MURDER ON THE NILE (Lady Eleanor Swift #19) by Verity Bright will be released on September 26, 2024 by Bookouture.
Lady Eleanor Swift and her butler, Clifford, are on an extended holiday in Egypt. Their cruise down the Nile gets off to a bad start. First, the derelict boat they are traveling on is most certainly not the same boat pictured in the brochure. Second, one of the other travelers, Lieutenant Baxter, and his brusque demeanor are spoiling the trip for everyone.
Two days into the journey, Baxter is found dead in his locked cabin. The gunshot wound to the head leads the others to believe that Baxter took his own life. Eleanor and Clifford believe that Baxter was murdered, and his death staged to look like a suicide. While searching Baxter’s cabin, Eleanor finds a vaguely worded note addressed to her that implores her to finish his task should he not be able to. Convinced that Baxter was out to right a past wrong, Eleanor and Clifford must figure out which of their fellow travelers committed murder.
Thanks to Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody Series, I cannot pass up a mystery novel set in Egypt in the late 1800s or early 1900s. MURDER ON THE NILE is set just a couple years after the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, and Egyptomania is running rampant. Having not read the first 18 books in the series, I knew I was at a disadvantage going into the book. There are a lot of backstories that I did not know—mainly Eleanor’s life up to this point and her unorthodox relationship with her butler—that might have helped some scenarios and references make more sense. The mystery itself—and the motive behind it—was a little convoluted at times. That being said, the boat is full of shady characters and Eleanor comes up with a plausible motive to Kill Baxter for most of them. Overall, I enjoyed MURDER ON THE NILE. Eleanor is a spunky character who refuses to conform to her role of English lady. Clifford is equally fascinating.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.