Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie *****

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie is touted as the most widely read mystery of all time. I've taken a long time to get to it, but I can easily understand why it has been so popular. Hercule Poirot is a detective on a snowbound train where Mr. Samuel Edward Ratchett has been murdered. Pretty quickly Poirot discovers the motive. Ratchett is actually Cassetti who committed a horrendous kidnapping/murder. The question is who murdered Ratchett?

The book is presented ordinarily enough. Part One lays out the facts of the crime. Part Two interviews the suspects, everyone aboard the snowbound train. Part Three puts it all together. Part Three is full of surprising reveals but even after all these reveals, the final resolution is still surprising and satisfying.

The reader, like the detective, will find the mystery to be entertaining.

"In truth, this problem intrigues me. I was reflecting, not half an hour ago, that many hours of boredom lay ahead whilst we are stuck here."

M. Bonc, a director for the train company, is a foil for Poirot. He continuously voices the obvious conclusion, but while always reasonable, it is never correct. "It fits–it fits," is his refrain, always eager to jump to the end, while Poirot is moving slowly forward.

Some of the book offers interesting insights into the 1930s. The ladies all travel with dressing gowns. Everyone reads. Most men smoke. Cities which are regularly in the news today, are exotic: Kirkuk, Baghdad, Mosul, and Aleppo.

Any mystery reader will ask the same question I did. "Why haven't I read this sooner?"