)
Web links
- Death on the Nile on the official Agatha Christie website
- Death on the Nile (1978) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Death on the Nile (2004) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Observer October 31, 1937 (Page 6)
- ↑ John Cooper and BA Pyke. Detective Fiction - the collector's guide : Second Edition (Pages 82 and 86) Scholar Press. 1994. ISBN 0-85967-991-8
- ↑ American Tribute to Agatha Christie
- ^ German first edition in the catalog of the German National Library
- ^ University of Glasgow page on play
- ↑ 1982: Evil Under the Sun (Evil Under the Sun), 1985: Murder à la Carte (Thirteen at Dinner), 1986: Deadly Parties (Murder in Three Acts), 1986: Murder assigned roles (Dead Man's Folly) 1988: Appointment with Death (Appointment with Death) source: Internet Movie Database
- ^ Audiobook (licensed) in the catalog of the German National Library
- ↑ Audio book (complete 2005) in the catalog of the German National Library
- ^ Audiobook (complete 2013) in the catalog of the German National Library