Thank you for the great contextual breakdown. Especially as it relates to women's agency and colonialism. I do wonder if there was a fair amount of casual drug use in her monied circles? Great video!
Yes, it seems that drug use (at least among the younger generation of British elites) was pretty common... but really, is that so different from today? >.< Glad you enjoyed it! I liked this one :)
As you said, the plot in this book is very typical for Christie’s books. I too have noticed that Christie’s books often seem to follow a certain trajectory (with exceptions, like Orient Express) and this can sometimes make them a little more predictable in regards to figuring out who the killer is. In your experience, do you find that the predictability curtails your enjoyment of the books?
Hmm, that's an interesting question! I think doing this rereading project where I'm reading the books in very quick succession has definitely made me see that these books don't particularly lend themselves to binge reading. The predictability aspect makes them feel a little "same-y" as time goes on, and I think enjoyment is maximized with some space in between reads. It gives you some time to come back to her little tricks & quirks with fresher (and therefore more forgiving) eyes. But of course, YMMV :)
I know it’s been a good while since you’ve reviewed and maybe read this book but I needed to say, this was my least favorite Agatha Christie novel, not only for the reasons you specified like the appropriating of lands as well as artifacts/monuments but also because of Nurse Leatheren herself. You enjoyed the fact that we were getting a female POV but to me, she seemed rather racist against the Mercados and sort of implied that any drug use or other things they said/did that were not exactly what she thought or felt were because they were Italian or Spanish (I forget which) trash and not of the British Isles or even France. She also made some comments about the local laborers from “Mesopotamia” that I disapproved of. Please tell me I’m wrong about all this.
