From the Bookshelf of 2015 Reading Challenge [Closed]…

Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot, #10)

Agatha Christie

Discussion: . Week 10: Mystery or Thriller

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 84 topics — 393 comments total

. Week 10: Mystery or Thriller

* Week 10: Introduction
By Jessica · 12 posts · 241 views

last updated Jan 12, 2015 08:35AM

* Week 10: Progress Post
By Zaz , Mood Minion · 24 posts · 77 views

last updated Oct 27, 2015 06:10AM

showing 5 of 5 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Dec 21, 2017 Veena rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller

The book begins with Poirot sitting in a train overhearing a man and a woman talk. He gets off the train and checks in a hotel only to realize he has to travel to London immediately. He finds the next train that is full. However he fits himself on an empty seat.
Christie spends some time describing the company in the train and each one’s character thrown here and there into conversations and descriptions. And then a murder takes place. This murder in particular acquits everyone or none at all. Ea The book begins with Poirot sitting in a train overhearing a man and a woman talk. He gets off the train and checks in a hotel only to realize he has to travel to London immediately. He finds the next train that is full. However he fits himself on an empty seat.
Christie spends some time describing the company in the train and each one’s character thrown here and there into conversations and descriptions. And then a murder takes place. This murder in particular acquits everyone or none at all. Each passenger behaves in calm fashion that only comes with innocence until Poirot starts to examine each of them in connection with one another. Poirot starts pulling one end of the thread and the whole spool comes out.
The mystery is unearthed keeping in mind the descriptions that the author generously sprinkled throughout the story even without you realizing it. A spectacle of classism can be seen in the story throughout. However, they are just a couple of people who are pretending to be what they are not.
Towards the end when the murdered is identified, one faces a moral dilemma which is even more fascinating. I absolutely loved reading the content. It was a joyride!

Language
Christie follows a clean British English that is a pleasure to read. The mystery is maintained with the slight fold of events that are narrated with utmost ease.

Characters
There are multiple characters in the book. I am going to talk about the few that I liked immensely. There is an American woman named Mrs Hubbard who is hysterical at the time of panic and loud when she is not panicking. She is forever talking about what her daughter thinks of everything, sliding her into conversations easily. That is a wonder, really! There is an American who is always looking over his back. He believes that someone is out there to get him. He is right, I guess, since we are solving his murder here. There are others, those who are traveling in the train. Ms Bouc owns the carriage. He has a weird disconcert towards Italians. There is also Dr Constantine. He is a doctor by profession who discovers some crucial details about the murder. And lastly there is our own Hercule Poirot. He is a world famous detective and he knows it! There is certain sternness in his conduct that may come across as arrogance. He is charming though! All the characters mentioned or otherwise are distinct. I marvel at Christie’s genius. She has crafted these characters well enough for them to look easy. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Apr 05, 2016 Heather Godwin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

"What's wrong with my proposition?"
Poirot rose. "If you will forgive me for being personal - I do not like your face, M. Ratchett."

I really enjoyed And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie.
Murder Mystery, or really mysteries in general are a new category/genre to me and I have a like/hate relationship with it.
I love figuring out the murder but I also hate being held in suspense about it.
Hercule Poirot annoyed me.
He sorta figured out early on what had happened but doesn't let the reader i ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 16, 2015 Bana AZ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This was pretty exciting. I might have given it five stars if I didn't keep comparing Poirot to Sherlock, though.

The story is all about a murder on a train. What complicates things is the true identity of the victim, and the so-called clues and evidence that first appears.

While reading, I couldn't help but try to solve it, too. From chapter to chapter, I'm being pointed to one character as seeming guilty, and then innocent, and it's another character after all, but then they turn out to seem inn ...more

Like · see review

Jan 02, 2019 ktouton rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: murder-mystery, classics

I have not seen the most recent (2017) version of the movie. I have probably seen the old version (1974), but did not remember it. While reading the book I was watching a NCIS on my DVR and one of the characters "spoiled" the ending.

The best thing about this book is it is a good, old fashioned murder mystery. There are no alternate time lines. She doesn't spring characters on you at the very end to make her murder work. She does make you use your brain to figure out "who done it." ...more

Like · see review