Eh — My Review of Murder on the Orient Express
I was pretty excited to start Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery Murder on the Orient Express
It took me almost two weeks to read the novel, which says something about how much time I was giving to it, which in turn speaks to how deeply invested I was in the story. . . I didn’t dislike the book, but I didn’t care much about it either. (I’m cringing as I write that.)
I think my issue was that I just didn’t care much about any of the characters in the book, even though I like Poirot. I didn’t find any of them to be people I wanted to invest much in, didn’t find them genuine (which of course makes sense given the plot), didn’t really care if they were guilty or not. And I like to invest myself in people, which is why I do love the Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters – I really like Amelia, Emerson, and Ramses. So maybe Christie novels are not for me?
But here are 3 things I did appreciate about her writing:
- Even though Poirot should have seemed pretentious, annoying, and a bit arrogant, I did find him likable, which is a testament to Christie’s gift for characterization.
- I enjoyed the closeness of the setting both as a plot device and as a way of giving that “cozy” feel.
- I thoroughly appreciated the ending because it was smart, honest, and unexpected.
I expect I’ll give Christie a try again although I’m more likely to pick up on Peabody or Rita Mae Brown’s whimsical small-town stories, if I’m honest. Still, I’m glad I read it.
Are you an Agatha Christie fan? Why do you love her? What might I have missed in my reading?