Agatha Christie’s Unknown Murder Mystery Deserves an Adaptation 82 Years Later
An article for Collider argues that Agatha Christie's 1944 novel "Death Comes as the End" deserves a screen adaptation, noting it remains one of only four Christie works never filmed. It stands out within her body of work as literature's first historical mystery, set around 2000 BC in ancient Thebes with an entirely Egyptian cast, rather than featuring her familiar detectives Poirot or Marple. The piece highlights this as a missed opportunity given the story's strong dramatic potential and unique setting within her otherwise contemporary-set catalogue.
The novel follows Renisenb, a widowed woman who returns to her family home only for tensions to erupt when her father brings home a manipulative young concubine, Nofret, whose death by apparent murder triggers a string of further killings among the household. The BBC announced a miniseries adaptation in 2019 with screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes attached, distinguishing it from prior adaptations like 2015's "And Then There Were None", but no update has followed in seven years. The article notes Christie's own archaeological travels with her husband, Sir Max Mallowan, and research with Egyptologist Stephen Glanville informed the novel's authentic historical detail.
- "Death Comes as the End" is one of four unfilmed Agatha Christie novels.
- Set in ancient Egypt around 2000 BC, unlike her usual settings.
- A 2019 BBC miniseries announcement has seen no update since.
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Concubine Nofret's death sparks a killing spree, ancient Thebes provides an unusual setting for a whodunnit, and Renisenb serves as the household's central figure.
Death Comes as the End is a 1944 Agatha Christie novel unlike the rest of her work. Instead of a contemporary setting and a detective such as Poirot or Hercule Poirot's counterpart Miss Marple, it takes place around 2000 BC in ancient Egypt and follows Renisenb, a young widow whose return to her family home is disrupted by murder within the household. It is widely regarded as one of the earliest historical murder mysteries in fiction, drawing on Christie's own experience of archaeological digs alongside her second husband, the archaeologist Max Mallowan.
Despite Christie's vast body of work being adapted repeatedly for film and television over the decades, this novel is one of only four of her stories never to have reached the screen. The BBC did announce plans for a television adaptation back in 2019, with writer Gwyneth Hughes attached to the project, but nothing further has emerged since. The novel's unusual setting and lack of a familiar detective figure are seen as reasons it has been overlooked compared with Christie's more famous titles.