Review: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot, #10)

by Agatha Christie

Published by Harper

Classic, crime, mystery

What more can a mystery addict desire than a much-loathed murder victim found aboard the luxurious Orient Express with multiple stab wounds, thirteen likely suspects, an incomparably brilliant detective in Hercule Poirot, and the most ingenious crime ever conceived?

I've only read one Agatha Christie book before and that was And Then There Were None. However, that was almost a decade ago and it was a required reading for school so I wasn't the most engaged with the story. With the new movie coming out, I wanted to dive into Murder on the Orient Express before I watched the movie, so here I am, finally reading classic murder mystery without being forced to do so.

I enjoyed the story, although I must admit I was surprised how it was written. The story is divided into three parts: the facts, the evidence, and Poirot's sit down and thought process. Each chapter also contains one thing, for example, the evidence chapters are all about one person/thing per chapter. This was a structure that I had never read before and it was very interesting: it was easy to keep up and in a sense it read almost like a police file in novel form. Absolutely brilliant! The characters and plot was engaging, and I loved trying to figure out who was guilty of the murder of Mr Ratchett. Hercule Poirot was also quite charismatic and engaging inspector, and his thought process and conclusions were brilliant to follow.

Without giving any spoilers, I do have to say that I was disappointed at the ending and how the aftermath of the crime was dealt with. The mystery itself was brilliant and surprising, just the consequences part of the aftermath was severely disappointing. That's solely the reason why I'm giving this four stars instead of five.

If you're interested in some classic crime, I'd highly recommend Murder on the Orient Express: it's quick to read, has some very intriguing characters and the mystery is engaging.

4 of 5 stars

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