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The plot is going to seem familiar, a group of travelers sailing along the Nile River for exotic reasons. Only they turn out to be too exotic when members of their group are murdered and they know the killer is one of them.

That's the basic plot of Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Nile," the Riverside Community Players current production. And Arts and Entertainment Editor Bob Sokolsky says this could be one more way of showing why she has been one of the world's top mystery story writers. But, he adds, it isn't because of its built-in slow pace.

And he wonders why a gun had to be used to commit the murders because it seems to be an unnecessary prop since "these unfortunate people could just as easily been talked to death."

Sokolsky calls the first act the play's main flaw with its top-heavy dialogue. He says things pick up a bit after that and salutes cast members Kevin Bray and Ann DeWolfe for their efforts in bringing that about.

And he credits director Patricia McQuillan for a solid effort in overcoming many of the obstacles placed in her path.