Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful from the word "Go"
Review: Having never read any Agatha Christie, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. Being the most, or at least one of the most, revered of Christie's works, I chose to give Murder on the Orient Express a look-see. It did not, suffice to say, disappoint.

As the Orient Express train travels from Istanbul to Paris, there occurs(get this) a murder. Big shocker for Agatha Christie, right? Well, that's where the banality ends and the intricate guessing game begins. With 12 passengers from seemingly very diverse backgrounds traveling in the same railroad car, our intrepid protagonist, Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot, finds the mystery a most baffling and perplexing conundrum worth investigating. Undoubtedly an easy and fun read that is an absolute must for any fan of mystery works. Aussi, si vous pouvez parler un peu de francais, il est tres utile pour ce livre.



Rating:
Summary: Murder on The Orient Express
Review: In this wonderfully written book, Murder on the Orient Express, Belgian Detective Hercule Poirot is given a confusing and almost impossible mission. He must find the murderer of Mr. Ratchett, a wealthy American.

As the story begins Hercule Poirot is on his way to Istanbul, Turkey. Traveling with him, by train, are two other passengers; Mary Debenham and Colonel Arubthnot. When they finally arrive Hercule Poirot drives straight to the Tokatlian Hotel. There he receives an urgent telegram for him to travel back to London. He tells the hotel to book a compartment on the first train back to London, which was at nine o'clock. He eats dinner and meets a friend, Mr. Bouc, the director of the Campagnie Internationale des wagons lits. When it is time to board the train the conductor tells Mr. Poirot that the train is full. "It is incredible, Mounsier. All the world elects to travel tonight" he says. But there is one passenger who hasn't arrived yet, so the conductor tells Hercule that he may take his place.

As the train starts off on its three day journey across Europe every thing is going well, or so it seems. Hercule notices that Mary Debenham and Colonel Arubthnot are traveling with him again. After dinner Mr. Ratchett offers Hercule a highly paid job. Mr. Ratchett, a wealthy man, has an enemy and he requires safety, but Hercule only takes cases that interest him, so he rejects. Later that day the train arrives at Belgrade. Mr. Poirot is moved into the compartment No. 1, the compartment of Mr. Bouc. Mr. Bouc was moved into the Athens coach, which was put on at the Belgrade station.

In the middle of the night Hercule Poirot is awaken from a load groan. Hercule notices that the train is at a stand still. He presumes it's at a station. He hears Mr. Ratchett talking to the conductor in the next compartment. Hercule glances at his watch; it is just 23 minutes to one. Relieved, he goes back to his bed. He finds it hard to fall asleep since the train is stationary. He notices that he forgot to ask for his usual bottle of mineral water so he rings the conductor bell. The conductor comes and Hercule asks for a bottle of mineral water. As the conductor gets the bottle Hercule asks why it is so quiet in the station outside. The conductor tells him that they aren't in a station but stuck in a snowdrift.

The next day Mr. Ratchett is found dead of multiple stab wounds in his compartment. The murderer is still on the train. Hercule Poirot must find out who murdered Mr. Ratchett. The evidence shows that the murderer must have been from the Calais coach. There are 13 suspects, but who did it?

Was it the calm Mary Debenham, or the dramatic Mrs. Hubbard? Could it have been Hector Macqueen, Mr. Ratchett's secretary? Or could Princess Dragomiroff have been the murderer? To find out - read this wonderful book, Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie!

Agatha Christie's many fans will live this suspenseful mystery that will keep you guessing to the end. If you're looking for a wonderful mystery or just a nice book to read, this book is the book for you!


Rating:
Summary: A Let Down
Review: This book just didn't do it for me and I believe it was because of the writing style, which can best be described as "no-frills." There was little to no description in this book, it used as few words as possible. I needed more elaboration in order to see the scene, the characters, etc. I also thought that the structure of the book was too "fill in the blank." By this I mean that the book lacked transitions and it was as if the various parts of the book were written independently of one another and then were strung together at the end.



Rating:
Summary: Pros and Cons
Review: Agatha Cristie does it again, in her Hercule Poirot mystery, Murder on the Orient Express. Known as Mystery's #1 Best-selling Author Agatha Cristie writes the astonishing mystery about a detective, Hercule Poirot, on vacation when a snowstorm brings his train to a standstill a murder takes place in the cabin next to his own. Agatha Cristie has great talent when twisting plots and this is no exception.

In the beginning of the book, chapters two and three, Agatha Cristie leads you on to suspicious characters before the crime even takes place. In this specific case some of the members on the train are built even before Hercule gets on the Orient Express. He encounters a man and a women on his previous train of whom he is suspicious of and even the victim and his co workers, all of which he quickly decides to keep a close eye on. A few pros and cons with this technique are as follow. The con, at some points you feel as the story will never continue, that the whole time all you will know about is this persons paranoia. The pros, firstly, you feel as though you must continue to read because something is bound to happen. Another point is you began to think you know who are the bad guys and as mentioned early Agatha Cristie knows how to twist a plot.

Towards the middle of the book, chapter 63, another story is introduced. One of a crime that took place a few years back. The second story, is brought up from a piece of evidence, it is about a three year old girl who was kidnapped and turned up dead, weeks later. When it is first introduced it could tend to be a bit confusing and also a little frustrating because just when you think you know who the murderer is in a single chapter you know there's more to it then you originally thought. This does however add a bit of excitement to pick the book back up after a couple of informative yet on the boring side chapters. This gives the detective his hunch that this kidnapping case will lead him to the murder.

The next section in the book is labeled the Evidence. In which Agatha Cristie introduces you to every member in the coach. She goes through and gets to you to feel sorry for some and suspicious of others. This part is great, and is why the characters being built before the crime is no longer a necessity. This part leads up to some great discoveries made by the detective and evidently the unusual and surprising outcome.

Agatha Cristie is able to teach and put morals into the most unusual stories in this case she incorporates pay back, love, and the common never give up ideas. Though this is not my favorite mystery of all time I have no regrets in reading it and do plan on reading future Agatha Cristie novels.


Rating:
Summary: Christie dazzles again!
Review: I have not yet read a Christie novel I did not like; even after getting through 40 or so of her books (I have almost all of them) -- each one still pleasantly surprises me -- every time.

This time around Poirot, the famous funky looking Belgian private detective, boards an overnight train that (gasp!) is stalled in the mountains by grave weather/snow. Of course, there is a murder on the train -- and the murderer is one of the passengers! which one? The young, beautiful Countess and her husband? The loud American sales guy? The prim and proper British governess? Murder on the Orient sports a cast of believable characters*, works within a plausibly 'mysterious' environment (closed quarters! not so untraditionally 'murder mystery' I supposse), and offers a yet surprising, unique solution.

*Though Christie's casts might seem much the same for all her books, one must remember she works with 'types' -- with psychology -- she tries to answer 'what type of person would commit murder and under what types of circumstances'. So there is always a prim and proper maid and butler, a kindly large cook, a distinguished war veteran, and an inevitable stranger to the parts. It's not a question of uniqueness of character, it is one of circumstance.