What more can a mystery addict desire than a much-loathed murder victim found aboard the luxurious Orient Express with multiple stab wounds, thirteen likely suspects, an incomparably brilliant detective in Hercule Poirot, and the most ingenious crime ever conceived?
My Thoughts: This is the the tenth book in the Hercule Poirot series but my second book that read from the series. I read the first one, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, years ago and I remember liking Hercule Poirot but not the writing style. However, I was told that Agatha Christie's writing improved with each book and that I should try a different one. What better way to try her again than reading her most famous book, Murder on the Orient Express?
I enjoyed this book a lot more: I liked the plot, the characters, and the writing style. First, the plot was engaging. It had me involved with the murder mystery case as I tried to solve who did it. Once I thought I knew who did it, I was completely blown away with the revelation at the end. Next, the characters were fun to read. They were not well rounded characters that one becomes emotionally involved with them, but they were interesting to see how different they were. It was like "people watching" as each one was interviewed for each chapter. A few of them made me chuckle on how absurd they were. Last, Agatha's writing style was better in this book. The story was written in a simple manner that made it easy to read. It was smooth and flowed nicely (the first book did not as much). I was surprised how quickly I devoured this book because books written around this time period or before were written in a more dense manner. Here I was able to focus on the plot and characters more. The smoothness of the writing helped build up the anticipation for the ending. I could see how her writing helped inspired a new genre of writing for mystery authors.
In conclusion, I highly enjoyed this read a lot more than Agatha's other book. It was not the best book I read but I was highly entertained by it. I love "Whodunit" mysteries, and reading this book has sparked my enthusiasm to read more of this genre. I'm glad that I gave Agatha Christie a try again. Now I'm looking forward to watching the movie adaptations of this book. I rate it:
No comments:
Post a Comment