Murder on the Orient Express and Cards on the Table
Murder on the Orient Express’ setting is evident in the title: It takes place on a train that is traveling the oriental region of East Asia. This is a perfect example of one of Agatha Christie’s writing philosophies: The setting of a perfect mystery should be remote and ominous. The reader already knows they are reading a detective novel, and so they already feel an atmosphere of tension, but a good setting should create that tension within the characters themselves, as well as narrow down the list of suspects. Finally, with a remote setting, it is understandable that the remaining people are worried, as the murderer may strike again, which brews paranoia in the characters.
Contradicting witnesses’ and many clues concerning multiple passengers make this mystery a flurry of theories that must be worked through before arriving at any answer, even one that is not correct. But above all, the most important clue, the only one that can cut through the cacophony of ideas, is the motive. Poirot immediately recognizes that the motive must be incredibly strong, because of the fact that the subject of the crime suffered thirteen fatal injuries. The reason for this seems perfectly obvious on the re-read, but after all, that is the mark of an effective twist.
Now, let us shift to another example of a triumph of Poirot’s “little grey cells”. In the foreword of Cards on the Table, Agatha Christie states that it is interesting because in early examples of the cozy mystery genre, “one must simply pick the least likely to have committed the murder and they are almost certainly the one responsible.” In the novel that followed, each suspect is presented on an even playing field, thus transcending the foibles of its predecessors. The setting is thus: The mephistophelian Mr. Shaitana, believing himself to be clever, invites four people he believes have gotten away with murder, as well as four detectives to catch them. This cruel game he plays leads to a desperate attempt to cover up old sins, while Shaitana could have avoided his fate by simply telling the police of his suspicions without alerting the subjects. As it is, Hercule Poirot and his equally charismatic co-detectives must delve into the past, trying to find out who had the most to lose when playing Shaitana’s game. The complex motive is more psychological than circumstantial, as some people value their life above that of others, but one of the suspects has a terminal sickness that reverses this aspect of human nature. Throughout the novel, in order to compile a file on each suspect’s psychology, Hercule Poirot asks surprisingly poignant questions about what the suspect’s eyes are naturally drawn to, and what their tendencies are in the popular card game of bridge. In the end, even with all the cards on the table, the mystery's conclusion is a continual renewal of suspense that makes it impossible to put the book down, leading me to miss a Zoom call on my first read. Despite all of this intensity, the novel manages to achieve a light air via silly things said in a serious setting.
The Chase Verdict is that, with simple yet profound dialogue and vivid circumstances in both Christie novels, Murder on the Orient Express and Cards on the Table are a masterclass in motive-based mystery, and are Christie’s best entries into the “cozy mystery” genre.