Murder on the Orient Express

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 & paperback)
Pages 256 pp (first edition, hardcover)
ISBN NA
Preceded by The Hound of Death
Followed by Unfinished Portrait

Murder on the Orient Express is a detective novel by Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 1 January 1934.[1] In the United States, it was published February 28, 1934,[2]:213[3] under the title of Murder in the Calais Coach, by Dodd, Mead and Company.[4][5] The U.K. edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6)[6] and the U.S. edition at $2.00.[5]

The U.S. title of Murder in the Calais Coach was used to avoid confusion with the 1932 Graham Greene novel Stamboul Train which had been published in the United States as Orient Express.[7]

Plot summary

Upon arriving at the Tokatlian Hotel in Istanbul, private detective Hercule Poirot receives a telegram prompting him to cancel his arrangements and return to London. He instructs the concierge to book a first-class compartment on the Orient Express leaving that night. After boarding, Poirot is approached by Mr. Ratchett, a malevolent American he initially saw at the Tokatlian. Ratchett believes his life is being threatened and attempts to hire Poirot but, due to his distaste, Poirot refuses. "I do not like your face, Mr. Ratchett," he says.

On the second night of the journey, the train is stopped by a snowdrift near Vinkovci. Several events disturb Poirot's sleep, including a cry emanating from Ratchett's compartment. The next morning, Mr. Bouc, an acquaintance of Poirot and director of the company operating the Orient Express, informs him that Ratchett has been murdered and asks Poirot to investigate, in order to avoid complications and bureaucracy when the Yugoslav police arrive. Poirot accepts.

After examining the body and Ratchett's compartment, Poirot ascertains Ratchett's real identity and possible motives for his murder. A few years before, in the United States, three-year-old heiress Daisy Armstrong was kidnapped by a man named Cassetti. Cassetti eventually killed the child, despite collecting the ransom from the wealthy Armstrong family. The shock devastated the family, leading to a number of deaths and suicides. Cassetti was caught, but fled the country after he was acquitted. It is suspected that Cassetti used his considerable resources to rig the trial. Poirot concludes that Ratchett was, in fact, Cassetti.

As Poirot pursues his investigation, he discovers that everyone in the coach had a connection to the Armstrong family and, therefore, had a motive to kill Ratchett. Poirot proposes two possible solutions, leaving it to Bouc to decide which solution to put forward to the authorities. The first solution is that a stranger boarded the train and murdered Ratchett. The second solution is that all 13 people in the coach were complicit in the murder, seeking the justice that Ratchett had averted in the United States. He concedes Countess Andrenyi did not take part, so the murderers numbered 12, resembling a self-appointed jury. Mrs. Hubbard, revealed to be Linda Arden, Daisy Armstrong's grandmother, confesses that the second solution is correct.

Plot detail

The crime scene

Hercule Poirot, the internationally famous murder detective, boards the Orient Express (Simplon-Orient-Express) in Istanbul. The train is unusually crowded for the time of year. Poirot secures a berth only with the help of his friend Monsieur Bouc, a director of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. When a Mr. Harris fails to show up, Poirot takes his place. On the second night, Poirot gets a compartment to himself.

Room 411 at the Pera Palace Hotel in İstanbul, where Agatha Christie allegedly wrote Murder on the Orient Express.

During the journey, Poirot is approached by one of the passengers, Mr. Ratchett, an American businessman, who claims his life is in danger. He produces a small gun that he carries at all times, saying he believes it is necessary. He wants to hire Poirot to discover who is threatening him. Despite offers of increasingly substantial sums of money, Poirot declines Ratchett's offer, saying, "I do not like your face".

That night, in Vinkovci, at about 23 minutes before 1:00 a.m., Poirot wakes to the sound of a scream. It seems to come from the compartment next to his, which is occupied by Mr. Ratchett. When Poirot peeks out his door, he sees the conductor knock on Mr. Ratchett's door and ask if he is all right. A man's voice replies in French, "Ce n'est rien. Je me suis trompé," which means "It's nothing. I was mistaken," and the conductor moves on to answer another bell further down the passage. Poirot decides to go back to bed, but is disturbed by the fact that the train is unusually still.

As he lies awake, he hears Mrs. Hubbard ringing the bell urgently. When Poirot rings the conductor for a bottle of mineral water, he learns that Mrs. Hubbard claimed that someone had been in her compartment. He learns that the train has stopped as the result of a large snowdrift blocking the track. He dismisses the conductor and tries to go back to sleep, only to be awakened again by a knock on his door. This time, when Poirot gets up and looks out his door, the passage outside his compartment is empty, except for a woman in a scarlet kimono retreating down the passage in the distance. The next day, he awakens to find that Ratchett is dead, having been stabbed 12 times in his sleep. Bouc suggests that Poirot take the case, as he is so experienced with similar mysteries. Nothing more is required than for him to sit, think, and take in the available evidence.

The evidence

Contemporary view of one of the Orient Express' dining cars

The door to Ratchett's compartment was locked and chained. One of the windows is open. Some of the stab wounds are very deep, at least three are lethal, and some are glancing blows. Furthermore, some of the wounds appear to have been inflicted by a right-handed person and some by a left-handed person. The pistol Ratchett carried is discovered under his pillow, unfired. A glass on the nightstand is examined and revealed to be drugged. A small pocket watch is discovered in Ratchett's pajamas, broken and stopped at 1:15 a.m.

Poirot finds several more clues in the victim's cabin and on board the train, including a woman's linen handkerchief embroidered with the initial "H", a pipe cleaner, and a button from a conductor's uniform. All of these clues suggest that the murderer or murderers were somewhat sloppy. However, each clue seemingly points to different suspects, which suggests that some of the clues were planted.

By reconstructing parts of a burned letter, Poirot discovers that Ratchett was a notorious fugitive from the United States named Cassetti. Five years earlier, Cassetti kidnapped three-year-old American heiress Daisy Armstrong. Although the Armstrong family paid a large ransom, Cassetti murdered the little girl long before the ransom deadline and fled the country with the money. Daisy's mother, Sonia, was pregnant when she heard of Daisy's death. The shock sent her into premature labour, and both she and the baby died. Her husband, Colonel Armstrong, shot himself out of grief. Daisy's nursemaid, Susanne, was suspected of complicity in the crime by the police, despite her protests. She threw herself out of a window and died, although she was later proved innocent. Although Cassetti was caught, his resources allowed him to get himself acquitted on an unspecified technicality, although he still fled the country to escape further prosecution for the crime. As the evidence mounts, it continues to point in different directions, giving the appearance that Poirot is being challenged by a mastermind. A critical piece of missing evidence—the scarlet kimono worn the night of the murder by an unknown woman—turns up on top of Poirot's own luggage.

The solution

After meditating on the evidence, Poirot assembles Bouc and Dr. Constantine, along with the 13 suspects, in the restaurant car, and lays out two possible explanations of Ratchett's murder. The first explanation is that a stranger—some gangster enemy of Ratchett—boarded the train at Vinkovci, the last stop, murdered Ratchett for reasons unknown, then escaped unnoticed and it is possible that the man has already left Yugoslavia. The crime occurred an hour earlier than everyone thought, because the victim and several others failed to note that the train had just crossed into a different time zone. The other noises heard by Poirot on the coach that evening were unrelated to the murder. However, Dr. Constantine objects, saying that Poirot must surely be aware that this does not explain the circumstances of the case.

Poirot's second explanation is much longer and rather more sensational: all of the suspects are guilty. Poirot's suspicions were first aroused by the fact that all the passengers on the train were of so many different nationalities and social classes, and that only in the "melting pot" of the United States would a group of such different people form some connection with each other.

Poirot reveals that the 13 other passengers on the train, and the train conductor, were all connected to the Armstrong family in some way:

All these friends and relations had been gravely affected by Daisy's murder, and outraged by Cassetti's subsequent escape. They took it into their own hands to serve as Cassetti's executioners, to avenge a crime the law was unable to punish. Each of the suspects stabbed Ratchett once, so that no one could know who delivered the fatal blow. Twelve of the conspirators participated to allow for a "12-person jury", with Countess Andrenyi taking no part in the crime as she would have been suspected the most, so her husband took her place. One extra berth was booked under a fictitious name – Harris – so that no one but the conspirators and the victim would be on board the coach, and this fictitious person would subsequently disappear and become the primary suspect in Ratchett's murder. (The only people not involved in the plot would be "M. Bouc," for whom the cabin next to Ratchett had already been reserved, and Dr Constantine.) The main inconvenience for the executioners was the snowstorm and the last minute, unwelcome presence of Poirot, which caused complications resulting in several crucial clues being left behind.

Poirot summarises that there was no other way the murder could have taken place, given the evidence. Several of the suspects have broken down in tears as he has revealed their connection to the Armstrong family, and Mrs. Hubbard/Linda Arden confesses that the second theory is correct, but begs Poirot to tell the authorities that she acted alone as Cassetti's murderess. The evidence could be skewed to implicate her and she declares she would gladly go to prison if it meant the other passengers were spared. She points out that everyone present has suffered because of Cassetti's misdeeds, that there would likely have been other victims like Daisy if Cassetti had gone unpunished, and that Colonel Arbuthnot and Mary Debenham are in love. Fully in sympathy with the Armstrong family, and feeling nothing but disgust for the victim, Bouc pronounces the first explanation as correct. Poirot and Dr. Constantine agree. The doctor suggests he will edit his original report of the murder as he now "recognizes" some mistakes he has made, which clearly indicate that Poirot's first explanation was correct, after all. Poirot announces that he has "the honour to retire from the case".

Arrangement of the Calais Coach:

    Corridor  
Pullman Coach Michel 16. Hardman 15. Arbuthnot 14. Dragomiroff 13. R. Andrenyi 12. H. Andrenyi 3. Hubbard 2. Ratchett 1. Poirot 10. Ohlsson
11. Debenham 		8. Schmidt
9. 		6. MacQueen
7. 		4. Masterman
5. Foscarelli 		Dining Car
  First-class compartment (1 person)
  Second-class compartment (2 people)
  Compartment where murder occurred (first class)

Reception

The Times Literary Supplement of 11 January 1934 outlined the plot and concluded that "The little grey cells solve once more the seemingly insoluble. Mrs. Christie makes an improbable tale very real, and keeps her readers enthralled and guessing to the end."[8]

In The New York Times Book Review of 4 March 1934, Isaac Anderson wrote, "The great Belgian detective's guesses are more than shrewd; they are positively miraculous. Although both the murder plot and the solution verge upon the impossible, Agatha Christie has contrived to make them appear quite convincing for the time being, and what more than that can a mystery addict desire?"[9]

The reviewer in The Guardian of 12 January 1934 noted that the murder would have been "perfect" (i.e. a perfect crime) had Poirot not been on the train and also overheard a conversation between Miss Debenham and Colonel Arbuthnot before he boarded; however, "The 'little grey cells' worked admirably, and the solution surprised their owner as much as it may well surprise the reader, for the secret is well kept and the manner of the telling is in Mrs. Christie's usual admirable manner."[10]

Robert Barnard: "The best of the railway stories. The Orient Express, snowed up in Yugoslavia, provides the ideal 'closed' set-up for a classic-style exercise in detection, as well as an excuse for an international cast-list. Contains my favourite line in all Christie: 'Poor creature, she's a Swede.' Impeccably clued, with a clever use of the Cyrillic script (cf. The Double Clue). The solution raised the ire of Raymond Chandler, but won't bother anyone who doesn't insist his detective fiction mirror real-life crime."[11] The reference is to Chandler's criticism of Christie in his essay The Simple Art of Murder.

In the "Binge!" article of Entertainment Weekly Issue #1343-44 (26 December 2014–3 January 2015), the writers picked Murder on the Orient Express as an "EW favorite" on the list of the "Nine Great Christie Novels".[12]

References and allusions

References to actual history, geography and current science

Main article: Lindbergh kidnapping

The Armstrong kidnapping case was based on the actual kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh's son in 1932, just before the book was written. An innocent but perhaps loose-lipped maid employed by Mrs. Lindbergh's parents was suspected of involvement in the crime. After being harshly interrogated by police, she committed suicide. Another less-remembered real-life event also helped inspire the novel. Agatha Christie first travelled on the Orient Express in the autumn of 1928. Just a few months later, in February 1929, an Orient Express train was trapped by a blizzard near Cherkeskoy, Turkey, remaining marooned for six days.[13]

Christie herself was involved in a similar incident in December 1931 while returning from a visit to her husband's archaeological dig at Nineveh. The Orient Express train she was on was stuck for 24 hours due to rainfall, flooding, and sections of the track being washed away. Her authorised biography quotes in full a letter to her husband detailing the event. The letter includes descriptions of some passengers on the train, who influenced the plot and characters of the book, particularly an American lady, Mrs. Hilton, who was the inspiration for Mrs. Hubbard.[14]

Adaptations

Radio

John Moffatt starred as Poirot in a five-part BBC Radio 4 adaptation by Michael Blakewell, which was directed by Enyd Williams and originally broadcast from 28 December 1992 - 1 January 1993. André Maranne appeared as Bouc, Joss Ackland as Ratchett, Sylvia Syms as Mrs. Hubbard, Siân Phillips as Princess Dragomiroff, Francesca Annis as Mary Debenham, and Peter Polycarpou as Dr. Constantine.

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

The book was made into a 1974 movie, which is considered one of the most successful cinematic adaptations of Christie's work ever. The film starred Albert Finney as Poirot, Martin Balsam as M. Bianchi, George Coulouris as Dr. Constantine, Richard Widmark as Ratchett, and an all-star cast of suspects including Sean Connery (Arbuthnot), Lauren Bacall (Mrs. Hubbard), Anthony Perkins (McQueen)], John Gielgud (Beddoes), Michael York (Count Andrenyi), Jean-Pierre Cassel (Pierre Michel), Jacqueline Bisset (Countess Andrenyi), Wendy Hiller (Princess Dragomiroff), Vanessa Redgrave (Mary Debenham), Rachel Roberts (Hildegard Schmidt), Colin Blakely (Hardman), Denis Quilley (Foscarelli), and Ingrid Bergman, who won the 1974 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Greta Ohlsson.

Only minor changes were made for the film: Masterman was renamed Beddoes, the dead maid was named Paulette instead of Susanne, Helena Goldenberg became Helena Grünwald (which is German for "Greenwood"), Antonio Foscarelli became Gino Foscarelli, Caroline Martha Hubbard became Harriet Belinda Hubbard, and the train line's Belgian/Flemish director, Monsieur Bouc, became instead an Italian director, Signor Bianchi.

Murder on the Orient Express (2001)

A thoroughly modernised and poorly received made-for-TV version starring Alfred Molina as Poirot was presented by CBS in 2001. This version costarred Meredith Baxter as Mrs. Hubbard and Leslie Caron as the Princess Dragomiroff (renamed Señora Alvarado and portrayed as the widow of a South American Dictator). Poirot is portrayed as significantly younger and less eccentric than Christie's detective, and is given a subplot involving a romantic relationship with Vera Rosakoff, who is loosely based on an infrequently recurring character of the same name. The story is updated to a contemporary setting, and three of the suspects (Hildegard Schmidt, Cyrus Hardman and Greta Ohlssohn) are deleted, as is Dr. Constantine.[15]

Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express (2010)

David Suchet reprises the role of Hercule Poirot in the television series co-produced by ITV Studios and WGBH-TV, adapted for the screen by Stewart Harcourt. The original air date was 11 July 2010 in the United States, and it was aired on Christmas Day 2010 in the UK. The cast includes Dame Eileen Atkins as Princess Dragomiroff, Hugh Bonneville as Masterman, Jessica Chastain as Mary Debenham, Barbara Hershey as Mrs. Hubbard, Toby Jones as Rachett, and David Morrissey as Colonel Arbuthnot.

Generally faithful to the original story, it has a number of differences in the details. The film takes place in September 1938, just before the outbreak of World War II, instead of 1936 as in most of the other episodes of the TV series. Cyrus Hardman is omitted from the story, with Dr. Constantine taking his place among the "jury," with the motive that he was Mrs. Armstrong's American (rather than Greek) doctor who delivered Daisy Armstrong and the second (stillborn) child. Constantine's role in the investigation is enlarged to an extent, and he attempts to draw Poirot's attention to the clues that support the theory of a lone assassin. Antonio Foscarelli becomes the lover of the maid (whose name has changed from Susanne to Francoise), as well as being the chauffeur. Greta Ohlsson, middle-aged in the novel, is portrayed a woman in her 20s, and shares a discreetly implied romance with Antonio, as the two are seen together on several occasions towards the end of the film. Rachett's murder is made significantly more violent: Instead of being drugged unconscious, the drug paralyzes him but leaves him fully conscious of his own execution, while Princess Natalia Dragomiroff tells him exactly who they are and why they are delivering his punishment.

The atmosphere of this film is grimmer and darker than the other adaptations, with significant emphasis placed on the encroaching cold in the stranded train after it loses power and running water. The opening of the film expands on the case that has brought Poirot to Palestine, mentioned only briefly in the book. It finds him in the midst of presenting his summation of the case, accusing a married British Army officer of giving false information to the detectives to cover up his mistress' accidental death. The officer commits suicide in front of Poirot to avoid bringing disgrace upon his wife and his regiment. Other deviations from the novel include the portrayal of the stoning of an adulteress on the streets of Istanbul witnessed by Poirot, Arbuthnot and Mary Debenham. Mary is paralysed in her right arm and shoulder due to a brutal injury given to her by Ratchett during Daisy's kidnapping. It is revealed that Ratchett's connections threatened to kill MacQueen if his father did not rig the trial. Helena's maiden name, along with that of their mother, is changed from Goldenberg to Wasserstein (German for "water stone"), then anglicised to Waterston. (In the 1974 movie directed by Sidney Lumet, it had been Grünwald, German for "Greenwood"). Mrs. Hubbard/Linda Arden wears a black wig to hide her grey hair, as there was a danger of her being recognised.

Following a trend of religious elements introduced into the series after 2003 at the behest of star David Suchet, the script includes extended religious and moral dialogues, including Ratchett showing himself to be religious, telling Poirot that he wants to make amends for something unknown and feeling remorse for the evil he has done. The ending has a different character from that of the original story, with an emphasis on Poirot's moral dilemma. After he solves the case, Poirot stubbornly refuses to acknowledge that justice has been done, and gives a fervent speech on the importance of the rule of law, warning that barbarism will prevail if individuals abandon it, apparently alluding to the crimes of the impending Second World War. Greta, whom Poirot admires for her good works and deep faith, firmly tells Poirot that Ratchett's escape from justice is what is wrong with Catholicism, which she says forgives crimes that God will never forgive, and claims she took part in the killing on God's orders. This is followed by an argument between Poirot and Bouc, who is sympathetic to the conspirators' motives. Poirot's refusal to show mercy causes Colonel Arbuthnot to draw a pistol with the intent of killing Poirot and Bouc and blaming it on Ratchett's "assassin", but he is stopped by the others, who force him to see that murdering Poirot and Bouc would make them (the conspirators) no better than Ratchett. This, Poirot's attitude towards the Istanbul stoning, and a conversation with Mary Debenham, culminate in Poirot presenting the police with the false account of the lone assassin. However, he does so far more grudgingly and unwillingly than in the original novel and previous film and television adaptations. The conspirators are relieved, but Poirot continues to struggle with his decision, barely able to hold back his tears as he walks away from the train with a rosary in his hand.

The interior of the Orient Express was reproduced at Pinewood Studios in London, while other locations include the Freemason Hall, Nene Valley Railway, and a street in Malta (shot to represent Istanbul).[16]

Publication history

The story's first true publication was the US serialisation in six installments in the Saturday Evening Post from 30 September to 4 November 1933 (Volume 206, Numbers 14 to 19). The title was Murder in the Calais Coach, and it was illustrated by William C. Hoople.[17]

The UK serialisation appeared after book publication, appearing in three installments in the Grand Magazine, in March, April, and May 1934 (Issues 349 to 351). This version was abridged from the book version (losing some 25% of the text), was without chapter divisions, and named the Russian princess as Dragiloff instead of Dragomiroff. Advertisements in the back pages of the UK first editions of The Listerdale Mystery, Why Didn't They Ask Evans, and Parker Pyne Investigates claimed that Murder on the Orient Express had proven to be Christie's best-selling book to date and the best-selling book published in the Collins Crime Club series.

Book dedication

The dedication of the book reads:
"To M.E.L.M. Arpachiyah, 1933"

"M.E.L.M." is Christie's second husband, archaeologist Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan (1904–78). She dedicated four books to him, either singly or jointly, the others being The Sittaford Mystery (1931), Come Tell Me How You Live (1946), and Christie's final written work, Postern of Fate (1973).

Christie and Mallowan were married, after a short engagement, on 11 September 1930, followed by a honeymoon in Italy. After his final seasons working on someone else's dig (Reginald Campbell Thompson – see the dedication to Lord Edgware Dies), Max raised the funds to lead an expedition of his own. With sponsorship from the Trustees of the British Museum and the British School of Archeology in Iraq,[18] he set off in 1933 for a mound at Arpachiyah, north-west of Nineveh, where "after several anxious weeks... considerable quantities of beautifully decorated pottery and figures came to the surface."[19] A notable feature of this season is that, for the first time, Christie, the rank amateur, assisted the professionals in their work. She was responsible for keeping written records and proved highly adept at cleaning and re-assembling pottery fragments. As at Nineveh, she found the time to continue writing, with Orient Express, Why Didn't They Ask Evans, and Unfinished Portrait all being drafted at the dig[19] (although a claim has been made that Murder on the Orient Express was written in the Hotel Pera Palace in Istanbul – see External Links below). Despite this success, after 1933, Mallowan discontinued work in Iraq due to the worsening political situation, and moved on to Syria.

Dustjacket blurb

The blurb on the inside flap of the dust jacket of the first edition (which is also repeated opposite the title page) reads:

The famous Orient Express, thundering along on its three-day journey across Europe, came to a sudden stop in the night. Snowdrifts blocked the line at a desolate spot somewhere in the Balkans. Everything was deathly quiet. "Decidedly I suffer from the nerves," murmured Hercule Poirot, and fell asleep again. He awoke to find himself very much wanted. For in the night murder had been committed. Mr. Ratchett, an American millionaire, was found lying dead in his berth – stabbed. The untrodden snow around the train proved that the murderer was still on board. Poirot investigates. He lies back and thinks – with his little grey cells...

Murder on the Orient Express must rank as one of the most ingenious stories ever devised. The solution is brilliant. One can but admire the amazing resource of Agatha Christie.

References in other works

International titles

Except where otherwise noted, all English translations mean "Murder on the Orient Express".

References

  1. ↑ The Observer, 31 December 1933 (p.
  2. ↑ United States, Dept. of the Treasury (1935). Catalog of Copyright Entries. New Series: 1934, Part 1, Volume 31. New Series. Washington D.C.: Copyright Office. p. 2344. Retrieved 23 Mar 2015.
  3. ↑ Coignard, Jerome (28 February 1934). "Books - and Their Makers". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY). p. 20. Retrieved 23 Mar 2015.
  4. ↑ John Cooper and B.A. Pyke. Detective Fiction – the collector's guide: Second Edition (pp. 82, 86) Scholar Press. 1994. ISBN 0-85967-991-8
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Steve Marcum. "American Tribute to Agatha Christie". Home.insightbb.com. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
  6. ↑ Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions. Dragonby Press (Second Edition) March 1999 (p. 14)
  7. ↑ Vanessa Wagstaff and Stephen Poole, Agatha Christie: A Readers Companion (p. 88). Aurum Press Ltd, 2004. ISBN 1-84513-015-4
  8. ↑ The Times Literary Supplement, 11 January 1934 (p. 29)
  9. ↑ The New York Times Book Review, 4 March 1934 (p. 11)
  10. ↑ The Guardian, 12 January 1934 (p. 5)
  11. ↑ Barnard, Robert. A Talent to Deceive – an appreciation of Agatha Christie – Revised edition (pp. 199–200). Fontana Books, 1990. ISBN 0-00-637474-3
  12. ↑ "Binge! Agatha Christie: Nine Great Christie Novels". Entertainment Weekly (1343-44): 32–33. 26 December 2014.
  13. ↑ Dennis Sanders and Len Lovallo. The Agatha Christie Companion (pp. 105–08) Delacorte Press, 1984.
  14. ↑ Morgan, Janet. Agatha Christie, A Biography. (pp. 201–04) Collins, 1984; ISBN 0-00-216330-6
  15. ↑ IMDb profile, imdb.com; accessed 31 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "Murder on the Orient Express". AgathaChristie.com. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  17. ↑ "Murder in the Calais Coach". EBSCOhost. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  18. ↑ Morgan. (pp. 205–206)
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Morgan. (p. 206)

External links