The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  The Mystery of the Blue Train

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Hugh Fraser

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 7 hours and 0 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

If you could take a train trip anywhere, where would you go?  I have always wanted to take a train west to the California and see the American heartland by rail.

I read The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie in April for #ReadChristie2024.  #ReadChristie2024 has a theme this year of through the decades.  January – March are books written by Agatha Christie in the 1920’s, and April through June are books written by Agatha Christie in the 1930’s.  The Mystery of the Blue Train was published in 1928 and was my March selection (read a month late in April).

Ruth Kettering, an American heiress is leaving her cheating husband and plans to take the Blue Train to meet her old love, the Comte de la Roche.  Ruth never makes it and is found strangled in her compartment.  Her famous ruby necklace, the Heart of Fire, is missing.  Ruth’s father, Rufus Van Aldin and his secretary, Major Knighton, hire Hercule Poirot to solve the case.  Poirot is retired, but because he was on the train, he takes the case.  Who murdered Ruth Kettering and why?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       Hercule Poirot did not show up until around 25% into the book. 

·       Some terms in the book are jarring such as the use of the word “Jew.”

·       I thought I had finally solved this one, but I was wrong!

·       I enjoy how Christie uses trains in her mysteries for the setting.  They are romantic and provide unique clues in the puzzle.

·       Katherine Grey has been an old woman’s companion for ten years.  She recently died and Katherine unexpectedly inherits her fortune.  She decides to take a voyage to visit relatives in Nice.  The old ladies in her village are sure that she is too old to attract a husband.  I liked her character.  She is the last to see Ruth alive and one of the suspects is in love with her.  She is a smart and modern woman.  She uses her smarts to help Poirot to investigate the case.  I wish she could be Poirot’s side kick in other books.

·       Hugh Fraser is an excellent audiobook narrator for this Christie mystery as usual.

Overall, The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie has a great setting, wonderful characters, and another mystery that kept me guessing.