Book Review #1

Title: Murder on the Orient Express

Author: Agatha Christie

Classification: Mystery

Characters:

Hercule Poirot- Detective, known for “following his gut”.

M. Bouc- Compagnie Wagon Lits director, known for jumping to conclusions

Pierre Michel- French, Conductor of the Orient Express.

Dr. Constantine- Coroner, he believes all the “clues” left by the murderer(s).

Mary Debenham- Seen on first train with Colonel Arbuthnot, “calm cool and collected.”

Colonel Arbuthnot- English, polite, and always protects Mary, a “stranger”.

Hector MacQueen- Ratchett’s personal secretary and translator.

M. Ratchett- Victim on the train, described as “evil-looking”.

Antonio Foscarelli- A big Italian man, suspected by M. Bouc of being part of the mob that wanted to kill Ratchett.

Edward Henry Masterman- Ratchett’s valet, hardly a part of the novel.

Cyrus Hardman- An American who claims to belong to a NY detective agency.

Princess Dragomiroff- Russian Princess, old, ugly, and owner of the handkerchief.

Greta Ohlsson- Swedish, known for being extremely emotional.

Mrs. Hubbard- Stayed in the compartment next to Ratchett’s, and is known for telling stories about her daughter.

Hildegarde Schmidt- the Princess’ maid, slow-minded and quiet.

Count Andrenyi- Very defensive and protective when it comes to his wife.

Countess Andrenyi- Young, beautiful, and open to interrogation.

Summary:

While on a train in Europe, the famous detective, Hercule Poirot, is forced into a case when another traveler is murdered. The evidence seems to give more questions than answers. What time was the murder actually committed? Did the stopwatch tell the true time of death, or was it staged? Why would the murderer leave his pipe cleaner? How did a woman’s handkerchief with the initial H find itself in the murdered man’s compartment? Who was the woman in the kimono seen wandering  the train that night? Who was the small man with the feminine voice? Who was Mr.Ratchett really? Why was he killed? And why were his stab wounds so inconsistent?

Review:

This book is the ninth Hercule Poirot in a series of 38 mysteries. An attention to small detail, and a good memory are required when reading this novel. The author catches the reader’s attention almost immediately with a secretive and suspicious conversation between passengers on a previous train. Then the suspense continues when a man who appears as “a wild animal-an animal savage, but savage!” (19) is found in his train compartment to have been murdered in the night. Then comes the realization that the murderer must still be on the train, for the weather prevented them from leaving. Furthermore there are two unexplained and suspicious characters that cannot be accounted for. Agatha Christie is very successful in capturing and holding her reader’s interest and curiosity. The end comes as a complete and unexpected surprise!