Have you ever taken an overnight train before? I never have, but maybe it’s a bucket list idea. Rather, as long as it’s not the Orient Express.

Agatha Christie’s Murder on The Orient Express was written in 1934. When people think of Agatha Christie, many will name this book as the one she wrote arguably making this her most famous book. Her second most famous book, in my opinion, is Death on The Nile (haven’t read that one… yet). This book is another Hercule Poirot mystery.

Plot Summary (spoiler free):

Hercule Poirot boards the Orient Express to travel back to London. This trip is unexpected, yet because he’s the infamous Detective Poirot he knows the person in charge of the train. Poirot is basically given someone else’s room to board, and although he must share at first, he does eventually get his own room. The morning after he boards, he is approached by Mr. Ratchett who requests protection and investigation. Unfortunately for him, Poirot denies his request and says he isn’t there to work.

Shocker: the next day he winds up dead.

I had high expectations going into this book. Really, I hyped it up way too much in my head. It’s not that I disliked it, but there was something missing that made it not hit the mark for me. I love books where I’m on the edge of my seat or trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together myself. This one, I felt a bit bored.

The characters were pretty flat compared to her other books. While some had personality, they just weren’t all that interesting. Take The Body in The Library for example the characters ranged in personalities, were engaging, and kept the story alive. Part of the reason this book didn’t have that may have been because they were all stuck on the train. The other could be it was hard to the see motives for majority of the book.

The end of the book tied up very nicely. Everything mostly made sense and the reveal was as grandiose as ever; however, I just didn’t love it. It was all too perfectly planned for me.

There are some books that you just don’t like even if it’s by one of your favorite authors and that was this one for me. I probably won’t read it again, or rewatch the movie, but if you want to read a classic mystery novel you should add it to the list. Christie is a pioneer in the detective genre and this book is at the top of the list for it.

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