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A review by redvelveting
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
2.5
This was the first Agatha Christie novel I’ve ever read, and I understand the appeal but don’t think I’ll be reading anymore. I was a fan of the way the story was laid out, as it made it much easier to follow the clues and eventual conclusions, especially with so many characters.
This book was definitely a book of its time. I am not a big mystery reader, so I wonder how it holds up to modern day mysteries.
The “victim” was a murderer, and the “murderers” were victims. This concept I was a fan of, and I imagine the whole moral grey area of it all made this book a standout at the time it was published. The whole damn train was in cahoots with each other, but it made the confusion of all the evidence crystal clear. Genius lol.
Personally I was a bit confused when Poirot just figured this out all of a sudden, essentially solving the case by guessing but perhaps that’s his thing. It felt like he never really struggled in the book, and the characters of M. Bouc and Dr. Constantine served mainly as exposition devices for Poirot to explain to the audience how things fit in the case and what the objectively correct answers were. With such blunt writing I can’t see this having been as big as it was if it was released in 2024.
This book was definitely a book of its time. I am not a big mystery reader, so I wonder how it holds up to modern day mysteries.
Personally I was a bit confused when Poirot just figured this out all of a sudden, essentially solving the case by guessing but perhaps that’s his thing. It felt like he never really struggled in the book, and the characters of M. Bouc and Dr. Constantine served mainly as exposition devices for Poirot to explain to the audience how things fit in the case and what the objectively correct answers were. With such blunt writing I can’t see this having been as big as it was if it was released in 2024.