“‘Pull yourself together, man,’ said Dr Reilly quietly. ‘I know it’s a shock, but it’s got to be faced. The murderer didn’t come from outside — so he must have come from inside. It looks as though Mrs Leidner must have been murdered by a member of your own expedition.'”
“Murder in Mesopotamia”, by Agatha Christie
The story:
When Nurse Leatheran is engaged to look after Louise Leidner, wife of a distinguished American archaeologist conducting a dig in Iraq, she assumes Mrs Leidner’s fears are just a case of nerves.
But something isn’t right among the small community at the Tell Yarimjah dig site, with a strange atmosphere hanging over the group.
When Mrs Leidner is found murdered, the crime seems impossible — how could someone have entered her room unseen? With almost no physical evidence to find, Poirot is called on to do what he does best — understand the psychology of the crime, and through that, the identity of the killer!
My thoughts:
My belated read for the June #readchristie2022 prompt “featuring archeology” is the wonderful “Murder in Mesopotamia”, a locked-room mystery with quite a large cast of potential suspects.
This book was written in 1935, 5 years after Agatha’s marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan. So the descriptions of the dig, expedition house and the daily lives of those on the site surely come from her own experience of accompanying her husband to excavations in Iraq and Syria in the 1930s. So not only does this bring lovely detail to the story, it provides a picture of Agatha’s life at this time.
Although the book was a good 75 pages in before Poirot is even mentioned (he happens, by good luck, to be travelling through the area at the time having “been disentangling some military scandal in Syria” — I wonder if Agatha had been tempted to leave him out altogether!), once he arrives he wastes no time getting to what he realises is the heart of the mystery — the character of the victim herself. As always, the descriptions of the various suspects vary widely, but all provide Poirot with useful information nonetheless (and as always, they all underestimate his abilities — despite knowledge of his vast history of success!).
“I don’t think I shall ever forget my first sight of Hercule Poirot. Of course, I got used to him later on, but to begin with it was a shock, and I think everyone else must have felt the same!”
As is so often the case, Agatha provides a solution that is both satisfying and simple (once you know!), and I found this a very enjoyable read and perfect for the summer.
The next prompt is to read a Christie “which takes place on holiday”, and I look forward to re-reading one of the first Miss Marple books I ever read, “At Bertram’s Hotel”!
Pages: 224 (Dell edition, 1965)
Published: 1935
Rating: 🐈🐈🐈🐈/5
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