Book: Murder on the Orient Express
Author: Agatha Christie
Pages: 322
Plot Summary: Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. One of his fellow passengers must be the murderer.
Isolated by the storm and with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer amongst a dozen of the dead man's enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again.
My Thoughts: I first read Murder on the Orient Express when I was 12-13 years old and I just loved it! I re-read it last night (because I wanted something comforting) and I still loved it. The story is a simple yet intriguing one. A bunch of people are travelling on the train in the thick of winter. In the posh first class compartment, on a night when the train is snowed in, a rich man is found stabbed 12 times to death. Poirot, a fellow passenger, is entrusted with solving the case.
This story touches upon many themes, which can be debated till kingdom come. For instance, what is true justice? Who should be meting out this justice? Who is the victim? Is the person who was, literally, killed? Or are the people around the actual victim also victims at the hands of the criminal?
With very little resources and only his brilliance and ingenuity to fall back upon, Poirot unearths the deep motivations that drive this, seemingly, random yet brutal murder.
This is a must-read book for anyone who enjoys a nicely crafted whodunit.
I would highly, highly recommend it.
Rating: 4.5/5
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