Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

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Murder Returns on the Big Screen


Get ready, it's almost here!  The movie remake of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express is due to be released in theaters on November 10, and I, for one, can't wait to see it!! I loved the book and am reviving my review below from a few years ago.  As for the movie, it's packed with a star-studded cast including:  Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot the master detective; Johnny Depp as American Samuel Ratchett; Judi Dench as Princess Dragomiroff, Michelle Pfeiffer as Mrs. Hubbard; Penelope Cruz; Willem Dafoe and more. From the trailers, it promises to be a visual treat that is probably best seen on the big screen. Although books usually tend to be better than the movies, this one just may rise up to equal it. 


You still have time to read the book.  Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, is a quick but captivating ride packed with one mysteriously dead American and a dozen suspects. Called to solve a case in London, renowned detective Hercule Poirot takes the Orient Express train from Turkey to France. In the luncheon car, Poirot is sipping coffee with a liqueur chaser when who would interrupt him but an American with “false benevolence of the brow and the small, cruel eyes.” The American had been receiving threatening letters, and asks Poirot to look into it. Poirot, however, wants nothing to do with the ugly American and dismisses his request even after repeated offers of big money.  He explains that he only takes on cases that interest him, and adds that he also does not like the American’s face. Case closed.   

When the same American is found dead in his compartment, stabbed multiple times, Poirot suddenly finds interest. Case opened. He starts investigating and discovers that on this train, motives are like assholes—everyone has one. With astute observations and loads of logic, Poirot ultimately solves the crime, leading the reader through each step of the intriguing process. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Hercule Poirot amuses me with his egotistical attitude and extraordinary powers of deduction and reason.  I would like to sample a bit more of Christie’s famous works.  There are just too many of them.  I don’t know when I would squeeze the dozens and dozens of detective novels into my other reading. I did manage to find time for Death on the Nile, however, which I found just as entertaining as Murder on the Orient Express.   

Happy reading, 
Annette



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