The Mystery of the Blue Train
A opulent train. A jewel beyond price. A killing with far more beneath its surface than anyone first suspects. Christie sets this one in motion with quiet confidence, placing her fastidious Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, at the centre of a case that twists and coils like the railway tracks beneath the Blue Train itself. It's a rich premise, and she makes full use of it. When a glittering passage through Europe turns sinister, Poirot finds himself surrounded by a carriage-full of wealthy passengers, each carrying their own carefully concealed agendas. He observes. He listens. He notices the things everyone else has decided not to mention. Gradually, through patience and those famous little grey cells, the picture comes into focus. What Christie does particularly well here is atmosphere. The world she conjures, all silk and money and polite dishonesty, feels both glamorous and faintly rotten, which is exactly as it should be. The pacing keeps you honest too. Just when you think you've spotted the shape of things, something shifts. For readers who enjoy classic crime fiction, puzzle-box plotting, and a detective who never raises his voice but always gets there in the end, this is a thoroughly satisfying addition to the Poirot canon.
- Author: Agatha Christie
- Publisher: Bygone Books
- Genre: Classic Literature
- ISBN: 979-1070132173
- Pages: 305 pages