Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Murder on the Orient Express

Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

83 reviews

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I decided to read this book because I bought a poster with 100 books to read in your lifetime. This is the twentieth book on this list. I cannot believe I am twenty percent in on this journey. I thought I was going to struggle with this book with it being a classic, but it was very enjoyable.

This book is based on Hercule Poirot. He is traveling on the Orient Express and is approached by a desperate American named Ratchett. He is afraid that someone is going to kill him and goes to Poirot for help. Sadly, the next day Ratchett’s worst fears become reality, when he is found dead in his cabin, a victim of multiple stab wounds. With nothing but a scrap of paper to go on, Poirot must piece together Ratchett’s identity before he can find out which of his fellow passengers murdered him.

I will always love crime books and the mystery of figuring out who commit the crime. I think the mystery is enough to keep you hooked. I liked the fact that it is split into parts and it’s not a very big book, it feels like Poirot is sat next to you talking about the case and what his thoughts are. My favourite bits of any mystery book is when the penny finally drops and you know who commit the crime, which in this case happened at the end of the book which slightly annoyed me because I wanted to see if there was going to be any outcome and what was going to happen to the suspect after the case had been solved. I love Poirot, I think he was so level-headed and yet his brain was working a thousand miles a minute that the other detectives couldn’t keep up.

I was hoping for some action and some bad guys getting their ass kicked, but obviously with the setting on this book and everyone being so calm, it wasn’t like there was a need for anyone’s ass to be kicked. This book ended with me having questions regarding the suspects. I would like answers please, I would have liked for there to be multiple POVs with the killers talking and planning so that we knew what they were thinking, I just wanted to be inside their head during the final chapter.

I enjoyed this book and managed to finish it quite quickly. For my first book I read written by Agathe Christie, it has set my expectations pretty high for her next work that I might read.

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meyn's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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hannahcstocks's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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24carrotgay's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

agatha christie is a genius. i had seen the movie a couple of years ago and loved it, but the book was still an emotional mystery with twists and turns in every direction. this was my first poirot book, and certainly not my last!

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mitta_girl452's review against another edition

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challenging informative lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I did not originally plan on reading this book. I borrowed it from the library I volunteer at as part of their 'Blind Date with a Book' event and was told by the Librarian that is was a great read.
And it was!
I was surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did, but I found it very timeless and intriguing, and I had no clue as to 'who dunnit' until the very end!
This book is classic for a reason, with an interesting cast of characters and a deadly mystery.
One thing I would like to note though, is that this book is quite short, and in retrospect, I think I would have liked to see more from the characters, especially the train passengers. I know very little about them after having read the book, and I think I would have enjoyed a deeper dive into each suspects thoughts and motives.
Regardless, this book was a delightfully fun read, and I would definitely recommend it to friends.

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marianasreading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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ed_moore's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Agatha Christie’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ follows Christie’s detective Poriot as he attempts to deduce which of the 12 passengers trapped in the carriages of the Orient Express due to heavy snow murdered the upper class American Mr Ratchett. It was a murder mystery full of seemingly obvious red herrings and planted clues, asking the reader to question the relevance of much of it, and where every passenger seems to have a sound alibi. From the start of the book, the classic murder mystery twist was unexpected (and I was so confident knowing how twists typically worked that I had deduced a suspect and such individual remained unchanged for at least two thirds of the book), whereas come the final third, pre-twist it became quite clear.

Though cleverly crafted, there were many elements in the deduction that I didn’t enjoy so much, such as the focus on nationality and whether someone from such country is ‘that type’ being the go-to evidence in deciding the identity of the murderer. Christie stereotyped many individuals by nationality and even in the solution did not challenge them. This being a successful means of cracking a murder case seemed highly unrealistic. There was also a lot of French dotted throughout the novel, it being the born language of the detective Poriot, whereas my ignorance in not knowing any French left me just trying to guess Poriot’s remarks at some points, and though these had no effect on the plot it was a minor frustration, I can only blame myself for such however.

‘Murder on the Orient Express’ was somehow both a surprising and obvious murder mystery, with glaring issues but all in all deserving of its legacy as one of the most well known crime novels in literature. I can’t claim that I didn’t enjoy it despite its flaws.

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jess_tries2read's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was a fast read that was perfect for a sick day.

I'd never read an Agatha Christie novel until today, and shame on me! It was a great murder mystery, but without being overly grotesque and macabre.

I watched the movie from 1974 last night, and Poirot cracked me up. I had to read the book. He doesn't disappoint in the books, either!

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timedothwasteme's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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m4rtt4's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I first read this book 6 years ago in middle school, it was my first Christie and I absolutely loved it. The reading experience was nice this time as well, as I didn't remember the ending at all — but dare I say, this time I was disappointed by it. The build-up was compelling, but I like it when murder mysteries offer me all the clues to try to solve the mystery myself, and this story unfortunately failed at that, as much of the crucial information was only blurted out by Poirot in the very end. This time I also picked up more racist undertones that annoyed me, such as "Englishmen don't use knives because they are civilized" etc. Overall not a bad reading experience, but I was a bit let down.

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