At the beginning of the 21st century, with the historical crime novel enjoying unprecedented popularity,it seems particularly fitting to take a look back at Agatha Christie's Death Comes as the End, a pioneering novel in the genre--and yet the author's only historical novel.
The setting is ancient Egypt of the XIth Dynasty,which began in 2134 B.C. After a long period of decline, a powerful new dynasty of rulers was established in the bustling river port of Thebes, which
dominated the Upper Nile. Memphis, closer to the Mediterranean Sea, dominated the Lower Nile and its delta. At the time of Death Comes as the End, Thebes and Memphis are still fierce rivals but are moving toward unity, with the sense that great things, are in the offing....
In this startling historical mystery, unique in the author"s canon, Agatha Christie investigates a deadly mystery at the heart of a dissonant family in ancient Egypt. Imhotep,wealthy landowner and priest of Thebes, has outraged his sons and daughters by bringing a beautiful concubine into their fold. And the manipulative Nofret has already set about a plan to usurp her rivals" rightful legacies.When her lifeless body is discovered at the foot of a cliff, Imhotep"s own flesh and blood become the apparent conspirators in her shocking murder. But vengeance and greed may not be the only motives...
INTRODUCTION
AUTHOR"S NOTE
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