Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m not a big fan of mystery but Agatha Christie has a way of making look past that. Set in the years between WWI and WWII, “Murder on the Orient Express” has murder, glamor, intrigue, and train travel. Oh, and Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective that features in many of Ms. Christie’s books.
Poirot is between cases and is looking forward to a vacation. We start in northern Syria as he boards a train to take him to Istanbul. By the time he gets to Istanbul, he meets his old friend, Bouc, and one thing leads to another and he finds himself on the Orient Express, the luxury train from Istanbul to Calais. While on the train we meet a cast of characters from different social and national backgrounds. Then a murder happens and it’s up to Poirot to solve it before it happens again.
I like how the book is organized. There’s the setting, the crime, the suspects, and solving the case. All of the evidence is there for readers to solve, although I’m not good at it. It makes for a fun read to puzzle out.