Customer Reviews: Read 195 more reviews...
 Really good November 12, 2008
Not my normal type of book. But I was at my aunts and she did not have many books to choose from. Once I started I could not put it down. The story was good, a detective book. With clues from earlier chapters you can try and solve the crime your self.
 Classic or dated? November 5, 2008
Agatha Christie is one of, if not the, most prolific mystery authors to date. With a handful of captivating protagonists, ingenious plot devices, and unusual settings and cases, she managed to single-handedly establish the core of the mystery genre. And this book that I am about to review is one of her most famous works.
When Hercule Poirot boards the Orient Express he has no idea that he is about to descend into one of the most baffling cases of his career. After he makes eye-contact with a passenger by the name of Ratchett, he knows immediately that this man is no good, possibly even downright evil. With his sentiments echoed by everyone on board, it is not so much a surprise when Ratchett comes to him with an interesting proposition. He is being targeted for death by a private enemy and would like to enlist the detective's help in the detection of the culprit. M. Poirot refuses the case and thinks no more of it until the unfortunate Mr. Ratchett is found murdered. But as the case progresses, it comes to light that the circumstances are not so unfortunate as "Ratchett" was most certainly the despicable man everyone thought him. Armed with the knowledge that the murderer must still be on the train and the certainty that all the passengers are more than happy to see Ratchett dead, Hercule Poirot must sift through a handful of clues to track down a murderer.
I myself love the work of Agatha Christie, although some might find her stories a bit dated and outlandish. Sometimes the leaps of logic are a bit hard to follow, but that's what makes Detective Poirot such a formidable crime-solver. And the ending is superb. A must read for anyone who wants to acquaint themselves with classic mystery!
What is the solution when one must be guilty yet no one can be guilty? Poirot knows. October 22, 2008
Originally published in 1933, this story has some historical references that will be of interest to historians, but fortunately have only minor relevance to the main track of the plot. These references are to ethnic and national personalities and biases as well as the British dominance of India and Iraq.
In this case, M. Poirot is traveling on the Orient Express, the train that connects Western Europe with the Balkans, Turkey and the Middle East. He boards in Syria along with a cosmopolitan group of fellow passengers. Since the group contains such a variety of people the comment is made at the time that it us unusual for so many nationalities to be aboard the train in the winter season.
A murder is committed, and the odd point is that the man was stabbed 12 times. Given the nature of the wounds, it appears that some of them were caused by a man and the others by a woman. Since the train has been stopped by a severe snowstorm, the murder had to be committed by someone in the same sleeping car.
M. Poirot is called on to solve the case and as he interviews all possible perpetrators, he finds that everyone has an alibi, each person has others that can vouch for their innocence. Therefore, after the first pass through the interviews of the 12 people, the only conclusion is that it is impossible for any of them to have murdered the man. However, M. Poirot is able to determine that the victim was a vicious criminal who had kidnapped and murdered a young girl. Although it was known that he committed that crime and no doubt other similar ones, the kidnapper was able to escape from the clutches of the law.
While this knowledge does not help pin down the murderer, when told of the victim's true nature, all twelve of the people express joy at his death. Some express it more emphatically than others. After a second round of questioning, M. Poirot starts extracting additional facts and of course he is led to the path of identifying the killer(s).
This is Agatha Christie at her best, the story at first leads to an impossible end, although the path there deposits many clues to the solution. Once M. Poirot starts the second round of questioning, the clues begin to pop up rather quickly and the structure of the murder plot becomes evident.
Are the Ticket-Holders What They Seem? October 21, 2008
In her autobiography, Dame Agatha wrote that when she journeyed on the orient express, nothing more exciting happened than that she had to kill a few bed bugs. The journey, however, provided ideas for one of her most ingenious and tightly-plotted books.
So brilliant is the construction that she manages to have Poirot concoct two possible explanations of what happened and who did it - each involving a dozen suspects. Expect to find Poirot present on almost every page, a wide range of characters who "talk up" well in the requisite interviews, some humour, and a resolution that bypasses the need for justice to be done.
Only one film adaptation of this book has been attempted so far. It premiered during Dame Agatha's final year and she pronounced herself well-satisfied with it. More satisfying to me has been listening to David Suchet's reading of the book. Adopting and switching between perhaps twenty different accents, male and female, while reserving a clearly recognizable narrative voice, he easily feeds my imagination with travellers, a train, and a tale.
In the 1930s, writers of detective fiction still retained the earlier convention of including, towards the end, a survey of who might have committed the crime, considering motive, opportunity, alibi, etc. This happens here. I registered a falling off of interest while this occurred; otherwise I was a willing and vastly entertained captive.
perfect for a long train ride! October 20, 2008
I read this book on a long train ride and I enjoyed it. I find it very odd that this was the first book I ever figured out the ending to though. (the other odd part is that the second book I figured out was Murder of Rodger Ackroyd but the rest of the books I couldn't figure out) So my point is, I don't know if it's easy to figure out or if I just had a lucky guess, but either way it's worth the read. The setting and characters were interesting and for a lot of the book I was sitting there reading reasons that changed my suspects and then changed them back. This is defiantly one of better Christies books. Not my favorite but still very good. It really zips along.
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