Review: THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN, Agatha Christie

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on my Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0FBWL1762
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Zenith Horizon Publishing, 2025
• Originally published 1928
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 307 pages
• Book 6 of 38: Hercule Poirot  

Synopsis  (Amazon)

A glamorous train. A priceless jewel. A shocking murder.
All aboard for a deadly ride on The Mystery of the Blue Train, one of Agatha Christie's most thrilling Hercule Poirot mysteries!

When the luxurious Blue Train departs Paris for the Riviera, it carries a dazzling heiress—and a priceless ruby. But when she's found murdered in her compartment, it's up to the legendary Belgian detective Hercule Poirot to solve a mystery filled with secrets, suspicion, and style.

This gripping novel delivers Christie's signature twists and turns, set against the backdrop of high society, stolen gems, and cold-blooded crime.

My Take

One of the books I am re-reading for discussion with my U3A Agatha Christie reading group. It is a book that I have read a number of time before and have reviewed on this blog here and here 

Here are some of the points I'd like to cover in our discussion (I'm sure the group will raise others):

• The novel has two major events: the theft of a ruby and the death of its owner while they are on The Blue Train which is taking holiday makers to the French Riviera. It reveals glimpses of the French underworld, a description of the lifestyle of the well to do in post-war Europe, and the plot is characterised by a lot of misdirection and red herrings. Poirot has some doubt that theft and the murder are done by the same person. 
• This novel is set in the late 1920s and there are comments about the social structure, with a sense of a declining aristocracy, but still no understanding, by those who consider themselves aristocracy, of the lower classes. We might also consider what Katherine Grey, recently the beneficiary of an elderly woman's will, and on her way to Nice to stay with her relative Lady Tamplin, is trying to do.
• the introduction of characters who will re-appear in later books. e.g. Mr Goby, reference to Inspector Japp, and first appearance of the valet George, whom Poirot uses as a sounding board, a position that had been occupied by Hastings in earlier novels.
• The author's  decision to do without a narrator
• the nature of Ruth Kettering's father  
• Christie claimed that this was one of the books she liked least, however the critics did not agree with her.
• The fact that originally the wrong man goes to jail. i.e. Poirot initially gets it wrong
• Poirot's relationship Katherine Grey and her relationship with other male characters 
• the introduction of St Mary Mead

My rating: 4.5

You can find all my reviews of Agatha Christie novels here.