Agatha Christie wrote one of the most well-known
criminal novels "
Murder Orient Express" which was published in 1934.
In
this novel the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is asked by the
director for the sleeping cabins, an old friend, to solve a
murder case. This happened in a compartment in the famous luxury train. It was
by chance that Poirot was asked by Monsieur Bouc, his old friend, to
deal with the investigation into the ominous murder case involving a
sixty year old, rich american by the name of Ratchett who was killed
with 12 stabs. The train is covered in snow and is resting on a quiet
track far away from the next town. The always well dressed Belgian
commences in his umistakable manner ,applying logic and
rationale, the
questionning of 12 passenges on the train with the assistance of Dr.
Constantine, a Greek citizen, and Monsieur Bouc. Since logic and
rationale are one of the most developed skills in Poirot's serendipity
he soon found out who the victim is. Thus, his further research lead
him to the common past of all the passengers on the train. In
1928, the author herself (born in 1890) took the Orient - Express on a
journey to Bagdad. It is probable that this was where the idea
originated to create this classic and very thrilling criminal novel in
which all passengers are suspicious from the outset. As the reader you
may think you have identified the murder but soon after Poirot will
suspect someone else and now one thinks this is the murderer. Unlike in
other such novels, where the least suspected is the culprit, in the
Orient Express it simply not enough to point the finger at the least
suspicious person. This is what makes the book so tense. Everyone is
suspicous at some point. And the murderer? ... Well, in the end we will not be surprised be the Queen of crime.