LIBrary’s ‘Book of the Week’ – Sunday 4th March – Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie 

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OK, so it’s no real surprise that the first ‘Book of the Week’ is another crime fiction novel however, I can assure you they won’t all be! Agatha Christie is a staple of crime drama, both on paper and on screen and, whilst many of you may not have read any of her written fiction, I am absolutely certain you will have seen television or film adaptations of her work.

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Murder on the Orient Express has been chosen for the first ‘Book of the Week’ most simply because the book isn’t exceptionally long making it a nice novel to ease yourself back into a routine of regularly reading. I read this at the end of the last year and I finished the entire thing in less than two days. As a crime fiction novel, it is much different from other books of its kind which made for quite a refreshing and welcome change. Christie’s novels are much less suspense driven, concentrating on well-thought out plots and procedures, cleverly calculating descriptive details and brilliant riddles to truly make the reader think. In the past, I have expressed my distaste for novels that hint at the ending before you’re even halfway through the book and Murder on the Orient Express is a rare example where this does not happen. The ending is genius and, I have to admit, I had not anticipated it in the slightest.

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It has to be said, this novel is not your typical gruesome crime thriller, the type of story where murders occur consistently until the culprit has been caught. This is simply, a single murder and a handful of suspects; all of whom could have been equally responsible as the rest. Join Poirot as he eliminates suspects and tracks down the murderer, if you’re a fan of riddles, or even just appreciate daytime British television crime dramas, then this is the novel for you!