Customer Reviews

The Mystery of the Blue Train (Agatha Christie Comic Strip)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first read this book at the age of 13 and loved the story. I was also struck by the great atmosphere of England and the French Riviera created by Christie. I found the characters of Katherine and Derek sympathetic and believeable and that of Lenox, very sad. I also liked the way Poirot is able to bring them together while simulataneously pursuing the killer. My only complaint was that I felt the actual mystery was less complex than some of Christie's other works (like "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd"). However, the overall story was so enjoyable that I don't think anyone would care. Definitely one of my sentimental favorites for its happy ending and the way it leaves you with a feeling of optimism at the end.

In his sixth adventure, Hercule Poirot is on board the famous Blue Train from Calais to Nice. He encounters four different people and groups of people who are all after the Heart of Fire, a spectacular ruby purchased by American tycoon Rufus Van Aldin and presented to his daughter Ruth. Ruth is unhappily married to British aristocrat Derek Kettering, a richly layered character about whom the reader is still trying to decide if he is hero or villain up to the final chapter. This novel is filled with exciting characters: Mirelle, the exotic dancer with a passion for Derek; Armand de la Roche, the attractive but notorious swindler; and most refreshing of all is Katherine Grey, one of Mrs. Christie's best heroines.

When Ruth Van Aldin Kettering is found murdered on the Blue Train en route to her annual winter trip to the French Riviera, it is up to Hercule Poirot to discover if she was murdered because the famous jewel was in her possession or was she murdered by her husband or his mistress or was there yet another sinister motive.

This excellent tours de force is a landmark book for Christie fans because from this point until sometime in the late 60's every novel she published was brilliantly plotted and never failed to challenge the mystery reader.

Agatha Christie was known for experimenting with plots in short stories before developing them more fully in novels. The Mystery of the Blue Train is a prime example of this, so you might wish to go back and read her earlier short story "The Mystery of the Plymouth Express" if you enjoyed this one.

Okay now I'm only 13, but I have to say that I love Agatha Christie's books. This one, was very very good. It was interesting throughout the whole book, and the end was very surprising, you'll never guess it. It was a pretty easy read, but it is still a must read, and I really recommend it to anyone.

The Mystery of the Blue Train begins with the story of an American millionaire obtaining a set of unique rubies despite the attempted interference of a mysterious criminal. From there we meet the millionaire's daughter Ruth and her no-good husband. The story is a bit of a soap opera involving infidelity on both sides, proposed divorce, blackmail, and various other unpleasantness. Later a woman is introduced who has recently inherited a large sum of money. After following her story for a bit, most of the cast boards the Blue Train (along with Poirot) where Ruth is murdered and the rubies stolen.

It is worth noting that the murder does not occur until page 100 and that we see very little of Poirot until then. For that matter, we don't see nearly as much of Poirot after the murder as we typically would. To be sure, there are the typical interviews with suspects but far more time is spent following the other characters around France and England than you would normally expect. This change might be welcome if the characters were interesting, or if the space given to them resulted in real growth and development, or if just about anything noteworthy happened at all. Unfortunately, they mostly seem to listlessly wander about mouthing inanities and doing very little of consequence.

When Poirot at last solves the case, it is much more of a relief to be done with this book than it is satisfying to learn the answer to the crime. This book is such a poor effort that I can scarcely believe Dame Christie really wrote it. The structure feels like she meant it to be a standalone mystery like And Then There Were None rather than a Poirot novel and then perhaps the author changed her mind at the last minute and grafted the little Belgian in to very poor effect. It also feels much more like a crude first draft than a finished novel from a great writer. All the extra space given to the cast is wasted since they all remain little more than cardboard and the story is equally bland. I have greatly enjoyed some of the Poirot novels I've read but this one should be avoided by all but the most devout Poirot completist.

Before "Murder on the Orient Express", there was the murder on the Blue Train, a luxury train which took the rich and famous across France to the Riviera. An American millionaire's daughter is garrotted, and he calls in Hercule Poirot to solve the murder. The cast of suspects is much smaller than in "Orient Express", but Poirot faces a "Herculean" task in sorting out the clues and bringing the killer to justice. An excellent plot and interesting characters make for great entertainment, but Christie once again gives her audience the idea that she really knows nothing about the mechanics of real-world murders. I can't discuss the details without giving away too much of the plot, but suffice it to say that the mechanics of ligature strangulation are such that the the killer would probably not have had to provide Poirot with the linchpin clue which helped solve the case. I audited the tape as I drove on a long business trip and enjoyed it tremendously. The reduced cast of suspects made the story much easier to keep up with than in most other Poirot mysteries I have audited.

Most Hercule Poirot mysteries start off at a brisk pace then take off on a dead run. Blue Train starts promisingly, but it then begins to meander about as though Christie really wasn't certain where she wanted to go. For much of the first third of the book, one is treated to a sort of Victorian potboiler, with all manner of soap-opera characters coming and going. When the murder finally occurs, it is a positive relief that something has actually happened. Regrettably, it's the last thing that happens for quite a while.

Even the mystery itself is unengaging. The perpetrator is reasonably obvious, and most of the story from the point of the murder onward is geared to try to deflect the reader.

But, stil, this is Hercule Poirot, who is as always engaging, urbane, witty, and wildly egotistical in turn. He can be charming or bullying when dealing with witnesses or the official police. The passages where he appears rescue this story from being totally boring. Unfortunately, Poirot appears less here than in other stories. If you want to have read all the Poirot stories, then you need this book. If you're looking for a typically engagin Poirot story, give this one a miss.

I love old radio dramas, and a few years back I happened upon this series from BBC Radio. They are done with full casts, sound effects, and music just like the old radio shows of yesteryear. I love them all! Mystery on the Blue Train is not my all-time favorite, but it comes close.

this is the first crime fiction that i had read before reading 30 books of her.like every new-beginner for A.C ,i liket it,of course.A.C said she did her worst book.to me,she is wrong.u will relish.

A 1920's Christie with Poirot solving a murder aboard a train. Really, what more could you want? I found the characters and the setting quite interesting, and the resolution of the mystery was satisfying. As usual, Christie plays fair with the reader and provides all the necessary clues, but you would need to be a lot more astute than I am to use them to solve the mystery. At about 320 pages in this edition, this is one of the longer Christies.

The book does have a couple of drawbacks (and I would give it four and one-half stars, rather than five, if I could). The long arm of coincidence drives a bit more of the plot than it should, and there may have been the faintest whiff of genteel 1920s British antisemitism about the characterization of one character in the first chapter -- or am I reading a bit too much into it? Nevertheless, this book will please most fans of classic British mysteries. These handsome hardcover Black Dog editions are terrific bargains at less than $10 on Amazon.

An heiress murdered, her newly acquired rubies stolen, a lover, estranged husband & mistress, a young girl who has inherited money and Poirot all get entangled in the affair; it's a mess. MURDER ON THE BLUE TRAIN plods along at a snail's pace and it is actually a pleasure to reach the end. The murder victim doesn't earn our compassion or contempt, the side trips into the life of our newly moneyed young heroine are tedious and Poirot muddles through without his usual aplomb. Even when the killer is revealed, it lacks the usual drama of Poirot's theatrics; it's almost an afterthought. Christie does a much better job when she puts Poirot on the Orient Express.