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Available
Call number
Library's review
England, ca 1928
Ruth Kettering bliver foræret nogle meget kostbare rubiner af sin far. Hun er ved at forlade sin mand og tager rubinerne med i Det Blå Tog mod rivieraen. Hun bliver kvalt i toget og hendes ansigt bliver knust. Faderen er dybt ulykkelig og hyrer Hercule Poirot, som også var med
En glat juvelhæler ved navn Papopolous har en datter Zia, der skylder Poirot en tjeneste for at have ladet en Antonio Pirezzio gå fri for sytten år siden.
Hercule Poirot og Katherine Gray bliver venner og afslører til sidst kammertjeneren Richard Knighton og stuepigen Ada Mason som farlige forbrydere, der har Ruths død på samvittigheden.
Glimrende Poirot mysterie.
Ruth Kettering bliver foræret nogle meget kostbare rubiner af sin far. Hun er ved at forlade sin mand og tager rubinerne med i Det Blå Tog mod rivieraen. Hun bliver kvalt i toget og hendes ansigt bliver knust. Faderen er dybt ulykkelig og hyrer Hercule Poirot, som også var med
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toget. Mr Goby hjælper faderen Rufus Van Aldin med oplysninger på svigersønnen Derek Kettering og dennes elskerinde danserinden Mirelle. Derek er i desperat pengenød og konens død vil hjælpe stærkt på det. Derek får afsmag for Mirelle og interesserer sig i stedet for Katherine Gray, som nylig har arvet en formue.En glat juvelhæler ved navn Papopolous har en datter Zia, der skylder Poirot en tjeneste for at have ladet en Antonio Pirezzio gå fri for sytten år siden.
Hercule Poirot og Katherine Gray bliver venner og afslører til sidst kammertjeneren Richard Knighton og stuepigen Ada Mason som farlige forbrydere, der har Ruths død på samvittigheden.
Glimrende Poirot mysterie.
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Genres
Publication
[Kbh.] : Aschehoug, 2007.
Description
Fiction. Mystery. Historical Fiction. HTML: Robbery and brutal murder aboard a luxury transport ensnares the ever-attentive Hercule Poirot in The Mystery of the Blue Train, from Queen of Mystery Agatha Christie When the luxurious Blue Train arrives at Nice, a guard attempts to wake serene Ruth Kettering from her slumbers. But she will never wake again�??for a heavy blow has killed her, disfiguring her features almost beyond recognition. What is more, her precious rubies are missing. The prime suspect is Ruth's estranged husband, Derek. Yet Hercule Poirot is not convinced, so he stages an eerie reenactment of the journey, complete with the murderer on board. . . .
Media reviews
Lecturalia
Cuando el lujoso Tren Azul llega a Niza, un guardia intenta despertar a Ruth Kettering para anunciarle su parada. Pero ella no despertará nunca más, ya que un disparo de gran calibre la ha matado, desfigurando sus rasgos hasta volverla casi irreconocible. Además, sus valiosísimos rubíes han
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desaparecido. El principal sospechoso del crimen es el arruinado marido de la dama, Derek. Pero Poirot no está convencido, y decide hacer una reconstrucción de ese día hasta llegar a la clave del asesinato... Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member davidabrams
As I began reading Agatha Christie's The Mystery of the Blue Train, I thought this was going to be an indigo-tinted version of Murder on the Orient Express. The two novels bear some similarities: the confinement of a train chugging across Europe, a rich American murdered in her sleeping
But it's not long before The Mystery of the Blue Train goes off on a different track than Murder on the Orient Express. While Blue Train is not quite as cleverly-plotted as "Orient Express, it's still a fun ride on par with Agatha's other "cozy mysteries."
Published in 1928 (six years before Murder on the Orient Express), The Mystery of the Blue Train centers around Ruth Van Aldin, the daughter of an American millionaire, who is found strangled in her sleeping compartment on the train. This comes shortly after she's been given a priceless ruby as a gift from her father. Of course, the jewel is nowhere to be found on the train.
As always, it's up to Hercule Poirot—-traveling on the same train—-to get to the bottom of the case. He's hired by Rufus Van Aldin who wants the scoundrel responsible for his daughter's murder caught and convicted of the crime.
The list of suspects facing Poirot is daunting. There's Derek Kettering, Ruth's estranged husband of ten years who was just about to be served with divorce papers, thus ending his claim to the Van Aldin fortune. There's exotic dancer Mirelle, Derek's mistress, who would like nothing better than to see her lover's wife six feet under ground. There's Katherine Grey, a fellow passenger on the Blue Train who happened to strike up a conversation with Ruth shortly before her death and was quickly taken into the doomed woman's confidence. There's Major Knighton, Rufus Van Aldin's secretary who knows more about the ruby than he should. There's Ruth's maid, Ada Mason, who abruptly leaves the train before it reaches its destination. And the list goes on and on in true Christie fashion. She was the Queen of Bafflement, throwing so many would-be murderers at us that we're constantly shifting our suspicion as the novel goes along.
Agatha's powers of description have never been keener than they are here in The Mystery of the Blue Train. Whether it's painting a succinct word-picture of a character—-"a little man with a face like a rat"-—or of the rubies themselves-—"the stones glowed like blood"—-her prose is unmistakably memorable.
In this novel which comes early in Poirot's literary career, he seems more sprightly, more energetic and comedically pompous. Agatha rarely misses an opportunity to expound on the detective's methodology. Here's a sampling of comments from Poirot, I found scattered throughout the novel:
"What is important? What is not? One cannot say at this stage. But we must note each little fact carefully."
"This is great," said Van Aldin. "Great! You are the goods, M. Poirot. Once and for all, you are the goods."
"It is nothing," said Poirot modestly. "Order, method, being prepared for eventualities beforehand—-that is all there is to it."
"Unless you are good at guessing, it is not much use being a detective."
"But I am a good detective. I suspect. There is nobody and nothing that I do not suspect. I believe nothing that I am told."
The Poirot of this novel is one with a comically inflated ego. There is not nearly enough room for his personality on the page—-he explodes past the boundaries of the book with his sense of self-importance. Tiresome? Perhaps. But also very funny. Witness this exchange when he shows up to interview a pair of unsuspecting servants:
"Voila," said the stranger, and sank into a wooden arm-chair. "I am Hercule Poirot."
"Yes, Monsieur?"
"You do not know the name?"
"I have never heard it," said Hippolyte.
"Permit me to say that you have been badly educated. It is the name of one of the great ones of this world."
Yes, Poirot's truly one of the great ones—-and not just in his own mind. The Mystery of the Blue Train spotlights Poirot in one of his finest hours. The sleuthing is terrific and the writing is just as keen.
I'll leave you with a few interesting bits of trivia about The Mystery of the Blue Train:
*We get our first snapshot of St. Mary Mead in these pages. Katherine Grey has just left her job in the tiny village before she books passage on the Blue Train. We briefly meet some of the gossipy old birds in those scenes. One of them remarks, "You know, things don't happen in St. Mary Mead." Not, that is, until two years later when the first Miss Marple novel, Murder at the Vicarage, is published.
*Theatrical agent Joseph Aarons makes a cameo near the end of the book. He also shows up in The Big Four, Murder on the Links, and Double Sin.
*This is the first Poirot novel to be told in the third person with no narrator. Hastings is nowhere to be found (though Poirot does make a brief mention of his name late in the book—-I think Agatha did that just to remind people that Hastings was still out there somewhere).
*The plot of Blue Train is an expansion of a short story, "The Plymouth Express," which appeared in the collection The Under Dog in 1951 in the USA and in 1974 in the UK under the title Poirot's Early Cases. Immediately after finishing Blue Train, I read the short story. While "The Plymouth Express" is nowhere near as good as the novel, Agatha does a good job of setting up (and revealing) a brain teaser within just a few short pages.
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compartment, a cast of suspects with equal portions of motive and alibi, contradictory statements from witnesses, and a funny little Belgian detective with a luxurious moustache who's there to ferret out the truth. But it's not long before The Mystery of the Blue Train goes off on a different track than Murder on the Orient Express. While Blue Train is not quite as cleverly-plotted as "Orient Express, it's still a fun ride on par with Agatha's other "cozy mysteries."
Published in 1928 (six years before Murder on the Orient Express), The Mystery of the Blue Train centers around Ruth Van Aldin, the daughter of an American millionaire, who is found strangled in her sleeping compartment on the train. This comes shortly after she's been given a priceless ruby as a gift from her father. Of course, the jewel is nowhere to be found on the train.
As always, it's up to Hercule Poirot—-traveling on the same train—-to get to the bottom of the case. He's hired by Rufus Van Aldin who wants the scoundrel responsible for his daughter's murder caught and convicted of the crime.
The list of suspects facing Poirot is daunting. There's Derek Kettering, Ruth's estranged husband of ten years who was just about to be served with divorce papers, thus ending his claim to the Van Aldin fortune. There's exotic dancer Mirelle, Derek's mistress, who would like nothing better than to see her lover's wife six feet under ground. There's Katherine Grey, a fellow passenger on the Blue Train who happened to strike up a conversation with Ruth shortly before her death and was quickly taken into the doomed woman's confidence. There's Major Knighton, Rufus Van Aldin's secretary who knows more about the ruby than he should. There's Ruth's maid, Ada Mason, who abruptly leaves the train before it reaches its destination. And the list goes on and on in true Christie fashion. She was the Queen of Bafflement, throwing so many would-be murderers at us that we're constantly shifting our suspicion as the novel goes along.
Agatha's powers of description have never been keener than they are here in The Mystery of the Blue Train. Whether it's painting a succinct word-picture of a character—-"a little man with a face like a rat"-—or of the rubies themselves-—"the stones glowed like blood"—-her prose is unmistakably memorable.
In this novel which comes early in Poirot's literary career, he seems more sprightly, more energetic and comedically pompous. Agatha rarely misses an opportunity to expound on the detective's methodology. Here's a sampling of comments from Poirot, I found scattered throughout the novel:
"What is important? What is not? One cannot say at this stage. But we must note each little fact carefully."
"This is great," said Van Aldin. "Great! You are the goods, M. Poirot. Once and for all, you are the goods."
"It is nothing," said Poirot modestly. "Order, method, being prepared for eventualities beforehand—-that is all there is to it."
"Unless you are good at guessing, it is not much use being a detective."
"But I am a good detective. I suspect. There is nobody and nothing that I do not suspect. I believe nothing that I am told."
The Poirot of this novel is one with a comically inflated ego. There is not nearly enough room for his personality on the page—-he explodes past the boundaries of the book with his sense of self-importance. Tiresome? Perhaps. But also very funny. Witness this exchange when he shows up to interview a pair of unsuspecting servants:
"Voila," said the stranger, and sank into a wooden arm-chair. "I am Hercule Poirot."
"Yes, Monsieur?"
"You do not know the name?"
"I have never heard it," said Hippolyte.
"Permit me to say that you have been badly educated. It is the name of one of the great ones of this world."
Yes, Poirot's truly one of the great ones—-and not just in his own mind. The Mystery of the Blue Train spotlights Poirot in one of his finest hours. The sleuthing is terrific and the writing is just as keen.
I'll leave you with a few interesting bits of trivia about The Mystery of the Blue Train:
*We get our first snapshot of St. Mary Mead in these pages. Katherine Grey has just left her job in the tiny village before she books passage on the Blue Train. We briefly meet some of the gossipy old birds in those scenes. One of them remarks, "You know, things don't happen in St. Mary Mead." Not, that is, until two years later when the first Miss Marple novel, Murder at the Vicarage, is published.
*Theatrical agent Joseph Aarons makes a cameo near the end of the book. He also shows up in The Big Four, Murder on the Links, and Double Sin.
*This is the first Poirot novel to be told in the third person with no narrator. Hastings is nowhere to be found (though Poirot does make a brief mention of his name late in the book—-I think Agatha did that just to remind people that Hastings was still out there somewhere).
*The plot of Blue Train is an expansion of a short story, "The Plymouth Express," which appeared in the collection The Under Dog in 1951 in the USA and in 1974 in the UK under the title Poirot's Early Cases. Immediately after finishing Blue Train, I read the short story. While "The Plymouth Express" is nowhere near as good as the novel, Agatha does a good job of setting up (and revealing) a brain teaser within just a few short pages.
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LibraryThing member smik
Ruth Kettering's journey to Nice on the luxurious Blue Train was her last. By the time the train arrived in Nice she was dead. But what was the motive? The presence of her husband on the train makes him an immediate suspect especially as he becomes heir to her considerable personal fortune. But
The other element to the story is Katherine Grey, recently the beneficiary of an elderly woman's will, and on her way to Nice to stay with her relative Lady Tamplin. She meets Ruth Kettering on the train, and then Hercule Poirot in Paris.
Hercule Poirot is eventually engaged by Ruth Kettering's father to discover who murdered his daughter, and what became of the ruby necklace. He sees Katherine Grey as a key witness, an excellent judge of character, and involves her in his investigation.
THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN is set about ten years after World War 1, and Hercule Poirot has been "retired from his profession for many years." His former companion Captain Hastings does not appear in this story, although to a small extent he has been replaced by a valet George, whom Poirot uses at times as a sounding board.
One of the characters says of Poirot
He is a very remarkable person....and has done some very remarkable things. He has a kind of genius for going to the root of the matter, and right up to the end no one has any idea of what he is really thinking.
Speaking of his own methods Poirot says
I am now a lion - a giant. Ah, Mademoiselle Katherine, you have not seen me as I can be. You have seen the gentle, the calm Hercule Poirot; but there is another Hercule Poirot. I go now to bully, to threaten, to strike terror into the hearts of those listen to me.
...And I shall do it...Oh yes, I shall succeed
And he does. He browbeats the truth out of some, but there are still intuitive leaps he has to make. The interesting thing about THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN is that Hercule Poirot gets some of the answer wrong, and initially the wrong man goes to gaol. The novel goes further than most of the Agatha Christie novels I have read so far. We see Poirot still worrying at the result, realising things don't hang together so well, and persisting until he has got it right.
Christie claimed that this was one of the books she liked least, however the critics did not agree with her. The Times Literary Supplement said, “The reader will not be disappointed when the distinguished Belgian on psychological grounds builds up inferences almost out of the air, supports them by a masterly array of negative evidence and lands his fish to the surprise of everyone”.
Other things of interest
* I pointed out in reviews of earlier novels that I thought Christie was commenting on changing social conditions. This novel is set in the late 1920s and there are comments about the social structure, with a sense of a declining aristocracy, but still no understanding, by those who consider themselves aristocracy, of the lower classes.
For example Lady Tamplin says of Ruth Kettering
She has been a companion I tell you. Companions don't play tennis or golf. They might possibly play croquet-golf, but I have always understood that they wind wool and wash dogs most of the day.
* Katherine Grey lives in St. Mary Mead, the small isolated village that Miss Marple will emerge from.
* I posted last week about Christie's use of the word apache in this novel. I had noticed it in an earlier one, but it gets 3 outings in THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN.
So yes, I enjoyed THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN. It has stood the test of time very well. There are plenty of red herrings, a further fleshing out of the character of Poirot as a person that young women find attractive, and puzzles to keep the brain engaged.
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what about the fact that her jewellery, in particular a necklace containing the fabulous ruby the size of a pigeon's egg known as The Heart of Fire, is missing, along with her maid?The other element to the story is Katherine Grey, recently the beneficiary of an elderly woman's will, and on her way to Nice to stay with her relative Lady Tamplin. She meets Ruth Kettering on the train, and then Hercule Poirot in Paris.
Hercule Poirot is eventually engaged by Ruth Kettering's father to discover who murdered his daughter, and what became of the ruby necklace. He sees Katherine Grey as a key witness, an excellent judge of character, and involves her in his investigation.
THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN is set about ten years after World War 1, and Hercule Poirot has been "retired from his profession for many years." His former companion Captain Hastings does not appear in this story, although to a small extent he has been replaced by a valet George, whom Poirot uses at times as a sounding board.
One of the characters says of Poirot
He is a very remarkable person....and has done some very remarkable things. He has a kind of genius for going to the root of the matter, and right up to the end no one has any idea of what he is really thinking.
Speaking of his own methods Poirot says
I am now a lion - a giant. Ah, Mademoiselle Katherine, you have not seen me as I can be. You have seen the gentle, the calm Hercule Poirot; but there is another Hercule Poirot. I go now to bully, to threaten, to strike terror into the hearts of those listen to me.
...And I shall do it...Oh yes, I shall succeed
And he does. He browbeats the truth out of some, but there are still intuitive leaps he has to make. The interesting thing about THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN is that Hercule Poirot gets some of the answer wrong, and initially the wrong man goes to gaol. The novel goes further than most of the Agatha Christie novels I have read so far. We see Poirot still worrying at the result, realising things don't hang together so well, and persisting until he has got it right.
Christie claimed that this was one of the books she liked least, however the critics did not agree with her. The Times Literary Supplement said, “The reader will not be disappointed when the distinguished Belgian on psychological grounds builds up inferences almost out of the air, supports them by a masterly array of negative evidence and lands his fish to the surprise of everyone”.
Other things of interest
* I pointed out in reviews of earlier novels that I thought Christie was commenting on changing social conditions. This novel is set in the late 1920s and there are comments about the social structure, with a sense of a declining aristocracy, but still no understanding, by those who consider themselves aristocracy, of the lower classes.
For example Lady Tamplin says of Ruth Kettering
She has been a companion I tell you. Companions don't play tennis or golf. They might possibly play croquet-golf, but I have always understood that they wind wool and wash dogs most of the day.
* Katherine Grey lives in St. Mary Mead, the small isolated village that Miss Marple will emerge from.
* I posted last week about Christie's use of the word apache in this novel. I had noticed it in an earlier one, but it gets 3 outings in THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN.
So yes, I enjoyed THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN. It has stood the test of time very well. There are plenty of red herrings, a further fleshing out of the character of Poirot as a person that young women find attractive, and puzzles to keep the brain engaged.
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LibraryThing member druidgirl
As always Hercule Poirot always gets his man or woman. He does at times act a little stumped or confused but this is a very shrewd move on his part. He tries to put the people at ease so they feel as though they are safe. It has a new twist at every turn, if you think you know who the culprit is,
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do not make any bets on it. Not as good as others I have read but none the less it was well written. Show Less
LibraryThing member mrtall
This early Poirot is a treat. Written and set in the late 1920s, it's both a highly satisfactory murder mystery, and a glimpse into a world long passed away.
Ruth Kettering, an American heiress, has been at odds with her extremely well-bred but dissolute English husband. She decides to take the
Needless to say, another prominent passenger on this trip is Hercule Poirot, who appears here in his brash and self-aggrandizing early incarnation. Of course he is called in to consult when the unthinkable becomes the reality.
The only thing I love more than a charming English setting and detail in an Agatha Christie novel is a charming foreign setting, and this is an excellent example.
Highly recommended.
Ruth Kettering, an American heiress, has been at odds with her extremely well-bred but dissolute English husband. She decides to take the
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famous de luxe Blue Train to escape to the Riveria. But look -- isn't that her husband just a few berths down . . . ?Needless to say, another prominent passenger on this trip is Hercule Poirot, who appears here in his brash and self-aggrandizing early incarnation. Of course he is called in to consult when the unthinkable becomes the reality.
The only thing I love more than a charming English setting and detail in an Agatha Christie novel is a charming foreign setting, and this is an excellent example.
Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member jguidry
I really enjoyed this Hercule Poirot mystery. The backdrop of traveling on a train made it more interesting because it opened a lot more possibilities. Christie used this to her advantage, of course. The characters were interesting, but I'll admit, I really didn't care for the person who was
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murdered, so it was no big loss. Parts did seem to drag on during the investigation, most likely to show of Poirot's detecting skills, and that kept it from being a 5-star book. However, I still truly loved reading this story. Show Less
LibraryThing member grheault
Oh, the 1940's, trains, telegraphs, taxis, hand delivered notes, secretaries, the ennuied rich, oh my. Rather a classic with Hercule Poirot playing the unraveler of clues, with all the usual suspects. A good way to pass the time, in french.
LibraryThing member Figgles
Early thriller-style Poirot. Not her best but enjoyable.
LibraryThing member mmyoung
A nice return to form after the execrable The Big Four. The Poirot in this book is recognizably the same person as the one in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. In many ways this book is a novel interrupted by a murder and sidetrips into the world of international crime. The former is handled in the
The story of Katherine Grey has a flavour reminiscent of Persuasion and while we are following her slow flowering the reader may be distracting from the fact that Christie is also demonstrating that the only real function Hasting had in the earlier books is to watch and listen. Miss Grey watches, listens and if we read closely we realize that that was all Hastings really needed to do.
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“ingeniously plotted” manner popular at that time and the latter is seems based more on the impressions Christie has picked up from watching films and reading popular fiction. Leave aside those elements and you have the unusually happy story of a companion who was left money and does not lose her head and man even get her man.The story of Katherine Grey has a flavour reminiscent of Persuasion and while we are following her slow flowering the reader may be distracting from the fact that Christie is also demonstrating that the only real function Hasting had in the earlier books is to watch and listen. Miss Grey watches, listens and if we read closely we realize that that was all Hastings really needed to do.
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LibraryThing member mstrust
American Ruth Kettering is in an unhappy marriage with Derek, an impoverished English aristocrat who had become too indiscreet. When Ruth's millionaire father convinces her to file for divorce, the scheming begins. Ruth is found dead on the train to the Riviera and Poirot finds a number of suspects
I place this one firmly in the middle of Christie's work; it isn't one of her greats (And Then There Were None) and it certainly isn't one of her stinkers (hello, Elephants Can Remember). It's a solid Poirot that is difficult to figure out, mainly because the reader isn't given a vital piece of evidence until 20 pages from the end.
I detect the beginnings of her later Murder on the Orient Express here, with a murder of a wealthy, entitled person on a train, though that's where the similarities end. MotOE is a masterpiece.
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all circling round the victim.I place this one firmly in the middle of Christie's work; it isn't one of her greats (And Then There Were None) and it certainly isn't one of her stinkers (hello, Elephants Can Remember). It's a solid Poirot that is difficult to figure out, mainly because the reader isn't given a vital piece of evidence until 20 pages from the end.
I detect the beginnings of her later Murder on the Orient Express here, with a murder of a wealthy, entitled person on a train, though that's where the similarities end. MotOE is a masterpiece.
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LibraryThing member clq
Another Hercule Poirot story, and a relatively standard mystery. A woman gets killed. On a train of course. Who did it? The husband? The lover? The Butler? Who knows? Well, Poirot does. Not one of the best Christie's I've read, nor very original. Still, this book isn't bad. It continues to impress
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me how well Christie does dialogue. Even long-winded conversations between characters (of which there are quite a few in this book) somehow stay interesting and entertaining, yet plausible. I've come to expect that an Agatha Christie-book will keep me happy for the time it takes me to read it, and this one did. Just. Show Less
LibraryThing member Helenliz
it's a Hercule Poiriot novel, where he gets to exercise his little grey cells on a murder and robbery of some famous rubies. The rubies in question are the focus of the start of the book, when they're bought by an American millionaire to give to his daughter. She's the apple of his eye and is
It's a murder and robbery that leave you wondering if it is one crime or two. Are they connected? Who has motive? Some have motive for one crime and not the other, some have an alibi, others do not. As usual, Poiriot gets to the bottom of it. I did find myself wondering about one character who seemed a little bit too good to be true, but won't spoil the surprise by giving it away. It all ends with the murderer unmasked and a fine match being made. A real evocation of an era past.
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currently married to the wrong man. He's been carrying on with a dancing girl, and so Papa decides that his darling Ruthie should cut her losses and divorce the dastardly Derek Kettering. However it doesn't all quite go to plan. once the background has been put in place (by way of jewel dealers, dancing girls and lots of beautiful stereotype characters) the cast is assembled and the train sets off the the South of France - only someone doesn't get there...It's a murder and robbery that leave you wondering if it is one crime or two. Are they connected? Who has motive? Some have motive for one crime and not the other, some have an alibi, others do not. As usual, Poiriot gets to the bottom of it. I did find myself wondering about one character who seemed a little bit too good to be true, but won't spoil the surprise by giving it away. It all ends with the murderer unmasked and a fine match being made. A real evocation of an era past.
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LibraryThing member breakerfallen
Another good Poirot book. It was hard to get into, as the action didn't start immediately, but I enjoyed the character studies in the beginning. As slow as the murder actually was to present itself, though, the resolution felt rushed. That seems to be Christie's style as the books progress.
LibraryThing member Jiraiya
By Jove, if it isn't Monsieur Poirot. I've been reading all the Marple novels recently for the first time. I had forgotten about Poirot stories. This book threatens to be the best of the lot. I knew I had forgotten mostly about it, except the basic premise. This book has a fragile beauty and a grim
The book has to end somewhere. I didn't catch the hint regarding the ruby, the "Heart of Fire". Was the original in Mirelle's possession or was it a fake? Mirelle could not exact no revenge on her lost lover, but she is an unimaginable character. Agatha Christie makes me meet people I will never meet, not here, not in this age. I'm speaking of people in high places, but also people who have served in war, and those doughty Empire builders who were definitely English. I cannot judge how true these characters are, and when someone like Mirelle, or the Compte de la Roche appears, I'm at a loss to understand whether Agatha Christie is improvising or whether these creatures really walked the good Earth at some point in the lost past.
The beginning was intriguing. There's a transaction of the ruby being carried, and a lot of very varied people being introduced. I would have liked this segment to go on more. But then in a jarring change Poirot appears and things get dull. But this doesn't last long. The passages where the victim is on the train are fantastic. A luxury train is very archaic. It's also very ghostly, like a ship in a mist. But a train, I think has more romance, especially one peopled by the sorts that the author imagined here. The victim is millionaire extraordinaire Van Aldin's daughter. She is a flawed beauty, a very beautiful woman who has inherited two millions (and a too masculine jaw line) and is about to die needlessly. Herein lies the one glitch in this story, if I must nitpick. The murder was not essential. And if I remember correctly, most Agatha Christie murders happen because of urgency and viral necessity. Someone named the Marquis doesn't sound like a serial killer. But here he is made out to be a ruthless(omigod, pun accidental) killer. The trouble of killing, but also of all the clever alibis being planned, they aren't worth doing if the cleverness is there. There is no motive for murder. In the movie " Once Upon A Time In the West" Henry Fonda says, people are scared when they are dying. That I can understand, but here the dead bodies don't give evidence line is not convincing and lacks punch. But we needed a murder, and a murder simply had to be conjured. Where would we be if Ruth was alive, if only being a victim of theft only? For one, I would have wanted very much to read this story, but it would be a short story. There wouldn't be enough to go on to make of the theft of the rubies a fascinating tale as this book turned out to be.
A few random things now; that premonition of the attractive Katherine Grey that came out of the blue, was a manipulation of the author, who hid part of the experience. But I did guess the murderer's identity. I knew who was the Marquis. There was the simple line that surgeons were surprised of Knighton's limp. That was the only hint I could pick up. But as of the identity of his accomplice, Kitty Kidd, I was so wrong! I thought she was Lennox Tamplin, simply because I pounced on the detail that in a certain picture, she had averted her face and shown only her nape. That was a red herring that I'm still digesting! I thought she must have dual identities. The whole Tamplin entourage was a dead end. Too much prose wasted for little importance.
This 5 well earned stars is perhaps the strongest one. I would have given it more if possible. I do not remember which book has so much romance and class as this book. From now on, I think it's all downhill. In my youth I read most of the Poirot mysteries in French, in disorder. I remember little of them for most of them. There's the Mystery of the Orient Express, but that one I know of too well. I dare not choose a too pedestrian book. And I prefer Marple over Poirot. Agatha Christie is very confident in her plots. When she makes a character praise the denouement, it's an act of faith. I recommend this book to anyone who reads and has not read it.
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charm to it. The fact that Poirot's shenanigans are kept to a minimum helps. It didn't feel like a re read at all. Therefore I do not cheat and I did honestly succeed in guessing the murderer's identity. More of that later.The book has to end somewhere. I didn't catch the hint regarding the ruby, the "Heart of Fire". Was the original in Mirelle's possession or was it a fake? Mirelle could not exact no revenge on her lost lover, but she is an unimaginable character. Agatha Christie makes me meet people I will never meet, not here, not in this age. I'm speaking of people in high places, but also people who have served in war, and those doughty Empire builders who were definitely English. I cannot judge how true these characters are, and when someone like Mirelle, or the Compte de la Roche appears, I'm at a loss to understand whether Agatha Christie is improvising or whether these creatures really walked the good Earth at some point in the lost past.
The beginning was intriguing. There's a transaction of the ruby being carried, and a lot of very varied people being introduced. I would have liked this segment to go on more. But then in a jarring change Poirot appears and things get dull. But this doesn't last long. The passages where the victim is on the train are fantastic. A luxury train is very archaic. It's also very ghostly, like a ship in a mist. But a train, I think has more romance, especially one peopled by the sorts that the author imagined here. The victim is millionaire extraordinaire Van Aldin's daughter. She is a flawed beauty, a very beautiful woman who has inherited two millions (and a too masculine jaw line) and is about to die needlessly. Herein lies the one glitch in this story, if I must nitpick. The murder was not essential. And if I remember correctly, most Agatha Christie murders happen because of urgency and viral necessity. Someone named the Marquis doesn't sound like a serial killer. But here he is made out to be a ruthless(omigod, pun accidental) killer. The trouble of killing, but also of all the clever alibis being planned, they aren't worth doing if the cleverness is there. There is no motive for murder. In the movie " Once Upon A Time In the West" Henry Fonda says, people are scared when they are dying. That I can understand, but here the dead bodies don't give evidence line is not convincing and lacks punch. But we needed a murder, and a murder simply had to be conjured. Where would we be if Ruth was alive, if only being a victim of theft only? For one, I would have wanted very much to read this story, but it would be a short story. There wouldn't be enough to go on to make of the theft of the rubies a fascinating tale as this book turned out to be.
A few random things now; that premonition of the attractive Katherine Grey that came out of the blue, was a manipulation of the author, who hid part of the experience. But I did guess the murderer's identity. I knew who was the Marquis. There was the simple line that surgeons were surprised of Knighton's limp. That was the only hint I could pick up. But as of the identity of his accomplice, Kitty Kidd, I was so wrong! I thought she was Lennox Tamplin, simply because I pounced on the detail that in a certain picture, she had averted her face and shown only her nape. That was a red herring that I'm still digesting! I thought she must have dual identities. The whole Tamplin entourage was a dead end. Too much prose wasted for little importance.
This 5 well earned stars is perhaps the strongest one. I would have given it more if possible. I do not remember which book has so much romance and class as this book. From now on, I think it's all downhill. In my youth I read most of the Poirot mysteries in French, in disorder. I remember little of them for most of them. There's the Mystery of the Orient Express, but that one I know of too well. I dare not choose a too pedestrian book. And I prefer Marple over Poirot. Agatha Christie is very confident in her plots. When she makes a character praise the denouement, it's an act of faith. I recommend this book to anyone who reads and has not read it.
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LibraryThing member bbbart
Even after reading several Poirot stories from Agatha Christie, I'm still always put on the wrong foot by this cunning author. I love the atmosphere of Europe during the interbellum which comes out of the story and of course the individual characters who are all forever under suspicion by Poirot.
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Very nice little story, recommended for anyone who likes mysteries. Show Less
LibraryThing member riverwillow
I never quite know what to make out about this book. It passes the time quite nicely, but its only real merit is that it shows the Poirot in the guise of a fatherly confessor - 'Papa Poirot' who pops up in other Christie books. Oh yes and its an interesting precursor to the other great train murder
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mystery 'Murder on the Orient Express' Show Less
LibraryThing member rosalita
Who killed a wealthy American heiress on the luxury Blue Train while traveling to France to meet her lover? Was it her about-to-be-divorced-without-a-pence aristocrat husband? Or her French lover who only wanted her for her jewels? Or someone else entirely? Fortunately Hercule Poirot is on the case
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to bring about justice. An amusing note: Last year I started reading the Miss Marple and Poirot series in order, alternately between the two each month. I thought I was due to read a Poirot but I was mightily confused when this one started out in St. Mary Mead, the little village where Miss Marple spends her days between solving murders. The "old pussy" doesn't actually make an appearance here, and Poirot eventually turned up to reassure me that I hadn't messed up my reading schedule, but I thought it was amusing that Christie gave a sly nod to her other series within this one. And now I wonder: how would Miss Marple and Poirot have got on if they did wind up trying to solve a murder together?? Show Less
LibraryThing member jimgysin
A solid Poirot outing as Christie begins to hit her stride. And as a fan of train settings, I had all the more reason to like this one (even though trains don't dominate here).
LibraryThing member BookConcierge
A cache of rubies that once belonged to Catherine the Great comes into the possession of an American millionaire. He gives them to his daughter - Ruth Kitteridge - who is married to a bankrupt English nobleman. She, however, is still in love with the French scoundrel who frequently scams his
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lovers. Meanwhile her husband, Derrick, is having an affair with a French exotic dancer - Mirelle. When Ruth takes the Blue Train to Nice to rendezvous with her lover she, unadvisedly, takes the rubies with her. When the train arrives, she is dead and the rubies are missing. Enter Hercule Poirot, who is at his best, putting together "all his little facts" and rearranging them until the puzzle is complete. Show Less
LibraryThing member pgchuis
Chosen because I have read a lot of disappointing novels lately and wanted something reliable, which this was.
Ruth Kettering is murdered and priceless rubies stolen from her on the Blue Train across France to Nice. Also travelling on that train is Katherine Grey, who has just inherited a fortune,
I enjoyed the first half of the story very much. There were humorous passages involving Poirot's egotism and Katherine's friends, but the actual solution was a little convoluted and left me slightly confused.
SPOILERS
What exactly was the Comte de la Roche's involvement? What money was Mirelle promising to get for him?
Ruth Kettering is murdered and priceless rubies stolen from her on the Blue Train across France to Nice. Also travelling on that train is Katherine Grey, who has just inherited a fortune,
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Ruth's estranged husband Derek, Derek's former mistress Mirelle, and (of course) Hercule Poirot.I enjoyed the first half of the story very much. There were humorous passages involving Poirot's egotism and Katherine's friends, but the actual solution was a little convoluted and left me slightly confused.
SPOILERS
What exactly was the Comte de la Roche's involvement? What money was Mirelle promising to get for him?
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LibraryThing member Auntie-Nanuuq
Katherine Grey, the enigmatic young woman of the memorable eyes, has left her post of caregiver (the old woman died leaving Katherine well off) in St. Mary Mead (No Marple) and is bound for Nice on The Blue Train to visit her money hungry cousin.....
Lady Ruth Kettering (an American Heiress) is
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about to divorce her husband (at the behest of her father) and meet her gigolo of a lover in Nice, she too is aboard the Blue Train..... Lady Ruth is carrying the Former Tsarina's rubies and many people are very aware of that fact. In a moment of blue funk, Ruth befriends Katherine and unburdens herself.....Ruth's gigolo, her husband, her husband's discarded mistress are also on the train....... All want Ruth's money and or the rubies.... Just outside Gare de Lyon, Ruth is found in her compartment strangled to death with a bashed in face....
There is no lack of suspects...... and there are the mysterious shadowers of the rubies......
Between a thoughtful & astute Miss Grey and Monsieur Poirot Ruth's murderer is caught and the rubies discretely go on to their next owner.
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LibraryThing member delphimo
Agatha Christie focuses on many points of interest in regard to travel. The Mystery of the Blue Train, the infamous night express luxury train transports the wealthy from Calais to the French Riviera. Hercule Poirot happens to be one of the persons on this voyage, during which a woman is murdered,
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and her jewels are stolen. So begins the quest for the jewel thief and the murderer. So many red herrings in arresting the criminal. My thought ran with Rufus Van Aldin, the father of the victim. The dancer, Mirelle, aroused my suspicions. The French police go after Derek Kettering, the husband of the victim, and Armand the Comte de la Roche, the lover of the victim. Poirot follows all clues and investigates and comes to a different answer that he reaches with the assistance of Katherine Grey since Hastings does not grace this mystery. I really miss Hastings, but Katherine supplied a foil for Poirot. The descriptions of the characters and the settings stand as vivid reminders that Poirot notices everything. Show Less
LibraryThing member witchyrichy
Warning: Don't ride the train with Hercule Poirot. Another train mystery. This time, an heiress is murdered and a rare ruby is stolen. Poirot works his way through the characters and eventually solves the mystery. In a funny little twist, St. Mary Mead, Mrs. Marple's village, is part of the plot.
LibraryThing member smik
Another novel that I have read many times, as well as seen numerous tv versions of. However it is one of those novels where the precise details become a bit blurred.
The novel has two major events: the theft of a ruby and the death of its owner while they are on The Blue Train which is taking
Poirot goes into "partnership" with Katherine Grey, who recently has acquired wealth after a decade as a companion. She meets Ruth Kettering on the Blue Train. This "partnership" foreshadows a method Poirot will often use in the future.
There does not appear to be a narrator in this novel (i.e. no Hastings who is not even mentioned). Poirot is described as a famous detective of bygone years who is now retired. Ruth Kettering's father offers him a huge sum to take on the case, but then becomes frustrated with what he thinks is inaction on Poirot's part.
As with many other of Agatha Christie's full length novels, THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN was based on an idea originally used in an earlier short story: The Plymouth Express.
It was also serialised over a 6 week period in 1928 in a slightly shorter version with 34 daily instalments. This may explain the relative shortness of each chapter.
This novel features the first mention, in a novel, of the fictional village of St. Mary Mead, which had originally appeared in "The Tuesday Night Club" published in December 1927, which was the first short story of Christie's detective Miss Marple. It also features the first appearance of the minor recurring character, Mr Goby, who would later appear in After the Funeral and Third Girl. The book also features the first appearance of Poirot's valet, George
The novel has two major events: the theft of a ruby and the death of its owner while they are on The Blue Train which is taking
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holiday makers to the French Riviera. It reveals glimpses of the French underworld, a description of the lifestyle of the well to do in post-war Europe, and the plot is characterised by a lot of misdirection and red herrings. Poirot has some doubt that theft and the murder are done by the same person.Poirot goes into "partnership" with Katherine Grey, who recently has acquired wealth after a decade as a companion. She meets Ruth Kettering on the Blue Train. This "partnership" foreshadows a method Poirot will often use in the future.
There does not appear to be a narrator in this novel (i.e. no Hastings who is not even mentioned). Poirot is described as a famous detective of bygone years who is now retired. Ruth Kettering's father offers him a huge sum to take on the case, but then becomes frustrated with what he thinks is inaction on Poirot's part.
As with many other of Agatha Christie's full length novels, THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN was based on an idea originally used in an earlier short story: The Plymouth Express.
It was also serialised over a 6 week period in 1928 in a slightly shorter version with 34 daily instalments. This may explain the relative shortness of each chapter.
This novel features the first mention, in a novel, of the fictional village of St. Mary Mead, which had originally appeared in "The Tuesday Night Club" published in December 1927, which was the first short story of Christie's detective Miss Marple. It also features the first appearance of the minor recurring character, Mr Goby, who would later appear in After the Funeral and Third Girl. The book also features the first appearance of Poirot's valet, George
Show Less
LibraryThing member Devil_llama
Typical Agatha Christie, with all the usual suspects, including Hercule Poirot. It twists and turns through plot twists, and challenges you to figure out the culprit without having all the information necessary. I pegged one likely culprit at the beginning, but a nice red herring led me away from
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that suspect down a blind alley. Turned out I was right in the first place. All those years of reading Agatha Christie served me well, if I would have trusted me instincts. Part of my re-reads project, I don't remember reading this one, though it has been more than 30 years since my last read of mystery novels. Fun and a quick read. Show Less
LibraryThing member ben_a
A lesser Christie. What's notable/memorable? The grey-eyed protagonist, and the funny line when 'Chubby' notices her beautiful eyes...
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1928-03-29
Physical description
205 p.; 19.9 cm
ISBN
8711226005 / 9788711226001
Local notes
Omslag: Lars Thorsen
Omslaget viser en perron hvor en masse mennesker myldrer ud og ind af to togstammer
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra engelsk "The mystery of the blue train" af Ib Lange
Side 145: Hvor sørgeligt engelsk! Alt skal være sort eller hvidt, alt skal være klart og logisk. Men sådan er livet ikke, mademoiselle! Det har sine sider, som måske ikke lader sig se endnu, men som alligevel allerede kaster skygger.
Side 146: Les Femmes - de har så mange metoder til at skjule, hvad de virkelig føler - og åbenhed og inderlighed kan være lige så godt som alle andre.
Side 146: Jeg er en gammel mand, og af og til, skønt det er ikke tit, møder jeg et menneske, hvis velfærd ligger mig på sinde
Side 146: Man må være uden forbehold, hvis man vil begå forbrydelser, som man må være det i alle andre forhold...
Omslaget viser en perron hvor en masse mennesker myldrer ud og ind af to togstammer
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra engelsk "The mystery of the blue train" af Ib Lange
Side 145: Hvor sørgeligt engelsk! Alt skal være sort eller hvidt, alt skal være klart og logisk. Men sådan er livet ikke, mademoiselle! Det har sine sider, som måske ikke lader sig se endnu, men som alligevel allerede kaster skygger.
Side 146: Les Femmes - de har så mange metoder til at skjule, hvad de virkelig føler - og åbenhed og inderlighed kan være lige så godt som alle andre.
Side 146: Jeg er en gammel mand, og af og til, skønt det er ikke tit, møder jeg et menneske, hvis velfærd ligger mig på sinde
Side 146: Man må være uden forbehold, hvis man vil begå forbrydelser, som man må være det i alle andre forhold...
Other editions
Det blå tog by Agatha Christie (Paper Book)
Similar in this library
Series
Pages
205
DDC/MDS
| 823.912 |