註釋
It is a book you can't put down.
After solving a case, Poirot, a private detective, takes the Orient Express home. On board are Ratchett, a millionaire and his secretary Hector McQueen and butler Beddoes. Also there is a Count and Countess, a Colonel, a bossy American woman, an Italian, a Princess and her nurse and Pierre, the conductor. Ratchett approaches Poirot and asks if he will work for him. Ratchett tells Poirot he has been receiving threatening letters and that someone is trying to kill him. Poirot refuses the case. While the train gets stuck in the snow and during the night, Ratchett is murdered. He was stabbed many times. Poirot investigates and discovers that Ratchett and the rest of the passengers are involved in the "Daisy Armstrong" case in which a child was taken for ransom and then horribly killed.
Poirot knows that the killer is still on the train. He begins interviewing the passengers. Each has an alibi and seems unlikely to have committed the crime. However, with Poirot's proficient ability, there is a surprising conclusion.
After interviewing all of the passengers, Poirot gathers them into the dining car and propounds two possible solutions. The first solution is that a stranger entered the train at Vincovci and killed Ratchett. The second solution is that all of the passengers aboard the Orient Express are involved with the murder. He argues that twelve of the thirteen passengers, all close to the Armstrong case, killed Ratchett to avenge the murder of Daisy Armstrong.
Finally, Mrs. Hubbard, revealed as Linda Arden, admits that the second solution is correct while Poirot suggests that the first solution should be given to the police to protect the family.
Murder, mystery, suspense, excitement. You can find all the elements in this intricate story. Once you pick up the book, you would be eager to find out the conclusion. Don't read it too quickly. You can study each new clue and suspicious character and try to determine who the killer is. When you finish the book, you would understand why Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime.
