Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. One of his fellow passengers must be the murderer.
Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man's enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again.
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My Review:
Murder on the Orient Express is up there with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Peril at End House, when it comes to expecting the unexpected. The tone of Orient Express is very different from Agatha Christie's other Hercule Poirot mysteries. Without his trusted sidekick Hastings, Poirot is much more likable. He has no one to boast to or to diminish so he just goes about solving the case.
This novel also stands out against Christie's other mysteries for its pro-America leanings. On several occasions through the novel various characters praise America for its modern forward-thinking leaning and its multiculturalism.
Unlike many of Christie's other murder mysteries, there is a moral dilemma involved in the solving of this case. Will Poirot side with traditional justice or back the vigilantes?
Murder on the Orient Express is a great book to take along for a three-hour flight or road trip. It's a quick, entertaining and pleasant read.
4/5
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