Death Comes as the End

 Death Comes as the End
Author: Agatha Christie

Death Comes as the End was published in the US in 1944 and released in the UK in 1945. This is the only novel by Agatha Christie that is not set in modern times. The setting is Thebes in 2000 BC. 

I read my old paperback copy (Pocket Books, 1972) from my bookshelves while listening to an audio book (HarperAudio 2012, 7 hrs 11 minutes, narrated by Emilia Fox). 

I've had this paperback for years. In fact, I found my name written on the inside front cover and it was my maiden name...so I've had this book for at least 35 years. And I never actually read it. I know why....I am sure the minute I discovered it was set in ancient Thebes and didn't involve any of Christie's usual characters I lost interest in reading it. And, even today, I pretty much felt the same way. I had to force myself to read this book. I felt no interest at all in reading a Christie murder mystery set in ancient times. It isn't because I'm not interested in ancient history. It's just that at times Christie's writing has racial undertones that thankfully have not aged well. And an upper class English woman writing an Egyptian murder mystery because of the Egypt-obsessed public of the time just really doesn't float my boat. Others love this book....I just pretty much guessed that it wouldn't be my thing. 

My ancient paperback was sent off to the recycle bin when I finished reading. Not just because I won't be reading this one again, but also because it was so old its pages were literally falling out. I had to put a rubber band around it to keep it intact long enough to finish reading. 

 Now....on to the story! 

 I'm glad I gave this book a chance. I did listen to the entire audio book and gave it my best shot. But....I didn't like this book. I think there's a reason why Agatha Christie only wrote one book set back in ancient times. It was a one-off, suggested to her by a friend who was a professor. Interesting concept and she did basically pull it off, but I'm glad she only did it once. After completing my reading, I know why this book was never adapted into a movie or television mini series. It would be too expensive for one thing. And, it would just need extensive work to make it into a viable script for modern viewers. 

I did love the fact that Christie based the story loosely on scrolls found in a tomb at Luxor. The scrolls were written by an ancient priest who was complaining about the way his family treated his concubine.  

Agatha Christie has been my favorite author since I was 9 years old. But, as a reviewer, I give my honest opinions about every book I read. So, despite the fact this might be an unpopular opinion, this book was pretty cringeworthy. I wasn't five minutes into the book before there was a racial comment made by a character. And, it was difficult to listen to an audio book with an English woman voicing ancient Eqyptian characters.  The characters seemed drawn from Christie's usual fare, but plonked down in ancient Egypt with a hasty slight makeover to make them fit the setting. It's obvious that Christie read and did research about what life in ancient Egypt was like such as family dynamics, concubines and other aspects of ancient culture before writing. But, for me, it just made for a lackluster story that came off as a very white attempt at portraying an ancient culture. 

 That's only my opinion. I'm glad others enjoyed this book.  And, when you read an author's entire life work, there are bound to be some stories that just aren't favorites. This book is my least favorite of Christie's novels and the only one so far that I did not enjoy reading.  

Adaptations:

I could only find one adaptation of this book -- a Swiss graphic novel published in 2023. 

At one time, the BBC was going to do a mini-series with release scheduled for 2019. But, no updates have been forthcoming about the project for years. It has either been postponed or cancelled altogether.  

I'm moving on.....next book!! Sparkling Cyanide (or Remembered Death - US title). And, another book with a lesser known character investigating. It's the last appearance of Colonel Race.