Presentation of the author

Dame Agatha Christie was born 15 september 1890 and died 12 january 1976. Agatha Christie is a British woman writer and author of numerous novels; detective, and that is where her nickname "The Queen of the Crime" comes from. It is one of the most important women of the development of the genre. She also wrote some romance under the pseudonym of Mary Westmacott. She wrote 80 novels and plays. Her short stories were translated int the all world. A large number of her work was adapted into film and television including "The Murder On The Orient Express."

So, we're going to talk about the novel "The Murder On The Orient Express" of the same author. This novel of the twentieth century is based on a real crime, it was a great success published in 1934.

Summary of the book

The story is based on the investigation conducted by Poirot.

Hercule Poirot is a belgian detective who has just spent several days in Syria.

After a long journey through the Simplon-Orient-Express, he went to the Tokatlian hotel in Bosphorus and decided to spend a few days there. He received a telegram ordering him to return to London for a matter of great importance. He then ordered a train ticket, but all the seats were reserved. Very surprised by this, Poirot still managed to get a place with an old friend.

The detective was preparing to spend several days on this famous train back to London. But one night was very rough. Indeed, the Yugoslav snow forced the Orient Express to stop. In addition, the next morning, they discovered the corpse of an American stabbed twelve times. This new plot all passengers. The plot became exciting for the Belgian detective because the assassin could not intervene from the outside ...

He found clues in the bed of the victim, and quickly discovered the true identity of Ratchett: also known as Casseti the famous children thief, accused in the murder of little Daisy Armstrong.

Poirot's investigation is helped Mr. Bouc and Dr. Constantine, who also tells her that the victim was hit by several people.

Poirot questions all the passengers. He manages to solve more and more questions, which lead the investigation. Then, strangely, he discovers the true identity of a passenger, the princess, who is actually the sister of Mrs. Armstrong. He also discovers that Mary Debenham also has a link with the family Armstrong. And surprise surprise, he finds that all the passengers on the train, except Mr. Bouc and Dr. Constantine, have a link with Armstrong. Poirot finally found the culprits, indeed all the travelers each stabbed the body of Ratchett. They had set up a plot to avenge the murder of little Daisy. But Poirot had the unmasked !

The story is told at the third person.

The main characters

Hercule Poirot :

There are a lot of characters in this book. At first, the protagonist is a very famous person, his name is Hercule Poirot. He is small with a big mustache. He is Belgian and he in looking for the murder all along the story.During his trip on the Orient Express, Mr Poirot was in the first wagon.The book show the reader, the organisation of the famous detective…

Mr Bouc

This Character helps the protagonist in his survey. He is the second characters of this book. He has the same nationality as Hercule Poirot, and he is one of the director of the international company of bed wagons. He give his place on the train to Poirot because they are very good friends. Before that he was on the Athens wagon with the doctor Constantine.

Dr. Constantine

He is small and he has brown hair, he is of Greek nationality. Constantine is a doctor. It is installed with Mr. Bouc in the Athens wagon. He is the one who examined the body of Mr. Ratchett where he discovered several anomalies including the fact that the victim was hit by their right-handed and left-handed people. So it is what helped the two Belgian men in servey…

Mary Debenham

She is of British nationality. Mary Debenham Hermion is twenty-six years old. Tall, thin, brown, and grey eyed miss Debenham is a very pretty woman. She traveled in the wagon "Constantinople-Calais" in room No. 11, in second class. Miss Debenham worked in Baghdad where she was the governess of two children.Now she is on her way to London.

The main themes of the book

The crime

This the first theme of the book.

All along the book, the reader is immersed in the action. The crime appears since the beginning of the book also during the book, the protagonist was all time in the reflexion and the reader is always in the action. The crime is an evolution of the book.

The vengeance

The reason of the crime is obviously revenge. In fact, every traveler is in relation with the Armstrong family. Daisy was the daughter of the family and was much loved.

Presentation of the author Dame Agatha Christie

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