Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries, 10)
Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries, 10) book cover

Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries, 10)

Paperback – January 18, 2011

Price
$9.39
Format
Paperback
Pages
288
Publisher
William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0062073495
Dimensions
5.31 x 0.65 x 8 inches
Weight
7.8 ounces

Description

“A brilliantly ingenious story.” — Dorothy L. Sayers, Daily Herald (UK) “It’s tempting to say that Agatha Christie is a genius and let it go at that, but the world’s had plenty of geniuses. Agatha Christie is something special.” — Lawrence Block, New York Times bestselling author “[Moves] smoothly and entertainingly to its surprise conclusion.” — Chicago Daily Tribune “Nothing short of swell. [Christie] is probably the best suspicion scatterer and diverter in the business.” — New York Herald Tribune “Need it be said—the little grey cells solve once more the seemingly insoluble. Mrs Christie makes an improbable tale very real, and keeps her readers enthralled and guessing to the end.” — Times Literary Supplement (London) “What more…can a mystery addict desire?” — New York Times “Agatha Christie’s books are both wonderful crime novels and studies in contrast and duality, and I adore them still. Underestimate them at your peril.” — Louise Penny, #1 New York Times -bestselling author of the Inspector Gamache novels “Reading a perfectly plotted Agatha Christie is like crunching into a perfect apple: that pure, crisp, absolute satisfaction.” — Tana French , New York Times -bestselling author of the Dublin Murder Squad novels “Agatha Christie taught me many important lessons about the inner workings of the mystery novel before it ever occurred to me that I might one day be writing mysteries myself.” — Sue Grafton, #1 New York Times -bestselling author of the Kinsey Millhone novels “Any mystery writer who wants to learn how to plot should spend a few days reading Agatha Christie. She’ll show you everything you want to know.” — Donna Leon, New York Times -bestselling author of the Commissario Brunetti novels “I always wanted to be Agatha Christie when I grew up. I still do.” — J. A. Jance, New York Times -bestselling author of the Joanna Brady and J. P. Beaumont novels “Agatha Christie’s indelibly etched characters have entertained millions across the years and a love of her work has brough together generations of readers—a singular achievement for any author and an inspiration to writers across the literary landscape.” — Jacqueline Winspear, New York Times -bestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs novels Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. One of his fellow passengers must be the murderer. Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man's enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again. Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • THE MOST WIDELY READ MYSTERY OF ALL TIME—NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY KENNETH BRANAGH AND PRODUCED BY RIDLEY SCOTT!
  • “The murderer is with us—on the train now . . .”
  • Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Without a shred of doubt, one of his fellow passengers is the murderer.
  • Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man’s enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again.
  • “What more . . . can a mystery addict desire?” —
  • New York Times

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(18.2K)
★★★★
25%
(7.6K)
★★★
15%
(4.5K)
★★
7%
(2.1K)
-7%
(-2119)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Received this book and it looks like some bootleg copy of a real book

Received this book and it looks like some bootleg copy of a real book. It looks like someone copied a real copy of the book in their basement or at Kinko's. Really disappointed and it's not worth the effort of returning. I'm not sure why this happened.
4 people found this helpful
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I haven't read a mystery of this ilk in a long time and it was a breath of fresh air.

I haven't read a mystery of this ilk in a long time and it was a breath of fresh air. Agatha Christie wrote this book in 1934 and it's a beaut! It stars her famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. It seems to me many books and movies like 'After The Thin Man' have stolen Agatha's idea of gathering all the suspects for one final interrogation to solve the case. Can anybody do it better than Agatha, who has out-sold every published work except the Bible and Shakespeare? Maybe the only character that can challenge Hercule Poirot is Agatha's other famous sleuth, Miss Jane Marple. Since this book was written so long ago, it gives the reader the flavor of the times, such as the European attitude towards America, the style of clothing, and the reminiscence of long train trips.

The story starts with our hero boarding the Orient Express in Aleppo, Syria, after a successful investigation for the French Army. He meets one of the directors of the company that runs the Orient train, M.Bouc. Hercule Poirot joins the other thirteen passengers, M. Bouc, a Dr. Constantine, and one conductor in the Athens-Paris Coach. And folks we are off to the races!! One of the passengers, a Mr. Ratchett, who is of vile and dubious character turns up dead on the first night of the trip. He's been stabbed twelve times in his bunk. To make matters worse, the train is now at a standstill, snowed-in by a blizzard. That means the killer is stranded on the train and posses a threat to the remaining twelve passengers on the Athens-Paris car. As you probably guessed, the director of the train, M. Bouc, engages our lovable and pyknic detective, Hercule Poirot. Let the Lumosity exercises begin! The rest of the novel is a cat-and-mouse game between the twelve passengers and Hercule. I tried to figure out who the killer was and I didn't even come close!

It's amazing to me how Agatha Christie can make the reader visualize all seventeen people on the train in only 265 pages. I liked the way Agatha has Hercule use the director ( M. Bouc ), and the doctor ( Constantine ) as a sounding board to test his theories. He actually makes them think that they are helping him solve the mystery. This is a very sound novel and completely enjoyable. I am totally drawn- in to this series and hope to read 'Death on The Nile' in the very near future. Do yourself a favor and read A Hercule Poirot novel right now, especially this one.
3 people found this helpful
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Decent quality paper

Better quality paperback than the Penguin classics brand book I bought with it.
2 people found this helpful
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I had decided to read it because the movie is coming out and I usually like to read the book (if applicable) before I see ...

I have never read an Agatha Christie book before this one. I had decided to read it because the movie is coming out and I usually like to read the book (if applicable) before I see the movie. It was written in the 1930s so the language is quite different than that of today’s vernacular. There are also French phrases in this book. I took a couple years of French so I can decipher some of it, but I did find it a little bit distracting since I had to decipher a different style of the English language as well. All that aside, the story was well thought out. I found myself trying to solve the mystery while following Hercule Poirot’s investigation. I will likely be reading more of the Hercule Poirot series. I am not a big reader and when I do read it is usually gorey horror stories. While this is about a murder, it is less gory, it focuses more on the personalities of the passengers and the psychological aspect of detective work.
2 people found this helpful
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The book literally was not printedi

It was as id they ran out of ink and I got the poorly printed copy. This has never happened to me before
1 people found this helpful
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Damaged Book

Book cover arrived damaged
1 people found this helpful
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It's everything a good old fashioned murder mystery should be

READ THIS BOOK!
It's everything a good old fashioned murder mystery should be! And it's Hercule Poirot at his best as the beloved Belgian detective :)
As an avid Agatha Christie fan, I just can't recommend this book enough!
1 people found this helpful
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Murder on the Orient Express

As I said elsewhere I am not a Hercule Poirot fan. I bought it because this was made into a movie. But unlike my experience with Death on the Nile. I could not get into this book. I saw the movie but I could not hear them or see them as I read. It was different.
1 people found this helpful
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Embanked in Murder

Though the books are somewhat dated, it is remarkable how Agatha Christie's book still have the ability to captivate an audience. It can be frustrating when everything is so obvious to Hercule Poirot as the reader is disadvantaged by being in the world of non-fiction. The disadvantage makes the book no less entertaining.

Clearly borrowed from the story of the Lindbergh baby, the plot of this novel sees the kidnapper get what he has coming. On the run after murdering a child that he kidnapped, Ratchett is aware that his days are numbered. On the Orient Express, he continues his attempt to flee, even seeking the assistance of Hercule Poirot. When the train becomes stalled in a snow embankment, Ratchett is murdered. While there exists no clear line to the killer, many seem to have some loose connection to the family of the deceased child. Noting the fine details, Poirot makes a stunning revelation in the end. And while the ending may be known to contemporary audiences, watching the plot unravel makes it more remarkable.

"Murder on the Orient Express" is one the better known works of Christie because she is at her best. Veterans of Christie novels may see the ending coming more easily, but will certainly find reading enjoyable.
1 people found this helpful
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Great Read!!

I really enjoyed this book, it is a great read! It is a true page turner, I read it too fast, now I need to find another book to read. Before reading this book, I had watched a PBS documentary about the Orient Express, this was nice because then while reading the book I had in my mind a very clear image of the train decor, cars, etc. Enjoy!!
1 people found this helpful