Murder on the Orient Express facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Murder on the Orient Express

Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
Author	Agatha Christie
Cover artist	Unknown
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Crime novel
Publisher	Collins Crime Club
Publication date	1 January 1934
Media type	Print (hardback and paperback)
Pages	256 (first edition, hardcover)
Preceded by	The Hound of Death
Followed by	Unfinished Portrait

Murder on the Orient Express is a famous detective fiction novel by the English writer Agatha Christie. It features the clever Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The book was first published in the United Kingdom on January 1, 1934. In the United States, it came out on February 28, 1934, with a different title: Murder in the Calais Coach.

The story takes place on the fancy Orient Express train in the 1930s. The train gets stuck in heavy snow. Suddenly, a murder is discovered! Detective Poirot was on his way home to London from the Middle East. Now, his trip is interrupted, and he must solve the puzzling crime. The first part of the story happens in Istanbul. The rest of the novel takes place in Yugoslavia, with the train stuck between the towns of Vinkovci and Brod.

The US title, Murder in the Calais Coach, was used to avoid confusion. Another book, Stamboul Train by Graham Greene, had already been published in the US as Orient Express.

The Story of the Murder on the Orient Express

The railway station in Vinkovci, Croatia

Detective Hercule Poirot has just finished a case in Aleppo. He takes the Taurus Express train to Istanbul. While at the Tokatlian Hotel, he gets a telegram telling him to return to London right away. He asks for a first-class ticket on the Simplon-route Orient Express leaving that night. Even though the train is full, Poirot gets a second-class spot. His friend, Monsieur Bouc, helps him. Bouc is also Belgian and works as a director for the train company, Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits.

Other passengers on the train include:

• American widow Caroline Hubbard
• English governess Mary Debenham
• Swedish missionary Greta Ohlsson
• American businessman Samuel Ratchett, with his secretary Hector MacQueen and valet Edward Henry Masterman
• Italian-American car salesman Antonio Foscarelli
• Russian Princess Natalia Dragomiroff and her German maid Hildegarde Schmidt
• Hungarian Count Rudolph Andrenyi and his wife Elena
• English Colonel John Arbuthnot
• American salesman Cyrus B. Hardman
• Greek medical doctor Stavros Constantine

Mr. Ratchett has been getting death threats. He recognizes Poirot and tries to hire him for protection. But Poirot doesn't like Ratchett and refuses to help him.

On the first morning, Bouc moves to another train car. This lets Poirot have his first-class cabin. That night, Poirot notices some strange things. Early in the morning, he wakes up to a cry from Ratchett's room next door. The train conductor, Pierre Michel, knocks on Ratchett's door. A voice from inside says, "It is nothing. I was mistaken."

Later, Mrs. Hubbard rings her bell. She tells Michel a man walked through her room. When Poirot rings his bell for water, Michel tells him the train is stuck in a snowdrift. It is stuck between Vinkovci and Brod. Poirot then hears a loud thump next door. He also sees a woman in a red kimono walking towards the washroom. After that, he goes back to sleep.

The next morning, the train is still stuck. Bouc tells Poirot that Ratchett has been murdered! The killer must still be on board, as no one could escape in the snow. Since there are no police, Poirot agrees to solve the case. With Dr. Constantine's help, Poirot examines Ratchett's body and room. They find several clues:

• Ratchett has many stab wounds.
• The window was left open.
• A handkerchief with the letter "H" on it.
• A pipe cleaner.
• A flat match that is different from Ratchett's matches.
• A burnt piece of paper with "member little Daisy Armstrong" written on it.

The burnt paper helps Poirot understand why Ratchett was killed. Many years ago, a gangster named Cassetti kidnapped three-year-old Daisy Armstrong. Cassetti demanded a lot of money from the rich Armstrong family. After getting the money, he revealed he had already killed the child. Daisy's mother, Sonia Armstrong, was pregnant. She went into early labor after hearing the news and died, along with her baby. Her sad husband, Colonel Armstrong, then took his own life. Daisy's French nursemaid, Susanne, was wrongly accused of helping Cassetti and also took her own life. Later, she was found to be innocent. Cassetti escaped punishment because of bribes and legal tricks. He then fled the country. Poirot realizes that "Ratchett" was actually Cassetti. The person who answered the conductor's knock could not have been Ratchett, because Ratchett did not speak French.

Poirot begins to interview everyone on the train. He learns that MacQueen knows about the Armstrong note and thought it was destroyed. Mrs. Hubbard believes the killer was in her room. All the passengers and Pierre give alibis for each other. But Poirot notices that some of them saw a woman in a red kimono walking in the hallway the night of the murder. However, no one admits to owning a red kimono.

Mrs. Hubbard had asked Ohlsson to lock the door between her room and Cassetti's. This makes her story about a man in her room seem false. Schmidt says she bumped into a stranger wearing a train uniform. Miss Debenham accidentally reveals she has been to America, even though she said she hadn't. Ohlsson gets very emotional when Daisy's name is mentioned, which makes Poirot suspicious. Arbuthnot says Cassetti should have been found guilty in court, not murdered. Hardman admits he is a detective. He was hired to watch Cassetti because someone was trying to kill him.

While checking the luggage, Poirot finds that Countess Andrenyi's luggage label is wet. Her passport is also damaged. Schmidt's bag has the train uniform in it. And Poirot's own luggage contains the red kimono, which was recently hidden there. Mrs. Hubbard herself finds the murder weapon hidden in her sponge bag.

Poirot meets with Dr. Constantine and Bouc to review the case. He thinks deeply about all the clues. Then, he figures out the solution.

He gathers all the suspects in the dining car. He reveals their true identities. They were all connected to the Armstrong tragedy in some way.

• Countess Andrenyi (whose maiden name was Goldenberg) is Helena, Daisy's aunt. She was a child when the tragedy happened. Her husband, Rudolph, smudged her luggage label and hid her name to protect her.
• Debenham was Helena and Daisy's governess.
• Foscarelli was the Armstrongs' chauffeur.
• Masterman was Colonel Armstrong's valet.
• Michel is Susanne's father. He got the extra uniform.
• Hubbard is actually the famous actress Linda Arden, Daisy's grandmother and Sonia and Helena's mother.
• Schmidt was the Armstrongs' cook.
• Ohlsson was Daisy's nurse.
• Princess Dragomiroff is Sonia's godmother. She claims the handkerchief, saying the "H" is a Cyrillic "N" for her name, Natalia.
• Arbuthnot was a close friend of Colonel Armstrong.
• Hardman is a former policeman who loved Susanne.
• MacQueen, who liked Sonia, was the son of the lawyer who defended the Armstrongs.

The only passengers not involved in the murder are Bouc and Constantine. They both slept in another train car, which was locked.

Poirot suggests two possible solutions. 1. A stranger boarded the train when it stopped at Vinkovci. This stranger killed Cassetti because of a Mafia fight. Then, they left the train in the snow, which would have been very risky. 2. All the clues, except the handkerchief and pipe cleaner, were placed there on purpose. Michel and all the passengers in the coach, except Helena, stabbed Cassetti. They acted as their own jury.

Linda Arden admits that the second solution is correct. She offers to take all the blame, saying she planned everything. Bouc and Constantine agree to accept the first solution to tell the police. Poirot then steps away from the case.

Main Characters

• Hercule Poirot – A very famous detective from Belgium.
• Bouc – Poirot's friend and a director of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits train company.
• Dr. Stavros Constantine – A Greek doctor who helps figure out when Ratchett died.
• Mrs. Caroline Hubbard – Daisy Armstrong's grandmother, later revealed to be the actress Linda Arden.
• Mary Debenham – A governess who used to work for Daisy Armstrong's family.
• Colonel John Arbuthnot – Colonel Armstrong's best friend.
• Princess Natalia Dragomiroff – A Russian princess who is Sonia Armstrong's godmother.
• Hector MacQueen – Ratchett's personal secretary. His father was the Armstrong family's lawyer.
• Samuel Ratchett – Also known as Cassetti, the man who kidnapped and killed three-year-old Daisy Armstrong.
• Countess Helena Andrenyi – Sonia Armstrong's sister. She is the only one of the 12 passengers who did not take part in the murder.
• Count Rudolph Andrenyi – Countess Andrenyi's husband. He took his wife's place as the twelfth person to stab Ratchett.
• Cyrus Hardman – A former American policeman who was in love with Daisy's French nurse.
• Antonio Foscarelli – The Armstrongs' former chauffeur who cared deeply for Daisy.
• Greta Ohlsson – Daisy Armstrong's former nurse.
• Hildegarde Schmidt – Princess Dragomiroff's maid, who used to be the Armstrongs' cook.
• Edward Henry Masterman – Ratchett's valet. He was Colonel Armstrong's assistant during the war and his valet in New York.
• Pierre Michel – The train conductor and the father of Daisy Armstrong's nursemaid.

Movies and Shows Based on the Book

Radio Shows

• In 1992, John Moffatt played Poirot in a five-part BBC Radio 4 show.
• In 2017, Audible released another radio version with Tom Conti as Poirot.
• A Soviet radio play was released in 1966.

Movies

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

This book was made into a movie in 1974. Sidney Lumet directed it, and it was very popular. Albert Finney played Poirot. The cast also included famous actors like Sean Connery, Lauren Bacall, and Ingrid Bergman. Ingrid Bergman even won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Greta Ohlsson. Only small changes were made from the book.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

In 2017, 20th Century Fox released another movie version. Kenneth Branagh directed it and also starred as Poirot. The cast included Johnny Depp as Ratchett, Michelle Pfeiffer as Mrs. Hubbard, and Judi Dench as Princess Dragomiroff. This movie made some changes to the characters and story details. For example, Poirot had a direct link to the Armstrong kidnapping. The movie also set up a sequel, Death on the Nile.

Television Shows

German TV show (1955)

The story was first shown on German TV in 1955 as part of a series called Die Galerie der großen Detektive.

Murder on the Orient Express (2001)

In 2001, CBS made a TV movie with Alfred Molina as Poirot. This version was updated to modern times. It also removed some characters and made Poirot younger.

Agatha Christie's Poirot: "Murder on the Orient Express" (2010)

David Suchet played Hercule Poirot in a 2010 TV movie for the series Agatha Christie's Poirot. This version was co-produced by ITV Studios and WGBH-TV. The cast included Dame Eileen Atkins and Barbara Hershey. This adaptation showed Poirot's struggle with the idea of mob justice. The train's inside was built at Pinewood Studios in London.

Japanese TV show (2015)

A Japanese TV show called Orient Kyuukou Satsujin Jiken was broadcast in 2015. It featured many famous Japanese actors. The main character, Suguro Takeru, was based on Hercule Poirot. The first part of the show followed the original story but was set in Japan in 1933. The train traveled from Shimonoseki to Tokyo.

Stage Play

Playwright Ken Ludwig turned the novel into a play. It first opened in Princeton, New Jersey in 2017. Allan Corduner played Poirot.

Games

A board game based on the novel, called Orient Express, came out in 1985. A computer game, Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express, was released in 2006. In this game, you play a new character because Poirot (voiced by David Suchet) is sick.

When the Book Was Published

• The book was first published in the UK by Collins Crime Club on January 1, 1934. It was a hardcover book with 256 pages.
• In the US, it was published by Dodd Mead and Company in 1934.
• The story first appeared in parts in the US magazine Saturday Evening Post from September to November 1933. It was called Murder in the Calais Coach.
• In the UK, the story was printed in parts in Grand Magazine in 1934, after the book was released.

See also

In Spanish: Asesinato en el Orient Express para niños