Murder in Mesopotamia
A dig in Iraq, a frightened wife and a nurse who tells the story.
Murder in Mesopotamia is a Hercule Poirot novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK on 6 July 1936. It is set at an archaeological excavation in Iraq and is narrated by Nurse Amy Leatheran, who comes to the dig near Hassanieh to look after Louise, the wife of the archaeologist Dr Eric Leidner.
Quick Facts
- Author
- Agatha Christie
- Cover artist
- Robin Macartney
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Series
- Hercule Poirot
- Language
- English
- Genre
- Crime novel
- Publisher
- Collins Crime Club
- Released
- 6 July 1936
Lore & Background
Louise tells Amy that she had once been married to a German, Frederick Bosner, a spy who was sentenced to death but escaped and was thought to have died in a train crash, and that she receives threatening letters signed with his name. After another letter, she is found dead in her bedroom, struck by a heavy blunt object. Poirot, travelling in Iraq, is asked to help. Later, Anne Johnson, who claimed to know how someone could have entered unseen, dies after drinking hydrochloric acid substituted for her glass of water.
Reader's Guide
Poirot reveals that both women were murdered by Dr Eric Leidner, who is really Frederick Bosner: he had taken the identity of the real Leidner, who died in the train crash, and wrote the letters himself in Louise's handwriting. When Louise became attracted to Richard Carey, he lured her to the window from the roof and dropped a quern on her. Father Lavigny turns out to be Raoul Menier, a dealer in stolen artefacts. The novel was adapted for television in 2002.
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