Agatha takes her famous and fastidious detective, Hercule Poirot, for a murderous train ride in Murder on the Orient Express. Poirot must suddenly travel from Istanbul to London. It's December, so he believes getting a spot on the train will be easy, but meets great difficulty as the train is fully booked. M. Bouc, a friend and fellow Belgian, who overseas this train manages to get Poirot aboard and quickly turns over his first class accommodations to Poirot.
The train becomes stranded by a snowdrift, and Agatha has her favorite type a of setting, a closed "room" where a murder takes place and a limited number of suspects will reveal themselves to Poirot and his "little gray cells."
Ratchett, a wealthy and unpleasant American approaches Poirot and asks him to discover who is going to kill him for he has been threatened. Poirot refuses, "For I do not like your face." As usual, Poirot is right. Rachett is a nasty fellow who soon ends up dead. Poirot must now discover the killer among the 12 passengers.
The Queen of Suspense fits perfectly as a title for Agatha Christie. I rarely solve her mysteries before the end and this novel was no exception. I must admit that I fell in love with her funny, little Belgian sluth: his unexpected English phrases, his adroit observations, and his meticulous, even fussy, habits. But, mostly I loved how he would pause and think, something missing in today's busy and blaring world.
I give my highest recommendation for Orient Express to anyone who loves a challenging puzzle. Definitely not a modern suspense page turner, but no murder mystery has been more finely crafted or deftly resolve than the one in this novel.
Oh! This is a must read before the movie, even though you will know "who dun it."
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