The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb by Agatha Christie

Hamunaptra.

It's an Agatha Christie double-feature today! Mostly because I am wildly behind on the Agatha Christie short-story challenge (hosted by Fanda Classiclit), which ends on December 31. I took a summer/fall hiatus, my reading momentum plummeted and now it’s all coming down to the wire.

Nothing like a little end-of-year panic as motivation.

The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb is another Hercule Poirot mystery, and this time our favorite Belgian detective heads off to Egypt with his partner Hastings in tow. Their mission: get to the bottom of a string of mysterious deaths at an archaeological dig. This English expedition has just uncovered the tomb of an Egyptian mummy and ever since, people keep dying in ways that don’t quite add up. Is it an ancient curse or just superstitious hokum? 

Or, maybe, just maybe, it's just good old-fashioned murder.

It’s a great premise with lots of room for Christie to dabble in her trademark wit and clever plots, but unfortunately, the ending lands with more of a sputter than a bang. There’s plenty of intrigue but the final reveal feels a bit silly and kind of fizzles out. On the bright side, one thing that surprised me was that the story wasn’t the sweeping parade of 1920s racism I was bracing for. Small blessings!

As an aside, it's not that I ever need an excuse to rewatch The Mummy (the Brendan Fraser version, not the one with Tom Cruise) for the 1000th time, but this story definitely nudged me right back into that mood. There’s just something magical about this story's exotic locale and questionable curses that instantly sends my brain straight to Brendan Fraser dodging undead priests and cracking goofy one-liners. Reading this made me think, “Ah yes, this is why I’ve championed The Mummy as one of the greatest films ever made.” So if Christie won’t give me the sweeping, pulpy, curse-ridden adventure I crave, that’s fine. Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz will gladly pick up the slack.

Now excuse me while I press play…again.

You can read this story HERE.