How do you review a book that has been reviewed probably a million times before? You just go for it, I guess!
Murder on the Orient Express is another of Agatha Christie’s famous novels centring around detective Hercule Poirot. This time Poirot finds himself aboard a snowdrift stopped Orient Express when an American traveller is found dead in his compartment; murdered, of course.
This was my first Agatha Christie novel, and I don’t think it will be my last. I tended to stay away from Christie’s novels in the past as I had somehow garnered the perception of them being cheesy, but that wasn’t the case at all. However, if you are more a fan of contemporary novels, then you might have a problem. This story was written in 1934 and you can tell, in terms of the writing style, the behaviour of the characters and, sadly, the casual racism dropped throughout.
Nevertheless, the writing style made this book very easy to read (although there were bits of French scattered here and there). The story followed a very logical order, beginning with the arrival of Poirot on the Orient Express, to the murder, the questioning, analysis of evidence and finally, the big reveal. In some ways, this logical narrative bored me and I sometimes found the story repetitive, particularly when it came to the other passengers’ alibis. However, I wouldn’t say this was a complete turn off as I still found it an intriguing story that kept me sucked in. Except for the ending. I was not satisfied by the outcome at all. But, then again, the trick is on my because I was nowhere near figuring it out.
I ultimately read this book because Murder on the Orient Express is being released this year as a new film starring Johnny Depp. If you are interested in seeing the film, I recommend reading the book first. Especially those of you are fans of old school detectives; it will be fascinating to see how Poirot is played out on the big screen today.
Joyful Antidotes 
I read this one ages and ages ago, after I found it in my grandmother’s house 🙂
One of my favourite Agatha Christie’s is Hallowe’en Party. Also Elephants Can Remember. Also… shucks, I like them all.
If you want to read some of her writing that has a lot more character development and not necessarily a mystery element, the series of stories she wrote under the pen name Mary Westmacott are really good.
Thanks for the tip! I am going to have a look out for that series. I do want to read more as I have heard great things about her writing.
I felt almost the same things when I read the book. I was not satisfied with the ending either 😦 But I’ll definitely be looking out for more Poirot novels in the future.
Would love it if you could check out my review of it!
https://ravenandbeez.wordpress.com/2017/10/11/murder-on-the-orient-express/