Murder on the Orient Express

A passenger is stabbed to death aboard the luxurious Orient Express, now stranded in a snowdrift. Hercule Poirot, who happens to be on board, must solve the case before the train reaches its destination. Every passenger has an alibi. Every passenger is lying.

Why Read This

Murder on the Orient Express introduces you to Hercule Poirot, Christie’s most famous creation: a Belgian detective with an egg-shaped head, magnificent mustache, and “little grey cells” that miss nothing. The confined setting of the train is classic Christie, a closed circle of suspects with no way in or out, and the solution is one of the most audacious in detective fiction. If you know it already, the pleasure is watching how Christie builds toward it. If you don’t, prepare to be stunned.

This is the book to read if you want to understand what makes Christie’s detective novels work: the meticulous cluing, the elegant misdirection, and the moment when Poirot assembles all the pieces and the truth clicks into place.

What to Expect

A classic whodunit with a glamorous setting and a large cast of suspects. The structure follows Poirot’s investigation methodically, interview by interview. The prose is clear and efficient. The ending provokes genuine moral debate. The ideal second Christie after And Then There Were None.