Book Review: Murder on the Orient Express

"But does everybody on the train tell lies?," asks a character at one point to Hercule Point, exasperated at the lack of progress in the case. Poirot, keeping true to his style and knowing more than what he lets others (and us, readers) know, responds, "That is what we are about to find out." Tenth in the series featuring the famous Belgian private investigator, the deftly concocted closed door mystery, as the title suggests, is about a murder on the Orient Express, that of a mysterious American gentleman by the name of Ratchett who is stabbed a dozen times, his compartment door locked from the inside, raising intriguing questions as to who could have committed the murder and how. Luckily for the director of Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (which used to operate the train back in the day), the presence of Poirot is a godsend, who proceeds to investigate the death in a manner that's patently his - by interviewing the fellow passengers and exercising his "little grey cells," as author Agatha Christie shrewdly unravels a trail of clues that leads to a denouement that's both satisfying and a thrilling surprise. Not to be missed, especially now that a movie adaption is set for release later this year.