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Murder on the Orient Express
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Cover of a current edition |
|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Hercule Poirot |
| Genre(s) | Mystery, Detective novel |
| Publisher | Collins Crime Club |
| Released | 1934 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 322 |
| ISBN | NA |
| Preceded by | Lord Edgware Dies |
| Followed by | Three Act Tragedy |
Murder on the Orient Express (London: Collins, 1934) also called Murder on the Calais Coach (New York: Dodd Mead, 1934) is a 1934 novel by Agatha Christie. Widely considered Christie's most famous novel, it stars brilliant Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.
The book was first published in Saturday Evening Post, from July 1 to September 30, 1933.
Contents |
Murder On The Orient Express is considered a notable variation of a locked room mystery as well as a classic example of a surprise ending. Poirot boards the Orient Express in Istanbul for a journey to France. On the second evening out, the train becomes stuck in a snowbank. During the night, Poirot, who has the end cabin in the first-class coach, hears a series of odd noises from the corridor and from the adjacent cabin of M. Ratchett, who had told Poirot at dinner that his life was in danger. In the morning, it is discovered that Ratchett has been brutally murdered, stabbed from 10 to 15 times. It soon becomes apparent that no passenger entered or left the coach during the night, and while the window to the victim's cabin was found wide open, the surrounding snow is clearly undisturbed. Poirot is left to deduce which of the other thirteen passengers on board the Calais coach murdered Ratchett.
The Victim:
- M. Ratchett, an unsavory-looking man with a dark secret.
The thirteen suspects:
- Hector McQueen, a tall, young American man, the victim's secretary and translator.
- Edward Henry Masterman, the victim's British valet.
- Pierre Michel, the French conductor of the Calais coach.
- Mary Debenham, a tall, dark, young British woman, working as a governess in Baghdad.
- Colonel Arbuthnot, a tall British army officer returning from India.
- Princess Natalia Dragomiroff, an elderly and very ugly Russian grande dame.
- Hildegarde Schmidt, a middle-aged German woman, the Princess' lady's maid
- Count Rudolf Andrenyi, a tall, dark Hungarian diplomat with English manner and clothing, travelling to France.
- Countess (H)Elena Andrenyi, née Grünwald, his pale young wife.
- Greta Ohlsson, a middle-aged blonde Swedish missionary returning home for a vacation.
- Mrs. Caroline Martha Hubbard, former Grünwald, née Arden, a plump, elderly, very excitable American returning from a visit to her daughter, a teacher in Baghdad.
- Antonio Foscarelli, a portly and exuberant Italian businessman.
- Cyrus Hardman, a large and gregarious Texan typewriter ribbon salesman.
Other main characters (known to the reader to be uninvolved in the crime):
- The Detective - Hercule Poirot
- The Director - M. Bouc
- The Doctor - Dr. Constantine
Poirot finds several clues in the victim's cabin and on board the coach, suggesting that the murderer or murderers were somewhat sloppy; however, each clue seemingly points to different suspects. Poirot soon discovers that M. Ratchett was in fact a notorious fugitive from U.S. justice named Cassetti. Some years earlier, Cassetti had kidnapped three-year-old heiress Daisy Armstrong. Though the Armstrong family paid a huge ransom for Daisy's release, Cassetti murdered the little girl anyway and fled the country with the money. The tragedy directly or indirectly led to the deaths of several other innocents in the Armstrong household.
One of the crucial clues is provided by Mary who happens to travel on the same train as Poirot on the way to the Orient express. Mary is very worried about delay on this first train, but is unconcerned when the Orient express itself is delayed. Poirot is able to conclude that there was a preplanned meeting on the Orient express.
As the evidence mounts, it continues to point in wildly different directions. A critical piece of missing evidence -- a red kimono worn the night of the murder by an unknown woman briefly witnessed in the coach corridor by Poirot and others -- turns up in Poirot's own luggage. Poirot discovers that some passengers had a connection to the victim, while others a connection to the Armstrong family. After meditating on the evidence for some time, Poirot assembles the thirteen suspects, plus M. Bouc and Dr. Constantine, in the restaurant car where he lays out two possible explanations of Ratchett's murder.
In the first scenario, explains Poirot, a stranger entered the train during the previous stop at Vincovci, murdered Ratchett for reasons unknown, and escaped unnoticed. The crime occurred an hour earlier than everyone believed owing to the victim and several others failing to note that the train had just crossed time zones. The other noises heard by Poirot on the coach that evening were unrelated to the murder.
In the second scenario, Poirot explains painstakingly, all of the suspects were guilty, as there was no other way the murder could have taken place under the evidence. Poirot reveals that the other passengers, most of whom were traveling under assumed names, were in fact members of the extended Armstrong family, or had a very close tie to the family or its servants. All had been gravely wounded by Daisy's murder. They took it into their own hands to serve as Cassetti's executioners to avenge a crime the law was unable to punish. Each of the suspects stabbed Ratchett once, so that no one could know who delivered the fatal blow. The only suspect not participating in the crime was frail Countess Andrenyi, whose place was taken by her husband to allow for a traditional 12-person "jury." The cabin adjoining Ratchett's was booked under a fictitious name by the other suspects so that it would be empty on the fateful night. The unexpected stoppage in the snowbank, and the fact that the carriage company had allowed the famous Poirot to sleep in the unused cabin, caused complications to the conspirators that resulted in several crucial clues being left behind. As Poirot reveals the details of the elaborate plot, many of the suspects (among them Daisy's aunt and grandmother) break down in tears.
Poirot agrees to let Dr. Constantine and M.Bouc decide which of his two theories is correct. After a brief pause, both state softly that the first explanation seems far the more plausible, and is the one they will give to the police when the freed train reaches the next station. The thirteen suspects are allowed to walk free, and the true circumstances of Ratchett's death presumably remain secret forever.
Although the surprise ending of Murder On The Orient Express is presented in a spoiler section as per Wikipedia standards, the secret is widely known and has often been referenced in popular culture. One such example was in an episode of the TV series Cheers, where an enraged Frasier Crane, when accused by his barmates of being unable to keep a secret, blurted out several widely-known surprise endings and literary twists, Murder's among them.
- The book was made into a 1974 movie entitled Murder on the Orient Express starring Albert Finney as Poirot, with Ingrid Bergman receiving her third Academy Award, as best supporting actress in the role of the Swedish missionary Greta Ohlsson.
- A made-for-television movie was also made in 2001.
- David Suchet will star as Poirot in an upcoming adaptation.
- On November 21, 2006, The Adventure Company released a PC adaptation of the book. The game stars David Suchet as the voice of Hercule Poirot.
- 1934, UK, Collins Crime Club (ISBN NA), Pub date ? ? 1934, hardback (first edition)
- 2004, USA, Berkley Publishing (ISBN 0-425-20045-0), Pub date ? Sep 2004, mass market paperback
- 2006, UK, HarperCollins (ISBN 0-7921-0484-6), Pub date 4 Sep 2006, hardcover
- Death, Deceit and Destiny Aboard the Orient Express
- 1930s Nostalgia Films
- Turkey
- Istanbul
- Hotel Pera Palas
- Orient Express
- http://www.all-about-agatha-christie.com/murder-on-the-orient-express.html
- Spark Notes for the book
- Official Website for PC Game