Happy 126th birthday to Agatha Christie

Hello lovelies,

Today on the eve of Agatha Christie’s 126th birthday I would like to review her book Murder at the Orient Express which I read recently. Guys, to be honest, I didn’t knew about her until I came across Kavipriya Moorthy’s status about her. She had expressed that Agatha Christie is her favourite and has mentioned about her in her blog. I actually got fascinated by this and I bought her book from amazon prime at a cheaper price. When I started reading her book, I was stunned to read about the sequences, twists and turns and the way she wrote about the things is impeccable. On further research, I realised she written so many novels and most of them are crime thrillers. She has mastered this art of writing and I am keen to read all of her works. She may not be alive today but her works have made her immortal and her character POirot is my all time favourite. Lets get into the details:

Cover- The cover of the book is fantatsic where it has a white creamish background and a train with stains of red blood on it. This is a perfect background for a crime thriller.

Title- The title gives us the place of the murder i.e. The Orient Express. It is beyonf perfect.

Blurb- Agatha Christie has long been recognized as the master of detective novels. And her novel, ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ is one of her masterpiece. The setting in the snow covered Yugoslavia provides an ideal ambience for this detective novel to unfold. It poses several moral questions related to what is justice and how can morals justify an action. For the addicts of mystery and detective novels, Agatha Christie provides an exercise to your instinct and guessing capacity. The settings of the novel are inspired by Christie’s real life experience of travelling in the Orient Express and it lends authenticity to the novel. The readers can now enliven the whole situation and experience the surroundings that are recreated through words.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie is a murder mystery that has a Belgian detective Hercule Poirot as the protagonist. It traces the story of the mysterious murder of a fellow companion of Hercule in the compartment of Orient Express on its way to London. It is interesting to find out who is involved behind the murder, what was the motive and if the mystery finally resolves at the end or leaves several questions unanswered. The moral dilemma and internal crisis that Hercule Poirot faces as he is on his duty of solving the murder mystery gives the story a compelling take. As Hercule Poirot is engaged into unravelling the mystery and unbridling the several connections of the passengers with the murder, the sense of anticipation is what keeps the readers hooked until the last page.

Plot- The plot is intriguing and keeps us hooked till the end. This story is about a case where a person name Casetti is murdered and the passengers are the suspect. Hercule Poirot is the protagonist who struggles to solve the case.

Allegory- To some extend I feel it is an allegory. According to M.H. Abrahams, An allegory is a story within a story. Here the murder leads to the old story which remained hidden under the pressure of influential people. It was about a family named Armstrong whose family members disappeared after the death of a child who was earlier kidnapped and later on murdered. This gave way to the revenge motive.

Theme- The whole story revolves around murder and the way the leads are used to crack the case. Further, the theme of revenge is seen when Poirot realises that some of the passengers are from Armstrong Family. These things give way to the further progression of the story.

Characterisation- The author has done full justice to the characters. There are multiple characters and all are given their share of space. I would like to throw light on Poirot’s character. He is the protagonist of the story and an imaginary character. He has a sharp mind and the way he read between the lines is marvelous. Further, he is a keen observer.Nothing is hidden from his eyes. His investigation adds soul to the novel.

Style- The author has beautifully written this book using fantastic sentences. There are some sentences which are simple, compound and complex. The descriptions are crisp and gives us a clear image of the scenes. Once can see them in real if thought about. Furthermore, the use of french and Italian words gave flavout to the book but at times the readers fail to understand these words and might go in the drawback. The book is divided into three sections and the way case is solved in parts is remarkable.

Availability- http://www.amazon.in/Agatha-Christie-Murder-Orient-Express/dp/000728263X

About the Author

Agatha Christie was one of the most well-known novelist, playwright and short story writers of all time. She is thought to have revolutionized the mystery genre. Her forte had been the genre of crime fiction, detective, murder mystery and thriller. Still, she had penned 6 romantic novels as well under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. Her carefully crafted plots and the twist and turn in the plot keep the reader engaged from first page till the last. She is often referred to as Queen of Crime. The Last séance, The Witness for prosecution, Murder for Christmas and Then There Were None are some of her best novel . She is has been called the highest selling author of all time. She was awarded the title of Dame in 1971 for her significant contribution in the field of literature.