As the body count rises, the guests must figure out who among them is the murderer before they all wind up dead. When a blizzard cuts off the power and phone lines, they’re trapped with no connection to the outside world… and someone is murdered. This murder mystery is set at a mountain lodge in the Catskills, where a group of guests arrive for a relaxing weekend getaway. Here are seven other books published within the past five years that illustrate Agatha Christie’s lasting influence on modern stories… whether intentionally inspired by the Queen of Crime or not. Instead, the protagonist is the jilted lover, Jade, who shares the detective role with her love interest, Felix, giving agency to messy, flawed characters who learn and grow from their experiences on board.Ĭhristie’s influence persists throughout so many modern stories, whether directly as retellings or books about her, or indirectly by using tropes and plot elements she made popular and have remained so timelessly appealing to readers. Plus, there’s no equivalent to Poirot, Nile’s protagonist and key investigator. There’s a swoon-worthy romance subplot, fake dating, a reforged friendship, commentary on Big Pharma… and the Semester-at-Sea-inspired setting will appeal to teen readers. I kept some of the iconic plot beats as well, such as the near-miss at a tourist attraction where the heiress nearly gets clobbered in the head, and it’s unclear whether it’s an accident or if someone was targeting her.īut retellings should appeal to the modern audience, so I incorporated tropes and themes popular among readers today. Both books feature a complex, intricate mystery, though- spoiler alert -my puzzle’s solution is different. In both books, the murder victim is a wealthy heiress who stole her best friend’s lover, and the suspects are a diverse group of travelers with their own secrets and motives. As their friends begin to drop like flies, Jade and her new crush must race to clear her name and find the killer they’re trapped at sea with before anyone else winds up dead.Īs a loose retelling, there are parallels aplenty. But when she discovers they’re also on board, her obsession with them festers, leading to a shocking murder. In Lying in the Deep, Jade embarks on a Semester at Sea-inspired cruise, hoping to recover from heartbreak after her ex-boyfriend dumped her for her best friend. This was the most fun I’ve ever had writing a book.

That’s why I was so excited to write Lying in the Deep, a loose retelling of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile - a story of jealousy, love, and betrayal on a luxury cruise.

Murder on the nile agatha christie