Death on the Nile, by Agatha Christie

 

I really enjoyed reading Death on the Nile, one of the most famous of Agatha Christie's novels featuring Hercule Poirot. While I'm positive that I read it as a teenager, most of my memories about the plot come from the 2022 film starring Kenneth Branagh, which I also enjoyed very much. (And now I want to see it again!) The premise is that Poirot is on vacation, taking a cruise up the River Nile to see ancient Egyptian archeological sites, when one of the passengers is found murdered. Her new husband as well as her former friend and now nemesis both have what appear to be airtight alibis, so who could have killed her? As usual, the writing is very good and Poirot suspects one passenger after another before nailing down the whole story.

Packing for Mars: the curious science of life in the void, by Mary Roach

 

Author Mary Roach does a great job presenting much of the research that has taken place to allow humans to go into outer space. In her humorous way she shares how NASA and other research institutions have investigated the impact of space travel, weightlessness, isolation, and other factors on the human body and mind. She devotes chapters to the development of food for astronauts, the invention of devices and methods for going to the bathroom, dressing, exercising, sex, hygiene, and more in cramped and weightless spaces. She not only looks at the published research but she interviews astronauts and scientists to create this fascinating, funny, and informative narrative. I'm sure the science has advanced since 2010 when this book was published but it's still a worthwhile read.

Wolf to the slaughter, by Ruth Rendell

 

Wolf to the slaughter is the third Inspector Wexford novel by mystery author Ruth Rendell. A scatter-brained artist reports to the police that his sister Anita has gone missing. Right around the same time the police get an anonymous tip that someone named Ann has been murdered by a man named Geoff Smith. Following the tip, they track down the identity of the person who sent the note, and find that a man rented a room for three hours for an assignation, and the owner found a bloodied carpet and a lighter engraved with the name Ann on it. Trying to stay out of trouble, the owner's boyfriend, a recently released ex-con, sent the note. But finding the person who rented the room leads the police on a twisted journey pursuing one lead after another until they finally reach the answer in the final pages. In the meantime, Drayton is becoming increasingly obsessed with a young woman who clerks in her father's small shop nearby; Wexford warns him off since she is tangentially related to the investigation, but he ignores the warning, possibly at the risk of his career. This is a very intriguing mystery that kept me turning the pages, and the final twist is quite a surprise.

Bad actors, by Mick Herron

 

In the 8th entry of the Slough House series of spy novels, the slow horses are looking for a missing government advisor who turns out (not a spoiler) to have been a Russian plant. At the same time, whispers that MI5 has possibly implemented the Waterproof protocol (which "disappears" people) implicates head Diana Taverner and she has to evade arrest and work with Jackson to find out who's behind the rumors and the missing Russian spy. River is out of the picture, recuperating from his recent injuries, but there's a new slow horse, Ash, the MI5 agent whose arm Jackson broke near the end of the previous book when she was sent to follow him and was discovered (and neutralized) by Jackson. And Shirley Dander has been sent to an agency rehab facility that results in a mistaken identity subplot that is action-packed and very funny. As usual, the plot is exciting and the dialog is highly entertaining. Plot twists and turns are numerous, and keep the tension high throughout.