REVIEW: The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb (Agatha Christie)

The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb
Author: Agatha Christie

This Hercule Poirot short story was first published in the UK in The Sketch magazine on September 26, 1923 and was published in the US in The Blue Book magazine.

At the time Christie wrote this story Egypt and ancient tombs were all the rage in England and across Europe. The discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter and several deaths that followed afterwards ignited rumors of an ancient curse on the tomb. Those rumors still circulate today, but most experts say the story was started by Howard Carter and his excavation team to give the media something extraordinary and exciting to report, while keeping reporters and curious people at a distance from the tomb.

In this story a famous archaeologist dies following the discovery of the Egyptian tomb of King Men-Her-Ra. Two more deaths follow. Rumors of a supernatural curse begin to circulate. The widow of the archaeologist hires Poirot to investigate because her son wants to take over the dig, and she doesn't want him to die if the curse is real.

This is one of my favorite Poirot short stories so far. It had that awesome mummy-ancient curse vibe to it, and also showed the Belgian detective's intelligence and understanding of human nature. Multiple times Poirot states that he believes in the power of the supernatural....not in curses, but in the power of belief itself. I feel this story might have also been somewhat of an aside commentary from Agatha Christie about her thoughts on the rumors surrounding King Tut's tomb.

This story was adapted into an episode by the television show Agatha Christie's Poirot (Season 5, episode 1). The episode stays relatively true to the original story with embellishments to stretch it to a 45 minute episode.

I'm reading through all of Christie's works in publication order. Christie has been my favorite author since I was 9-years old and bought my first Poirot novels. I've always wanted to read her works in the order she wrote them, and I'm having a great time! Because Poirot stories have quite a bit of French in them at times (and I do not speak any French except a few words.....polite/necessary phrases and those relating to ordering food), I am listening to the audio book version of these stories while also reading the text. For me, hearing Poirot's dialogue read in the correct accent just adds so much to the reading experience....and the french is correct. Much better than me making a mangled attempt at it or skipping over those bits while reading to myself. Because I am using 2-3 versions of these stories to compare editions, and to listen/read at the same time, I am reviewing each story separately. I will also review the story collections and specific audio/text versions I read when I have completed all the stories in the collections.

Charles Armstrong narrates the audio books I am reading. I love David Suchet's portrayal of Poirot on television and in audio performances....but Armstrong is also very good. He has a nice voice, and portrays the character very well.

On to the next story: The Veiled Lady!