“The murderer is with us—on the train now…” Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule Poirot must identify the murderer – in case he or she decides to strike again. [Description from Waterstones]
Hercule Poirot #10
It has taken me a while to get around to reading any Agatha
Christie, though I have been meaning to for a while. I certainly wasn’t
disappointed! ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ was a thoroughly enjoyable read
and an excellent murder mystery. It is a classic and I can understand why.
Christie really manages to bring characters alive with just
a few words – she manages to say a lot succinctly, which is something that I
think other authors could do with. I was particularly intrigued in this novel
with the relationship and interplay between Poirot and Bouc. Poirot manages to
make the solution seem obvious when it is pointed out, but I didn’t guess the
solution in the end (I am quite surprised that I didn’t get spoiled to be
honest!). The mystery itself was intriguing as it seemed to combine two
different mysteries into one, and it wasn’t until the final pages that you
began to understand how the two mysteries intertwined so closely. The different
clues and red herrings like the pipe cleaner, handkerchief, and burnt letter
all pointed to different people so it was difficult to choose who the culprit
was, and I kept changing my mind.
Poirot as a character is interesting as the way that his
brain works is obviously extremely logical and he sees things that other people
miss. It makes for very interesting reading as we hear what Poirot feels and
what he thinks of the different people and clues, which is often very different
to what those around him think of the same things. I find the whole psychology
thrilling – especially as we begin to discover the pasts of the different
characters. I just wish that there was more of how Poirot guessed what had
happened, and what went on in his head, rather than just seeing the results.
I saw the 2017 film of this book starring Kenneth Branagh as
Poirot just after I finished the novel, but I was actually pretty disappointed
by it. I loved Branagh as Poirot, but the things that were changed from the
novel didn’t sit right I didn’t feel, but I’d be interested to know what others
think. I am really looking forward to reading more Agatha Christie, however, in
the future, and it is something that I definitely will continue to read and
enjoy!
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