Murder on the Orient Express

A Review of the Agatha Christie Classic Mystery Novel

Jan 29, 2007

Murder on the Orient Express, Courtesy of Black Dog and Leventhal

Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express" is a murder mystery classic. The diverse characters and unique plot make for a timeless -- and enjoyable -- novel.

Murder on the Orient Express, published in 1934, is one of the books that have earned Agatha Christie her place as the best-selling mystery author of all time. The novel features Christie favorite, Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective who happens to be traveling on the Orient Express from Istanbul to London. His fellow passengers are a diverse mixture of characters. There are:

Mary Debenham, a young British governess
Colonel Arbuthnot, a British army officer returning from India
Princess Natalia Dragomiroff, an elderly Russian grande dame
Hildegarde Schmidt, the Princess' middle-aged German maid
Count and Countess Andrenyi, an Hungarian diplomat and his young wife
Greta Ohlsson, a middle-aged Swedish missionary
Caroline Hubbard, a middle-aged, excitable American woman
Antonio Foscarelli, an Italian businessman
Mr. Samuel Rachett, a wealthy American businessman
Hector McQueen, Rachett's young American secretary
Edward Masterman, Rachett's English valet

Poirot on the Case

During the night, while the passengers are presumably asleep, Mr. Rachett is murdered in his sleep, stabbed 12 times. Although Poirot was asleep in the next compartment, he has heard nothing, but the murderer cannot get away on a moving train. By morning, the train is stuck in a snowdrift in the Yugoslavian countryside. There are no footprints leading to or from the train, so the murder is still among them. But whom?

As Poirot uses his "little gray cells" to solve the murder before the train gets underway and the murderer is allowed to escape, dozens of clues present themselves -- too many clues! Eventually, it seems that everyone on the train, including the French conductor, Pierre Michel, might have had a motive. How is Poirot to get to the truth?

A Unique Mystery

Murder on the Orient Express is unique in that the action is confined to two rail cars during a two-day period. It's a sort of variation on the classic mystery ploy of the "locked room." On the surface, this would seem dull, but not with Christie's writing. The interesting characters -- all believable despite (or maybe because of their) idiosyncrasies give the plot its interesting twists. It's a true murder mystery master that can figure this one about before the final page.

Timeless Appeal

Although set in the 1930s, Murder on the Orient Express is as readable today as it was when it was written. The glamour of the Orient Express train still strikes a wistful chord with most readers and the action and motives of the characters transcend time and period.

Orient Express Trivia

The novel was also published under the title: Murder in the Calais Coach
Murder on the Orient Express was made into a movie in 1974, with an all-star cast and Albert Finney as Poirot.
Before it was published as a novel, Murder on the Orient Express was published as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post, from July 1 to September 30, 1933.