Review: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Ah, one of the all-time classic whodunnit stories. Even though I hadn’t read this book before, I had seen the finale play out in various TV/movie adaptations, so I knew what to expect. That said, it was still a fun read: lots of interesting characters, a perfectly isolated setting (a train, stuck in a snow drift), wonderful deductions by Poirot, and an epic conclusion.

Some aspects of the story are a bit annoying. For example, Poirot mentions, more or less directly to the reader, “we have now seen all the evidence and can figure out the solution just by thinking,” which makes you feel like an idiot when you can’t see how all the evidence comes together. Then, as Poirot reveals the solution, he actually introduces some critical new evidence that he saw, but was never presented to the reader. There’s also a hilarious amount of stereotyping/racism/sexism (which is probably appropriate for the time). Oh, this murder was done with a knife? That’s the weapon of an Italian! 12 stab wounds? Such a crime of passion could only have been committed by a woman. Oh my, this murder seems to be meticulously well planned out. Such a thing could only have been done by the cool and calculating mind of a British person.

It’s not a perfect tale, but it’s highly entertaining and memorable.

Rating: 4 stars