Murder on the Orient Express
by Agatha Christie
Summary
Snowbound aboard the famous Orient Express train, detective Hercule Poirot investigates the stabbing death of an American passenger and finds that every occupant of the carriage seems to have both an alibi and a hidden connection to the victim. Christie constructs one of the most celebrated puzzle plots in mystery fiction, building toward a solution that upends the genre's usual assumptions about guilt and justice. The novel remains one of the most beloved and frequently adapted works in the history of detective fiction.
Historical Context & Significance
No mystery prize existed yet to honor the novel, since the Edgar Award would not launch until 1946, more than a decade later. Christie went on to become the best selling novelist in history without ever receiving a major English language literary prize for any single title.