Murder in Mesopotamia by
Agatha Christie
hbk out September 98
Published by HarperCollins
at £15.99
Christie made use in several of her novels of her familiarity with the
Middle East; she was married to an archaeologist, and a trip with her
husband provided her with the material for this novel about dark deeds at
the Hassanieh dig in pre-Saddam Iraq. Although Poirot investigates with his
usual flair, the story is narrated not by Captain Hastings but by a nurse,
Amy Leatheran. Amy has been engaged by Dr Leidner, the quiet and
sympathetic leader of the expedition, to look after his wife Louise, who
has "fits of recurring terrors." The person who gets her the job describes
Louise as "an odd woman. A mass of affection and, I should fancy, a
champion liar." She is one of Christie's more memorable characters - it is
said that she was based on a flamboyant acquaintance of the author - and
she overshadows the other characters almost completely. Given her maddening
personality, it does not come altogether as a surprise when Louise is found
battered to death.
The particular virtue of the novel is the authenticity with which the
atmosphere of the dig is evoked. Notwithstanding Christie's limitations as
a descriptive writer, she seemed to feel as much at home in Mesopotamia as
in Mayhem Parva and the result is an appealing read. The solution is
ingeniously contrived, as is the precise murder method (and the consequent
establishment of an apparently perfect alibi). The main weakness is that it
defies belief that the victim could have been fooled by the remarkable
deception upon which the plot depends.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
