Tolog Review: Murder on the Orient Express

Murder on the Orient Express
by Agatha Christie
reviewed by Campbell Buffington

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie is a murder mystery novel in which a detective, Hercule Poirot, travels by train (the Orient Express) across Europe. In his coach, the Calais Coach, we are introduced to our main characters: Mr. Ratchett, Mary Debenham, Mrs. Hubbard, Princess Dragomiroff, Colonel Arbuthnot, Countess Andrenyi, Count Andrenyi, Mr. Foscarelli, Mrs. Hildegarde, Mr. McQueen, Mr. Hardman, Dr. Constantine, and Mr. Pierre. All of these characters are constantly referred to within the plot. When an unexpected blizzard causes the train to pause its journey, many of the characters are stressed (especially Mrs. Hubbard). In the middle of that night, Poirot heard someone scream, and as a detective does, decided to investigate the situation. However, no one/nothing appeared to be out of place, so Poirot went back to bed. The next morning however, someone was murdered! In addition to fretting about the paused train, everyone's mood turns even more worried and scared then ever. However, Poirot, being one of the best detectives in Europe, wants to find out what exactly happened. Without giving much away, I can tell you that the murderer was not to be expected. Poirot has a special way of getting inside the mind of the murderer, figuring out the motive and decisions the murderer made in order to get the job done. As I was reading this book (I read it in two days), I was astonished at how Agatha Christie portrayed some of these characters, and added twists and turns that were not expected.