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A review by callum_mclaughlin
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
5.0
This was my fifth Christie novel, and my first Poirot. For about the first 3/4 of this book, I was thoroughly enjoying it but felt sure it wasn't going to be amongst my favourites of Christie's work, relying on a few too many coincidences and too great a suspension of disbelief, to the extent that it actually had me questioning why this has proven to be perhaps her most enduringly popular book. I should never have doubted you, Ms. Christie. Of course, she had it all in hand, and had duped me exactly as she has evidently been duping readers of this classic crime story for decades. The way she brought everything together with the reveal and conclusion was fantastic.
I'm honestly in awe of how she managed to keep track of all the secrets and lies; the clues and red herrings; the characters, connections and misdirection. It's nothing short of masterful plotting and attention to detail. I don't care if a couple of elements felt ever so slightly dated; the pay-off and satisfaction from the twist and the ending were so brilliantly done that I adore it regardless. I think my jaw actually dropped at one point, and it made me reflect on and review my entire outlook on the book as a whole, greatly increasing my appreciation of just how clever it was.
Again, whilst I enjoyed it, I wasn't sure at first if I loved the narrative structure of essentially watching Poirot hunt out clues and interview everyone to identify possible suspects as much as that in, say, Sparkling Cyanide, where everyone's motives are clear from the start and it's a case of working out whodunnit, but I was definitely won round. The way he changes his approach to each suspect to get the best results out of them, and methodically pieces everything together - even if there were a couple of lucky guesses - was endearing in its own way. I also really liked that there was an international cast of characters, and that Christie played on perceptions of each nation to pit them against each other and even add some humour.
In short, it's another genius work. If I ever doubted Agatha Christie's title of Queen of Mystery (which I didn't, FYI), it's certainly undeniable now.
I'm honestly in awe of how she managed to keep track of all the secrets and lies; the clues and red herrings; the characters, connections and misdirection. It's nothing short of masterful plotting and attention to detail. I don't care if a couple of elements felt ever so slightly dated; the pay-off and satisfaction from the twist and the ending were so brilliantly done that I adore it regardless. I think my jaw actually dropped at one point, and it made me reflect on and review my entire outlook on the book as a whole, greatly increasing my appreciation of just how clever it was.
Again, whilst I enjoyed it, I wasn't sure at first if I loved the narrative structure of essentially watching Poirot hunt out clues and interview everyone to identify possible suspects as much as that in, say, Sparkling Cyanide, where everyone's motives are clear from the start and it's a case of working out whodunnit, but I was definitely won round. The way he changes his approach to each suspect to get the best results out of them, and methodically pieces everything together - even if there were a couple of lucky guesses - was endearing in its own way. I also really liked that there was an international cast of characters, and that Christie played on perceptions of each nation to pit them against each other and even add some humour.
In short, it's another genius work. If I ever doubted Agatha Christie's title of Queen of Mystery (which I didn't, FYI), it's certainly undeniable now.