Murder on the Orient Express

From the book cover:
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

Lord Edgware Dies

From the book cover:
Supper at the Savoy! Hercule Poirot, the famous little detective, was enjoying a pleasant little supper party there as the guest of Lady Edgware, formerly Jane Wilkinson, a beautiful young American actress. During the conversation Lady Edgware speaks of the desirability of getting rid of her husband, Lord Edgware, since he refuses to divorce her, and she wants to marry the Duke of Merton. M. Poirot jocularly replies that getting rid of husbands is not his speciality. Within Twenty-four hours, however, Lord Edgware dies.
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My Review:
More than providing entertaining murder mysteries, Agatha Christie's novels - for me anyways- are a glimpse of the society of the early twentieth century. Hercule Poirot is suppose to be a well-informed and progressive detective, yet he makes a lot of generalizations about race, ethnicity and sex. When characterizing one of the main characters in this mystery he comments that she is a Jewess and thus shrewd and possesses a love of money.

In other novels, Poirot has made similar stereotypical comments about characters from various ethnic groups and in most brandishing some form of stereotype about women. I've come to the conclusion that Hercule Poirot and maybe Agatha Christie did not care much for actors. They are usually portrayed in less than a flattering light, and in this mystery it's no different.

Lord Edgware Dies is definitely one of Agatha Christie's best murder mysteries. The characters are all strange in their own unique way, and the plot is somewhat feasible which allowed me to actually solve the mystery on my own. And for once I can say there are no loose ends.

Another reason, I enjoyed this novel is Hastings. This time around his thoughts touch on Poirot annoying habits such a boasting and ridicule Knowing that he's just as annoyed with Poirot's arrogance, makes him that much more likable.

4/5

Peril at End House

From the book cover:

Perched on the rocky cliffs of the Cornish coast, the imposing structure known as End House looms over the quiet hotel where retired detective Hercule Poirot is vacationing. Though the house is intriguing, its reckless young mistress, Nick Buckly, is even more so. She has narrowly escaped a recent series of life-threatening accidents, and something tells the Belgian sleuth that these so-called accidents are more than just coincidences or a spate of bad luck. Someone is trying to do away with poor Nick. But who? And what is the motive? In his quest for answers, Poirot must delve into the dark history of End House. The deeper he gets into his investigation, the more certain he is that the killer will soon strike again. And this time Nick may not escape with her life.

My Review:

Hercule Poirot and his trusted sidekick, Captain Hastings, are on the scene before the murder is committed in this entertaining and very unpredictable mystery. No one is as they seem, including the would-be victim, Nick Buckly.

Poirot and Hastings may be growing on me because I didn’t find them nearly as annoying as I have in the past. Poirot is humbled by his failure to stop the murder, and the length of time it takes him with his ‘superior grey cells’ to solve this mystery. Captain Hastings seems to have matured; he doesn’t give Poirot as many opportunities to ridicule him as was his habit in the past.

I’m always surprised by the amount of female stereotypes that Poirot and Hastings employ in trying to solve their cases. You’d think with a female author, there would be less of that stuff. I guess that's what makes Agatha Christie’s mysteries entertaining – her ability to detach from her own personal beliefs to create these lifelike characters that hold opinions, that I imagine, contradict hers.

4/5

The Mystery of the Blue Train

From the book cover

Hercule Poirot is en route from Calais to Nice on the Blue Train when he finds himself at the center of a vexing crime. A young American woman, Ruth Van Aldin Kettering, is found brutally murdered on board the train. The killer is still at large, and it is up to Poirot to pick him or her out among a cast of suspicious characters. Among them are Ruth's husband, Derek Kettering, to whom she is unhappily married, and an exotic dancer with a taste for a man like Derek. As he pursues the killer, Poirot encounters several passengers with a keen interest in a large, legendary ruby that Ruth possessed, a gift from her wealthy father.

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To my great relief, The Murder on the Blue Train features a third-person omnipresent style. Captain Hastings is only mentioned in this novel once. Instead, Poirot has a part-time sidekick in the very practical Katherine Grey. The have such an easy relationship from the get-go that I was hoping she'd become Hercule Poirot's love interest, even though she is several years his junior. Am I the only one who'd like to see Poirot in a relationship?

One of the things I like about this novel is the romance aspect. Reading this novel, I can almost see Agatha Christie's interest in the romance genre blossoming. The romance centres around Katherine's two perspective beaus. Who will she choose, the charming but suspicious widow, Derek or the equally charming yet shy Knighton?

Another interesting thing about this novel is the hint of the supernatural. Katherine has the feeling that the dead woman's ghost is trying to speak to her and those feeling actually aid Poirot in solving the mystery.

I have a little theory that am I going to test with the next Hercule Poirot mystery I read, I'm going to bet on the most unlikely person (s). You know, that person you don't even realize is a suspect. That's all I'm going to say because I don't want to spoil the mystery for those who haven't read this charming novel.

4/5

The Big Four

From the book cover

Number One was a Chinaman - the greatest criminal brain of all time; Number Two was a multi-millionaire; Number Three was a beautiful Frenchwoman; and Number Four was "the destroyer," the ruthless murderer, with a genius for disguise, whose business it was to remove those who interfered with his masters' plans. These Four, working together, aimed at establishing a world dominion, and against them were ranged Hercule Poirot, the little Belgian detective with the egg-shaped head , the green eyes and "the little gray cells," and his friend, Hastings.
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The Big Four is probably the best Agatha Christie murder mystery I've read thus far. Captain Hasting is now married and living in South America with his wife, Cinderella. In England to take care of some business, he ends up joining Poirot for this investigation, thus providing the narrative.

The Big Four is six mini mysteries wrapped in one big mystery. Throughout the course of a year, Poirot investigates five murders and one kidnapping, each crime giving him a clue towards discovering the identity of the destroyer and thwarting The Big Four's plan for world domination.

There's so much action packed into the 281 pages of the book that I was able to read it in one day. This is one area where it differs from many of Poirot's other cases, which are usually solved through reasoning and the use of his "gray cells." In this story he solves his mysteries by travelling the globe in search of clues.

4/5

Poirot Investigates

From the book cover

First there was the mystery of the film star and the diamond...then came the 'suicide' that was murder... the mystery of the absurdly cheap flat...a suspicious death in a locked gun-room...a million dollar bond robbery...the curse of a pharaoh's tomb... a jewel robbery by the sea...the abduction of a Prime Minister... the disappearance of a banker...a phone call from a dying man...and, finally, the mystery of the missing will. 

What links these fascinating cases? Only the brilliant deductive powers of Hercule Poirot!
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The Adventure of 'The Western Star'
Poirot orchestrates a jewellery theft to uncover the real criminal. Captain Hastings unwittingly gives the other side inside information.


The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor
Poirot exposes the 'grieving' widow by proving that she murdered her much older husband to get her hands on his life insurance.

The Adventure of the Cheap Flat
Poirot solves the mystery but leaves one important question unanswered.

The Mystery of the Hunter's Lodge
Poirot cracks a case of double identity and in the process proves that no murder has been committed.

The Million Dollar Bond Robbery
In discovering the thief, Poirot  proves that there are criminals in high places.

The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb
Poirot disproves a superstition by solving a double murder.

The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan
Poirot is working even when he's on a getaway! This time Poirot helps capture two of England's most notorious jewellery thieves.

The Kidnapped Prime Minister
Poirot rescues the kidnapped prime minister of England in less than 24 hours.

The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim
Poirot accepts a bet from his friend, Inspector Japp. How superior are his grey cells, can he solve the mystery of the missing financier without leaving his room?

The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman
Poirot see through an attempted frame-up to nab the true murderer.

The Case of the Missing Will
Intelligence is knowing when to leave it to the experts. A niece hires Poirot to discover where her uncle hid his final will that names her his sole heir.


Sherlock Holmes vs. Hercule Poirot: Who's your favourite fictional detective?

3/5

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A Hercule Poirot Mystery

From the book cover

Roger Ackroyd knew too much. He knew that the woman he loved had poisoned her brutal first husband. He suspected also that someone had been blackmailing her. Then tragically, came the news that she had taken her own life with a drug overdose.

But the evening post brought Roger one last fatal scrap of information. Unfortunately, before he could finish reading the letter, he was stabbed to death.
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Spoiler Alert

"The letters were brought in at twenty minutes to nine. It was just on ten minutes to nine when I left him, the letter still unread. I hesitated with my hand on the door handle, looking back and wondering if there was anything I had left undone."

"I did what little had to be done."

With the above statements the reader is meant to clue in that the narrator is the murderer. I'm a trusting reader so I assume that the narrator is providing complete details about his involvement in the crime. At one point I wondered if the narrator might be the murderer because it's always the person you least suspect, but I brushed my suspicions aside because the narrator was playing Watson to Hercule Poirot's Sherlocke Holmes.

I really enjoyed this novel but couldn't help shaking my head at a couple oddities.

Some of the characters openly admit to entering and leaving the house via windows, and others are suspected of doing so. Did people  in the 1920s and 30s commonly use windows to enter homes? This is the second Agatha Christie novel in which it is mentioned casually that someone entered or left through the window. In the first novel that I noticed it, The Secret at Chimneys, everyone from suspects to detectives use window short cuts... Why wouldn't these people just use a side or back door? Both mysteries take place in large country homes, surely there is more than just the front door.

Another issue is with the relationship between Ralph Paton  and Roger Ackroyd. Early in the novel Ralph is introduced as Roger Ackroyd's stepson then all of a sudden midway through the novel he's referred to as his nephew and then at the end of the novel he's back to being Roger's stepson. What gives with the inconsistencies? Agatha Christie is the most widely published author, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare, surely she had an editor.

3/5

The Murder on the Links

From the book cover:

An urgent cry for help brings Poirot to France. But he arrives too late to save his client, whose brutally stabbed body now lies face downwards in a shallow grave on a golf course.

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The Murder on the Links is my third Agatha Christie novel and my second Hercule Poirot mystery. If you're a regular on this blog, you probably already know that I've pledged to read all of Agatha Christie's novels in order of their publication.

I really enjoyed this novel, I think I prefer it to the first Hercule Poirot mystery The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Poirot is even more eccentric. The addition of the younger Detective Giraud, and their constant banter and one-upmanship behaviour adds a a bit of fun and comedy to the plot.

In this novel, Captain Hastings' character becomes even more naive and clueless. He's the perfect side kick to Poirot's brilliant mind. The reader is most likely not at Poirot's level but is most definitely further along than Hastings.

Another plus, for me personally, are the few brief mentions of Canada.

3.5/5

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

From the book cover

Set in Essex in the English countryside, The Mysterious Affair at Styles is one of the great classic murder mysteries. The victim, Mrs. Emily Inglethorp, is the wealthy mistress of Styles Court. After an evening of entertaining family and guests, she is found poisoned in her locked bedroom. The long list of suspects include her gold-digging new husband, her stepsons, her best female friend, and a visiting doctor. As luck would have it, a brilliant, if rather eccentric, detective is among the company at Styles. Here, in her first published mystery, Agatha Christie introduces us to her beloved Belgian protagonist, inspector Hercule Poirot, who methodically pieces together the intricate evidence of this bewildering crime. From his very first appearance, Poirot amuses us with his oddly fastidious habits - then astonishes us with the power of his razor-sharp mind. Christie keeps us guessing as to the murderer's identity until Poirot finally present his ingenious solution to this landmark mystery. And, voila, one of the genre's most famous sleuths is born.
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The Mysterious Affair at Styles is my first Agatha Christie novel and the first novel she published. I'm hoping to read all of her novels in order of their publication dates.

This classic whodunit reminds me of a Murder, She Wrote and Columbus mysteries. It's a nice easy read with lots of little twists and turns so the reader thinks they have solved the mystery at several points.

I enjoyed reading this novel, despite my lukewarm feeling towards the narrator, Mr.Hastings. He claims to have an interest in one day becoming a detective yet he has absolutely no instinct. He is just slightly more clued in than Inspector Gadget. He came across as being a bit too naive. And, Hercule Poirot came across as the typical detective.

I feel like I've read this book before... will this feeling continue as I make my way through Agatha Christie's collection?

I recommend this novel to anyone looking for a light read.

3/5