Till Death Do Us Part (Poireaut & Di Angeli #1)

Title: Till Death Do Us Part (Poireaut & Di Angeli #1)
Author: Dieter Moitzi
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: June 24, 2020
Genre(s): Murder / Mystery
Page Count: 305

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

I really enjoyed this murder / mystery book written in the style of Agatha Christie, set on a small river cruise boat on the Nile in Egypt, with a series of murders that must have been committed by someone on the boat.

We also get a wonderful travelogue of famous sites on the tour such as Abu Simbel, Aswan, the Temple of Edfu, as well as a slowly developing (non explicit) romance between two gorgeous young men - the Italian blonde curly-haired Raphaël and the dark and handsome Italian Stefano.

There are suspects a-plenty as Colonel Al-Qaïb arrives to investigate, and Raphaël and his auntie, and Stefano and his cabin mate / BFF Grazia begin their own investigation. There is a rather large cast of suspects and I found it difficult to keep everyone apart and remember their background, but as the story progresses, it eventually all comes together in a Hercule Poirot-like final confrontation.

At times the pace drags a bit as Raphaël and Stefano slowly - ever so slowly - explore their attraction to one another and overcome many erronous assumptions about each other ... to the point where I wished they would simple sit down for an honest discussion and USE. THEIR. WORDS. But the author also uses this leisurely pace to give us very evocative descriptions of the historic sites on the tour and does an excellent job of sharing his love of the setting.

As the first book in a series, I also appreciate how we meet the characters and in a sense merely drip our toes into their backgrounds and personalities, but there is a lot here to explore with the characters and their friends, particularly Raphaël's auntie and Grazia.

I look forward to the next book in the series, and can't wait to see what happens next to Raphaël and Stefano. 4 stars!

I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review - thanks Dieter!!