Cargando
Información sobre el libro
Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery
Escrito por Agatha Christie
Narrado por David Suchet
Acciones del libro
Comenzar a escucharNota del editor
An incredible narrator…
Narrated by David Suchet, who absolutely nails Poirot’s French-Belgian accent, as well as the mixed bag of voices that make up the 12 passengers, the audio version of this classic whodunnit really shines.
Descripción
FROM THE INCOMPARABLE AGATHA CHRISTIE, THE MOST WIDELY READ MYSTERY OF ALL TIME—NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY KENNETH BRANAGH AND PRODUCED BY RIDLEY SCOTT!
"The murderer is with us—on the train now . . ."
Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Without a shred of doubt, one of his fellow passengers is the murderer.
Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man's enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again.
Acciones del libro
Comenzar a escucharInformación sobre el libro
Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery
Escrito por Agatha Christie
Narrado por David Suchet
Nota del editor
An incredible narrator…
Narrated by David Suchet, who absolutely nails Poirot’s French-Belgian accent, as well as the mixed bag of voices that make up the 12 passengers, the audio version of this classic whodunnit really shines.
Descripción
FROM THE INCOMPARABLE AGATHA CHRISTIE, THE MOST WIDELY READ MYSTERY OF ALL TIME—NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY KENNETH BRANAGH AND PRODUCED BY RIDLEY SCOTT!
"The murderer is with us—on the train now . . ."
Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Without a shred of doubt, one of his fellow passengers is the murderer.
Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man's enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again.
Acerca del autor
Reseñas
Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective, is called back home from a holiday, so he makes arrangements to take the Orient Express. During the trip, an American man is brutally murdered. Poirot takes the case.This was my first introduction to Hercule Poirot and I liked him. The investigation was played out right before my eyes, but he was always way ahead of me. He gathered all the clues there were to gather, then he didn't rely just on the facts alone. He developed reasonable guesses and tested those guesses out on the suspects. Eventually, he arrived at not just one answer, but two. (4.25/5)Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy
Rating: 4This was only my second Christie read and much better than the first. (And Then There Were None). I will say that I had to play close attention to how the characters on the train were related to the Armstrong family--there were 12 of them and sometimes I was a bit confused. This book did not really excite me nor did it turn me off from possibly another Christie at some time in the future.
Rating: 3It was a great book! I was sucked right in and could see how people are continuing to read this after all these years. What made it a 4 star instead of the 5 was all the stereotypes that were mentioned and reinforced throughout the book.
Rating: 4I read this for the first time many years ago and thought it would be interesting to read it again even though I know the solution to the mystery - it was impossible to forget. I enjoyed it just as much, maybe even more because I was able to get an idea of how Christie's ideas developed. As well, I've seen David Suchet's documentary about the Orient Express which helped visualize it better and I noticed the small, seemingly inconsequential details, like the watch hook, which really does exist, and which the victim did not use. Considering this was written in 1934 it shows considerably more talent, knowledge and style than others of the same vintage. There is no doubt Ms Christie deserves the full five stars.
Rating: 5A classic tale of mystery and intrigue. Such a fun ride!
Rating: 4This was great! My first experience with Christie's work. I like Poirot and his subtle sense of humor. Is it weird to describe a murder mystery as cute? Because that's how this felt (much like the Wells & Wong MG series by Robin Stevens). I flew through this over the course of a couple days and now I want to start at the beginning so I can learn more about Poirot. The ending was surprising too! I don't try hard to solve the mystery because I enjoy being surprised, but it wasn't until he began explaining everything that I started to piece it together - I never would have guessed!
Rating: 4The passengers on the Calais Coach wake to find themselves trapped by a snowdrift… and something far worse.
Returning home from the Middle East, Hercule Poirot – by sheer coincidence and his connections – manages to get the last berth on the Calais Coach of the Orient Express, wherein he is quickly approached by a wealthy passenger, Mr. Ratchett who wants Poirot to keep watch for people who may be trying to kill him. Poirot refuses the commission and, to his dismay, learns the next morning that Ratchett has been killed in cold blood. With the train trapped due to a snowblock, Poirot and his assistants, Monsieur Bouc and Dr. Constantine, must gather the clues and untangle a web of deceit which has ensnared the thirteen suspects on board the train.
Murder on the Orient Express is quintessential Christie, make no mistake. The closed-off location, the multitude of suspects, the straightforward analytical way in which Poirot is able to handle the matter. (Indeed, due to the circumstances of the crime, he must surely have relished this, as rarely does he get to be so methodical). Within this format, Christie has the perfect outlet for her contrivances, for the red herrings and mistaken identities, for the lies and suspicions and paranoia that flow from the initial murder. In fact, Murder on the Orient Express reads somewhat like an amalgam of other great Christies. Like Death in the Clouds, we have a limited number of suspects, and a crime which somehow was not witnessed. Like Ordeal by Innocence, we’re aware of the increasing paranoia and the shortened length of time in which the crime must be solved. And structurally, the novel couldn’t be better: the set-up is clean and simple, the murder endlessly complex, and the interviews methodical yet fascinating. And it all leads up to a devastating denouement in which Poirot gathers the passengers to give them not one, but two solutions, and must make a moral decision unique in the books – at least until he made a far greater one in his final case, Curtain.
There isn’t a line out of place in this novel. The endless array of clues – smudges on passports, mysterious handkerchiefs, disappearing women in kimonos and buttons belonging to nobody – are all perfectly explained, and each raises a question: legitimate clue, accidental red herring or deliberate red herring? Not everyone will enjoy the way that Dame Agatha twists and tailors the plot to her needs, but helpless Poirot fans like myself are rendered inert by the sheer technical perfection of the way things are carried out. All plotting, after all, is contrivance, by its very nature. What makes some work better than others is in not letting the strings show. And just when you’re about to complain about one plot element ringing false, Christie goes and makes it part of the plot all along!
Okay, to be honest, there may be one tiny niggling weakness: a couple of the suspects are very sketchily drawn, appearing mainly to shore up the numbers in the train (which has to be full for one element of the story to work). This becomes equally notable in both the major film adaptations, but – given how many of the characters do come across strongly – I’ll let it slide. Miraculously, every character comes across as more than just an archetype; there are no stodgy vicars, cruel matriarchs or the like here. Instead, even the most stereotypical characters transcend their tropes, with backgrounds and motivations far beyond what we expect, given how common the ‘stock characters stuck together become suspects of murder’ formula is.
Orient Express is a lovely example of a book that fully deserves its notoriety. It is the finest of Christie’s detective stories, taking a basic plot device that was already hoary in 1934, and somehow being both classical and innovative. There’s just no wonder that Poirot’s investigative methods are the stuff of legend, and that nearly any murder mystery is now compared to this novel. It’s a quintessential piece of the ‘Golden Age’: in that the plan comes together perfectly and only Poirot’s presence can reveal the murderers’ devious scheme (the 2010 film’s greatest strength is how it does a modern spin on this, by making the scheme much more haphazard, and allowing Poirot to come off as something far more human).
Poirot ranking: 2nd of 38
Rating: 5Returning home from the Middle East, Hercule Poirot – by sheer coincidence and his connections – manages to get the last berth on the Calais Coach of the Orient Express, wherein he is quickly approached by a wealthy passenger, Mr. Ratchett who wants Poirot to keep watch for people who may be trying to kill him. Poirot refuses the commission and, to his dismay, learns the next morning that Ratchett has been killed in cold blood. With the train trapped due to a snowblock, Poirot and his assistants, Monsieur Bouc and Dr. Constantine, must gather the clues and untangle a web of deceit which has ensnared the thirteen suspects on board the train.
Murder on the Orient Express is quintessential Christie, make no mistake. The closed-off location, the multitude of suspects, the straightforward analytical way in which Poirot is able to handle the matter. (Indeed, due to the circumstances of the crime, he must surely have relished this, as rarely does he get to be so methodical). Within this format, Christie has the perfect outlet for her contrivances, for the red herrings and mistaken identities, for the lies and suspicions and paranoia that flow from the initial murder. In fact, Murder on the Orient Express reads somewhat like an amalgam of other great Christies. Like Death in the Clouds, we have a limited number of suspects, and a crime which somehow was not witnessed. Like Ordeal by Innocence, we’re aware of the increasing paranoia and the shortened length of time in which the crime must be solved. And structurally, the novel couldn’t be better: the set-up is clean and simple, the murder endlessly complex, and the interviews methodical yet fascinating. And it all leads up to a devastating denouement in which Poirot gathers the passengers to give them not one, but two solutions, and must make a moral decision unique in the books – at least until he made a far greater one in his final case, Curtain.
There isn’t a line out of place in this novel. The endless array of clues – smudges on passports, mysterious handkerchiefs, disappearing women in kimonos and buttons belonging to nobody – are all perfectly explained, and each raises a question: legitimate clue, accidental red herring or deliberate red herring? Not everyone will enjoy the way that Dame Agatha twists and tailors the plot to her needs, but helpless Poirot fans like myself are rendered inert by the sheer technical perfection of the way things are carried out. All plotting, after all, is contrivance, by its very nature. What makes some work better than others is in not letting the strings show. And just when you’re about to complain about one plot element ringing false, Christie goes and makes it part of the plot all along!
Okay, to be honest, there may be one tiny niggling weakness: a couple of the suspects are very sketchily drawn, appearing mainly to shore up the numbers in the train (which has to be full for one element of the story to work). This becomes equally notable in both the major film adaptations, but – given how many of the characters do come across strongly – I’ll let it slide. Miraculously, every character comes across as more than just an archetype; there are no stodgy vicars, cruel matriarchs or the like here. Instead, even the most stereotypical characters transcend their tropes, with backgrounds and motivations far beyond what we expect, given how common the ‘stock characters stuck together become suspects of murder’ formula is.
Orient Express is a lovely example of a book that fully deserves its notoriety. It is the finest of Christie’s detective stories, taking a basic plot device that was already hoary in 1934, and somehow being both classical and innovative. There’s just no wonder that Poirot’s investigative methods are the stuff of legend, and that nearly any murder mystery is now compared to this novel. It’s a quintessential piece of the ‘Golden Age’: in that the plan comes together perfectly and only Poirot’s presence can reveal the murderers’ devious scheme (the 2010 film’s greatest strength is how it does a modern spin on this, by making the scheme much more haphazard, and allowing Poirot to come off as something far more human).
Poirot ranking: 2nd of 38
A twisty ride through this murder had me guessing and I did not see the ending for sure. I’m not sure how Poirot comes up with the things he does half the time. I enjoyed this one but do think my favorite is still And Then There Were None. I watched the movie last night and man what a cast. Loved young Sean Connery. I will definitely be seeing the new movie once it comes out. 4🌟
Rating: 4Really enjoyed this one. Ready to see the movie now.
Rating: 4‘’Some crimes God does not forgive!’’ Last week, I watched (for the gazillionth time…) ITV’s 2010 production of ‘’Murder on the Orient Express’’ with the inimitable David Suchet in the role of our beloved Hercule Poirot and it prompted certain thoughts in my mind. Why is this considered one of Christie’s finest creations? Many say that, arguably, it is her best work and this view I do share.I don’t think any of us need a synopsis. To say the story is well-known would be an understatement. Even people who haven’t read the book know of the outstanding outcome and the resolution of, possibly, the most controversial murder (but is it a ‘’crime’’?) in Christie’s marvellous works. So what is it that makes this novel by the Lady of Crime so iconic and a point of reference?Is is the exceptional cast of characters, each one battling with the demons of the past? Is it the wintry atmosphere? The intense feeling of claustrophobia, of being trapped in a train, within a snowstorm, in a foreign country with a dead body lying in a compartment? Or is it the absolute, ultimate questioning of the moral values we have come to adopt? What is right and wrong? When injustice isn’t punished, to what extent can we bend the human limits? God and Law can’t always protect us...Here, Hercule discovers that his little grey cells are only a small part of the solution. It is his heart that has to do the rest.This is a jewel not only of Crime Fiction, but of Literature in general, regardless of the genre. A work that doesn’t ask the reader to think of the ‘’who has done it’’ question, but to contemplate on the ‘’what would you have done’’ issue. And as for me, I fully agree with Greta Ohlsson. Some crimes God doesn’t forgive….
Rating: 5A good mystery novel. I think my expectations were too high because it is one of the classics that everyone talks about and I expected it to be even better. In my opinion it was just a good mystery novel, not one of the best I've ever read.
Rating: 4This is the classic Christie story about a murder that occurs while the Orient Express train is stuck in a snowbank; a place where it would have been impossible for anyone from the outside to enter the train. Someone on the train must be the murderer – but the passengers have conflicting stories, and the physical evidence leads in circles. I haven't read many of [[Agatha Christie]]'s works. I can see how much I've missed out by not doing so. Sometimes there is this little contrary voice in my head that says if works are popular, they can't be good. Wrong, wrong, wrong! - Or at least not always right. I thoroughly enjoyed this classic mystery.
Rating: 4This is a very clever plot, well thought out and—if you never watched the movie—with a startling end. I never thought I’d catch a mistake in a book written by Agatha Christie! Yet, I did catch two… The first one was in a dialogue between Hercule Poirot, Dr. Constantine, and Monsieur Bouc (which, by the way, means “goat” in French). Poirot was describing three possibilities that explained the crime. The last and third possibility was that evidence had been faked “for the same reason as above”… Obviously the word should have been “already mentioned” or something like that, never “above,” which does not accord with a spoken, but a dialogue. The second was the American characters using the word “frontier” instead of border. It was surprising that her editors never caught these two simple mistakes.
Rating: 5I had not read this book and did not know "who done it" so this was an enjoyable one day read.
Rating: 4Christie seems to lay out an equation and then work her way through it. In this case, how do you solve a murder when there are very limited number of people with access (the train stuck in the snow) and everyone of them has good reasons to kill this guy.
Rating: 2I read this one before the movie came out because I wanted to make sure I had read the book (as most bookworms do). So many people rave about Agatha Christie, and I do agree that she's a great murder mystery writer, and Poirot is definitely a unique character. That said, while I did enjoy the book and I enjoyed the character of Poirot, there were parts that I found slow that I had to really push through. I don't know that I would be able to handle one book after the other in this series but I would be open to reading more of Agatha Christie in general and in doses here and there.
Rating: 4Even though I have read the book multiple times and knew how it ended, Branagh's narration is excellent (his American accent has certainly improved since Dead Again) and this made for a delightful commuting companion.
Rating: 4AKA: "Murder in the Calais Coach"
Although I remembered "who done it"...... I still enjoyed reading this story again, mostly because I didn't remember much of anything else.
A man on the train to France asks Poirot for his help. He has received a threatening letter and is much afraid for his life.... Although the man is impeccable in speech, manner, & presentation, he has evil in his eyes and there is something deep reflected that causes M. Poirot to turn him down.
Although is is late in the season, for some reason the train is unusually full (even the stand-by compartment saved for the railway company) and for the first few stops M. Poirot has to share a berth..... When another coach has been added, M. Poirot is moved to the number 1 compartment, directly next to the man who had unsuccessfully solicited M. Poirot's help.
Along in the third night, M. Poirot hears voices, sees a mysterious woman, hears much commotion.... and finds that the man with the evil in his eyes has been murdered... Stabbed 12 times... with several of the wounds not made by the same hand.
Everyone has an alibi, no one seems to have a motive.... until M. Poirot ascertains the murdered man's true identity.....
Oh good old Bigoted Agatha.... she sure hated Italians.... and once again goes off on a rant about them.... Amazing, really; and for this reason, I cut off a star!
This is one of those rare books where I wasn't sure I was fully enjoying it because I thought the circumstances of the mystery were silly, but the ending brought it all together and it really worked. This was my first Agatha Christie book as an adult and the format was new to me. It was basically separated into three parts. The first part introduces things and the murder. The second part is literally a series of interviews with each of the potential suspects. The third part is the explanation of the crime. It was vey formulaic, but I enjoyed the simplicity of it. I look forward to reading other books by Christie.
Rating: 44.5 stars.This was my first-ever Agatha Christie mystery and I'm so glad it was!For something written in 1934, this holds up incredibly well. The language wasn't too complicated or confusing, and Ms. Christie had me going until the very last two pages! An incredible feat, I thought it was the doctor the whole time...I had no idea when I bought this that it was being made into a feature film at the same time, just a happy coincidence that now I get to see this as a blockbuster, and I'm very much looking forward to it.I will definitely be reading more of these mysteries by this legendary author, any recommendations of hers are very welcome!
Rating: 5I had already seen both film adaptations when I decided to read the famous novel upon which they are based. And, this was one of those rare instances where I think the film was better (Branagh's version, that is). The main reason is that the film gives the characters life. The cast of suspects is quirky, but ultimately nothing more than a bunch of names - people the great detective interviews. Poirot is the only character who has any development. Now, the mystery and the great twist at the end deserve all the praise garnered over the years. Christie crafted an excellent locked room mystery with a resolution that few would have guessed if not for years in the public consciousness.Though the book lost some magic because I knew the conclusion before beginning, it was still worth reading and I look forward to reading more of her work - before I see any more adaptations! Recommended.
Rating: 4It's a race against time when an avalanche stops the Orient Express on it's tracks just as a murder has been committed. The world's greatest detective, Hercule Poirot, must search for clues, interrogate all the passengers and solve the mystery before the train starts back up and the murderer can escape.And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you do a locked room mystery! There is a reason why this whodunit is such a classic. While I have read other Agatha Christie books in the past, this was my first Poirot book that I remember. His deductive style and this story in general is one of those that defined a genre. It's no wonder there have been so many homages over the years. The murder solution was both elegant and completely surprising. I did not expect that at all!I listened to the audio book narrated by Kenneth Branagh. His performance is extraordinary and he does a wonderful job of bringing all the characters to life. If you're a fan of Branagh as an actor, you'll love him as a narrator.
Rating: 5Zeker het best geschreven verhaal van Christie; frappant dat de daders vrijuit gaan; niet de enige keer dat Poirot voor rechtvaardige rechter speelt!
Rating: 3I don't know why I've been in such a reading slump these last few months, but this book certainly didn't help that! Part of it was probably the narration - I was listening to the audiobook, and the guy doing the reading does Poirot in a very breathy manner, and with an incredibly thick, hard-to-understand accent. It was painful to listen to, and quite difficult to understand. Hopefully this is one where the movie is better!
Rating: 3I had no idea Christie was the most widely published author in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Popularity doesn't dictate quality though and I've always thought the mystery genre was smut.
Rating: 2This was really enjoyable! I listened to the audiobook narrated by Dan Stevens and I thought it was quite good. I enjoyed the story, and how we got to whodunnit, and I liked how the book was laid out. The characters were interesting, if not cliche, but it worked. The mystery was intriguing, and I liked the ending.
Overall, great book! And Dan Stevens narrating made it even better.
Rating: 4Overall, great book! And Dan Stevens narrating made it even better.
I have watched so many episodes of Poirot in my life, but still had somehow never read a single Agatha Christie novel. Until I ran into this lovely edition in the library and ran out of excuses. While I've never seen an adaptation of this story, it's well known enough (especially with a new, star-studded adaptation coming out soon) that I was pretty sure going in that I already knew what the ending was. But the delightful thing about this story is that the spoiler hardly mattered. Knowing who killed him was only a tiny piece of the puzzle -- the why and how were just as important.That said I do think it took something away from the reading experience, knowing part of the what that Poirot had to discover clues to -- so no spoilers here. Primarily what was left to enjoy was Poirot as a character -- his prickliness, his pride in using "the little grey cells," his careful contemplations on character and motive, his belief in justice. The only aspect of this book that hasn't aged particularly well is the nationalistic stereotypes -- "The Americans are like this..." "The English like this..." "The Italians like this..." Poirot gently rebukes the director of the train company for assuming the Italian has committed the murder based only on a stereotype of Italians as hot-blooded stabby people, but he also participates in these generalizations, which can come off as crude to the modern reader.Otherwise, I am entirely happy that I've finally gotten around to reading a Poirot mystery. Now I have only to be concerned that I've done so too close to the opening of the movie...
Rating: 4Surprisingly, only the second Agatha Christie novel I've ever read, the first being "And Then There Were None." This one has been on my "to be read" shelf for years. Literally years. It took the movie coming out (and a book club) to get my butt in gear. I was not disappointed. It's a classic whoddunit, that keeps you guessing until the very end (although I was pretty close to figuring it out!). Famed detective, Hercule Poirot, is riding on the Orient Express because he must get back to London for a case. While on the train a murder occurs and he is tasked with discovering who the murderer is because there is no way he or she could have left the train. Lots of red herrings, interesting characters, sketchy motives, and puzzles. It was great and it definitely makes me want to read other books in the Poirot series! I'm glad however, that they can be read out of order because they are all stand alone novels.
Rating: 4Hercule Poirot is returning by train from Syria after solving one case and rushing to England to attend to another when he finds himself in the midst of still a third case when a suspicious gentleman is murdered on the Orient Express. With no police on board and their progress halted by a snowdrift, it falls to Poirot to gather the evidence of the many potential suspects traveling in the Stamboul-Calais carriage. Interviewing everyone from the victim's secretary to the honorable Princess Dragomiroff to a Colonel and a young woman from England he'd had a chance encounter with on his previous train, Poirot has to discern the lies from the truth to discover the secrets of both the killed and the killer.A relative minimum of reliable evidence, an abundance of characters who don't seem quite shady enough for murder, and a healthy dose of lucky guesses make Murder on the Orient Express a fun whodunit. Its exotic locale in the midst of a snow storm combined with the sinister atmosphere of a marooned train that almost certainly contains a killer adds to its attraction. I've always been and still am a fan of the sort of deductive reason, psychologically based crime-solving that marks Poirot's style. Sure, modern forensics are great, but isn't it more fun to cleverly manipulate potential subjects into tipping their proverbial hands? There's no doubt that Christie is a master of the genre, and Murder on the Orient Express kept me guessing until the very end when the good detective finally untangles the improbable truth.
Rating: 4Zeker het best geschreven verhaal van Christie; frappant dat de daders vrijuit gaan; niet de enige keer dat Poirot voor rechtvaardige rechter speelt!
Rating: 3