[HarryT]

Just finished "Death Comes as the End" by Agatha Christie. This was her 43rd book, originally published in 1944.

This is a murder mystery set in Ancient Egypt. This is the only book Christie ever wrote that's not set in the 20th century.

The quiet lives of an Egyptian family are disturbed when the father, Imhotep, returns from the North with his new concubine, Nofret, who begins to sow discontent amongst them. Once the deaths begin, fears are aroused of a curse upon the house, but is the killer closer to home?

The novel is based on some real letters from the Egyptian Middle Kingdom period from a man called Heqanakhte to his family, complaining about their behaviour and treatment of his concubine.

Not one of the Christie's best books, to my mind, but a very interesting read.

This was, as a matter of interest, the first ever "historical whodunnit" and, as such, is the originator of what's now a very popular genre.