https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/murder-in-mesopotamia-by-agatha-christie/

It’s mainly remembered for the story behind the story; the first murder victim is based strongly on the real-life Lady Katherine Woolley, wife of Sir Leonard Woolley who led the 1930s excavation at Ur where Agatha Christie met her second husband, Sir Max Mallowan.

Massive spoilers: The various European and American characters in the book are vividly drawn. But the murder part of the plot is frankly ridiculous. It requires the first victim to have forgotten crucial details of her own previous marriage, and also requires that she remains strangely silent at the crucial moment of being murdered. The second murder is very poorly planned and could easily have failed. The murderer is very lucky that they actually off their victims. They are unlucky that Poirot is there to catch them out.

Despite my frustrations with the narrative, I found the context really fascinating. It’s a thoroughly racist book – Iraq was basically under British military occupation at the time, and the Arabs get barely a mention – and certainly not a positive one – in the narrative.

I was struck by a couple of other points too. The narrator’s name is Amy Leatheran; that surname simply doesn’t exist in real life. (She pops up again in the 1970 Agatha Christie novel Passenger to Frankfurt, nursing the narrator’s great-aunt, but does not appear to have aged 35 years in the meantime.) I’m wondering what significance the name has. If you swap “leather” for “mallow”, you get A. Mallowan, which was Agatha Christie’s married name, but maybe that’s stretching a bit. ( )

At the recommendation of a British doctor working in Iraq, nurse Amy Leatheran joins the expedition of Swedish-American archaeologist Dr Leidner in order to care for his wife, who has 'fancies: Mrs Leidner fears that a person from her past will catch up with her and kill her. As soon as arrives at the expedition house in Hassanieh, she notices how strained the atmosphere among the members of the household is. Shortly after, Mrs Leidner's worst fears appear to come true as her husband finds her dead body – but it would have been almost impossible for a stranger to have come into the house ... Fortunately Hercule Poirot is passing through and agrees to take on the case. Will he be able to find out the truth?

In this novel Amy Leatheran gives a detailed account of the events in which she played a minor role after several years have passed, which always makes an interesting departure from the usual third-person narrative. Shame that she and several other characters are just very unlikeable because the mystery is actually quite intriguing, even if the final solution is annoyingly overblown and even more far-fetched than usual.

I enjoyed the depictions of the archaeological dig and the surroundings, which add a different kind of local colour to the usually home-grown locations, even if the descriptions of the native workers and servants still very often smacked of British superiority. ( )

One of the most preposterous Christie plots, with Poirot exceedingly pompous and long-winded, as ever. ( )

Poirot joins a dig part way through (on his way to solving the "Murder on the orient express") after Mrs Liedner dies. Usual red herrings and underlying passions, secrets and lies are uncovered before the murderer is found

This fabulous mystery by Agatha Christie has long been a favorite of mine. It outshines many of her other mysteries due to some wonderful atmosphere and a very likable heroine in Amy Leatheren. Hercule Poirot, though a major force in solving the mystery, almost plays second fiddle at certain points in this most entertaining murder mystery.

Murder in Mesopotamia is an adventure set in an exotic land where a murder occurs. The first half of the book almost has the feel of an M.M. Kaye mystery. Though Christie was never in the same class as Kaye in imbuing romance to a time and place, there is certainly atmosphere to spare in this one. Only when Hercule Poirot is introduced into the story do we see classic elements of mystery fiction brought to the forefront.

Amy Leatheren is a young nurse asked to accompany an archaeological expedition to the Middle East. Her job is to look after Louise Leidner, the wife of the man heading the dig. Louise is a beautiful but frightened woman capable of both sweetness and offhand cruelty. Of what she is frightened is somewhat vague, but may be connected to tensions on the dig; on the surface all is friendly and familiar, but a dangerous unrest lies just beneath the surface.

Amy discovers answers to her questions too late to prevent a particularly brutal murder. This is when Christie's famous detective, Hercule Poirot, steps in to solve a most baffling puzzle of how the murder occurred. Amy has been asked to put on pen and paper her account of the events which transpired, and this is her narrative. Soon she is acting as Poirot's helper and, to her delight and embarrassment, having the time of her life. The detective and his new assistant will uncover secret relationships and secret identities, and before too long, another murder occurs.

Christie creates wonderful atmosphere here, from the Tigris Palace Hotel in Baghdad to Tell Yarimjah. Whether describing her cast of players, or bazaars where people from various nationalities and backgrounds gather for tea and scones overlooking the ruins, she makes the archaeological expedition come alive. Beneath the delicate impressions of her pen you can feel the passion of those on the dig, as they attempt to discover the Assyrian city close to Hassanieh. And they can see in the actions of the beautiful Louise, that she is almost "begging" to be murdered, while oblivious to the danger.

While the solution is wildly intricate and implausible, the presence of Hercule Poirot, a fun and likable heroine in Amy Leatheren, and tons of atmosphere make for a nice mystery read. A delightfully old-fashioned mystery fans of the genre will relish. ( )