This month’s prompt for Read Christie 2023 is a murder method: ‘a fall from height’. I’ve missed the previous two months of the challenge as I’ve been reading other things, but I decided to take part in this one as the suggested title – Death Comes as the End – was one I hadn’t read before and which has always sounded particularly intriguing to me.
First published in 1944, Death Comes as the End is the only historical novel Christie wrote. Unlike her other books, which are all set in the 20th century, this one takes place in Ancient Egypt, a setting that would have been familiar to Christie through her interest in archaeology. I’ve seen it described as the first full-length historical mystery, although I’m not sure if that’s true.
The novel is written mainly from the perspective of Renisenb, a young widow who, following her husband’s death, has returned to her family home by the Nile. Her father Imhotep, a mortuary priest, is away on business in the north, but Renisenb is reacquainted with the other members of the household: her older brothers Yahmose and Sobek and their wives; her younger stepbrother, Ipy; her grandmother, Esa; and several of the family’s servants, including Henet, the housekeeper and Hori, the scribe. There are already some tensions simmering below the surface, but when Imhotep returns with a new concubine, Nofret, things become much worse.
Nofret is a bitter, spiteful woman who seems determined to cause trouble for everyone else. She attempts to manipulate Imhotep into disinheriting his three sons and her plan seems to be working – until Nofret herself is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. As nobody had liked her, there are plenty of suspects, but the situation quickly becomes more complex when more deaths occur. Some of the family believe that Nofret’s spirit is taking her revenge, while others are convinced that a human hand is behind the murders. Renisenb isn’t sure what to think or who to trust, but she knows that if the murderer isn’t caught soon, her own life could be in danger.
I really enjoyed this book, although I felt that the absence of a detective made it difficult for the reader to solve the mystery as there’s no discussion of clues or questioning of witnesses to point us in the right direction. I’m sure you could still correctly identify the murderer if you were paying attention, though; looking back, there are two moments in particular that hint at who the culprit is, but I didn’t pick up on either of them while I was reading. The pool of suspects is considerably narrowed down by the end of the book as well – there’s such a high body count it started to remind me of And Then There Were None. There’s also a romantic element to the novel and although it only forms a small part of the story, I was pleased with the way it was resolved at the end. I would have made that choice myself!
I was surprised to read in Christie’s foreword that “Both places and time are incidental to the story. Any other place at any other time would have served as well.” On the one hand, I can see what she means, because the plot, the characters, and the relationships between the family members are very much what you would expect to find in one of her 20th century country house mysteries. On the other, it seems a strange thing to say because why choose a particular setting if any other would have done just as well? In any case, much as I love her Poirot and Miss Marple novels, I enjoyed being transported back to Thebes in 2000 BC for this one – it was something different and unusual!
This is book 9/20 of my 20 Books of Summer 2023
This is book 30/50 for the 2023 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.
She Reads Novels 
While this isn’t a Christie that appears on any Top 10 (or even 20) lists, it’s always been one of my favourites. In fact, if the body count had not been so high, I feel it would have made an excellent whodunit too as the suspects pool would not be this narrow. As for why she chose this setting, Christie has mentioned that it’s for the exact reason that whether in 1945 or 2000BC, people were the same and so were the tensions running between them. She took the help of Stephen Glanville, her archaeologist friend to research about what life would have been like on ancient Egypt. In fact, very intriguingly, she has mentioned that she regrets letting Glanville influence the ending of this book and that she prefers the ending she had originally thought of. We’ll never know what that was! I’d like to think that if she had gone with her first choice, this might have been a far more acclaimed book. Sigh.
I did not know that, about the alternate ending! A pity we do not have her notes on this one.
Thanks for all that information! I’m intrigued by the original ending – I was quite happy with the way the book ended, but it would be interesting to know what Christie had planned instead.
I enjoyed it quite a lot, enough to have used it as a comfort re-read over the years. You are quite right that it is not much as a mystery; but as a character study, it was interesting. And the two nicest characters got a happy ending, which is why it was such a comfort read.
Yes, I found the characters more interesting than the actual mystery. I loved the happy ending – I would have been disappointed if Renisenb had chosen differently.
I haven’t started reading this one yet and wasn’t sure whether to choose it so I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ve read the opening comment though it struck me as strange too, that the setting should be incidental.
I hope you enjoy it if you do read it. I loved the Egyptian setting but I’m glad it’s not just me who found Christie’s comments a bit strange!
Interesting! I knew the title but presumed it to be a classic Christie Whodunnit, rather than a Historical mystery. I’m still working my way through the Miss Marple series and hope to get at least one more done by the end of the year. I really enjoyed ‘A Pocket Full of Rye’ last month. Review is here:
https://cyberkittenspot.blogspot.com/2023/07/just-finished-reading-pocket-full-of.html
I think a lot of people probably don’t realise Christie wrote a historical mystery. On the surface it seems very different from her other books, but is actually surprisingly similar! I hope you continue to enjoy working through the Miss Marple series.
I haven’t read this one for decades, and have felt a little apprehensive about revisiting because of the historical setting. But you go a long way to convincing me that I’ll enjoy it!!
The setting makes it unusual but it’s really not all that different from her other books. I think you would enjoy revisiting it!
Here’s another Christie I didn’t know about.
It’s amazing how many books she wrote!
True!
I didn’t know she’d written a book set in Ancient Egypt. Interesting. ( I do love that Egyptian setting.) 😀
Yes, Ancient Egypt is a great setting. I love that she tried to do something different with this book.
I enjoyed how different this was to her other books and thought she made the setting very believable. I haven’t reread it in many years but actually have it on my Classics Club list – you’ve whetted my appetite nicely!
I hope you enjoy your reread! The setting does feel very authentic and it was good to see her trying something so different.
I had no idea that Christie had written a book set in Ancient Egypt!
Thanks for sharing your review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge!
I loved the Egyptian setting – it was something different!