Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Narrated by Dan Stevens
ISBN: 9780062265883
Duration: 06:37:09
Synopsis:
This is the 8th book in Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot Mysteries series. Readers do need to read the earlier books in this series in order to read this book. By chance, Detective Hercule Poirot finds himself on board the Orient Express. He is approached by a man seeking his help one day and then the next, that same man is found murdered in his room.
Reluctantly, Detective Poirot takes on the case of who was the murderer or murderess. Extensive interviews, medical findings, and excellent deductive reasoning are the only methods that Detective Poirot needs to solve the case with an elegant flair.
What makes this book a mystery?
Characteristics: This book presents to the reader a series of clues throughout the novel with the endgame being to solve the puzzle or, in this case, murder. Another characteristic of mysteries is that Detective Poirot sets the pace of the story. The investigators often take the lead in mystery novels and the author tends to write the novel from the perspective of the lead investigator. This is the case for the aforementioned title.
Setting: In mysteries, the investigator needs to take into account the intricate details of the surrounding where the murder or other crime took place. The setting could produce clues that she/he needs to solve the case. For the whole story, it takes place on a train. Therefore, Detective Poirot has to take into account where all the riders were housed and the layout of the train itself.
Tone: This book gave me The Maltese Falcon vibes. I imagined this book as a grainy, black and white movie. I should also mention that I haven't seen any movie adaptions of this book so that speaks to the skill of the author. The tone of this novel could be described as very noir with its descriptions and the banter between Detective Poirot and the other characters.
This book would be a good fit if the reader enjoys:
Compelling writing styles
Whodunit mysteries
Intricately plots
Mystery classics
International characters and/or setting
Read-A-Likes
The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan C Bradley
Still life by Louise Penny
Reluctantly, Detective Poirot takes on the case of who was the murderer or murderess. Extensive interviews, medical findings, and excellent deductive reasoning are the only methods that Detective Poirot needs to solve the case with an elegant flair.
What makes this book a mystery?
Characteristics: This book presents to the reader a series of clues throughout the novel with the endgame being to solve the puzzle or, in this case, murder. Another characteristic of mysteries is that Detective Poirot sets the pace of the story. The investigators often take the lead in mystery novels and the author tends to write the novel from the perspective of the lead investigator. This is the case for the aforementioned title.
Setting: In mysteries, the investigator needs to take into account the intricate details of the surrounding where the murder or other crime took place. The setting could produce clues that she/he needs to solve the case. For the whole story, it takes place on a train. Therefore, Detective Poirot has to take into account where all the riders were housed and the layout of the train itself.
Tone: This book gave me The Maltese Falcon vibes. I imagined this book as a grainy, black and white movie. I should also mention that I haven't seen any movie adaptions of this book so that speaks to the skill of the author. The tone of this novel could be described as very noir with its descriptions and the banter between Detective Poirot and the other characters.
This book would be a good fit if the reader enjoys:
Compelling writing styles
Whodunit mysteries
Intricately plots
Mystery classics
International characters and/or setting
Read-A-Likes
The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan C Bradley
Still life by Louise Penny
Have you seen the recent (2017) movie adaptation? With this being a murder mystery, I wonder how true the movie is to the novel. I myself haven't read anything of Agatha Christie or Alfred Hitchcock, but I've seen several movies and Masterpiece adaptations. I really need to read more in this genre.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea this was a part of a series! That was truly surprising to me as I have heard about the book/movies for a long time but never really looked into it. I have not seen any of the movie adaptions but the one that came out most recently did look pretty cool. As a fan of intricate plots and whodunit mysteries I will have to check this out sometime.
ReplyDeleteI also didn't know that this was a part of a series, so it is interesting that it has had so many adaptations without regard for the previous parts of the series. I have read a few Agatha Christie novels (but not this one) and felt that I was able to predict the ending way earlier than I would have preferred. Did it take you until the end of the book to solve the mystery?
ReplyDeleteWe both picked Agatha Christie books! My annotation was the first Agatha Christie book I'd ever read- was this the first one for you? Also- have you seen the original 1974 movie version? It's so good! I'm not sure if that would count as integrated advisory since it's the same story, but it's a great watch.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any movie adaptation of this book.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I won't have seen the ending coming so that was refreshing!
This was my first Christie too!
I love, love, love Agatha Christie. Poirot and Miss Marple being tied for favorite :) I am happy to see you have Still Life by Louise Penny as one of the read a likes. The investigators in the two do take the lead and Gamache does remind me of Poirot in many ways.
ReplyDeleteI've read this one a couple times for different book clubs, this one was definitely hard to "solve." Great job on your summary and your expansion of the mystery elements. Great job and full points!
ReplyDelete