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A murder mystery by acclaimed novelist Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express takes the reader along with investigator Hercule Poirot in solving the brutal killing of kidnapper Samuel Edward Ratchett on board the Orient Express. Summary Of The book Soon after arriving at his hotel in Istanbul, private investigator Hercule Poirot is instructed to return to London immediately. He boards the Orient Express that very night and is accosted by Mr. Ratchett, whom he had earlier seen in his hotel in Istanbul. He attempts to hire Poirot believing that his life is under threat, but the detective refuses him outright. On the second night of the journey, a snowdrift brings the train to a halt. A cry from Ratchett’s coach pierces the eerie silence of the night. The next morning, M. Bouc, the director of the company that operates the train and an acquaintance of Poirot, informs him of the shocking murder of Ratchett. Upon his request, Poirot agrees to investigate the case. Soon Poirot learns of Ratchett’s questionable past and the probable reasons for his murder. In the United States a few years earlier, Daisy Armstrong, a 3 year old heiress was kidnapped and killed by a man, who went by the name Cassetti, in spite of collecting a ransom from her wealthy family. Suspected to have rigged the trial, Cassetti fled the country after his acquittal. Poirot came to the conclusion that Ratchett was none other than Cassetti. What connects the people in Ratchett’s coach who were travelling with him on that fateful night of the murder? Is one of the members of the Armstrong family the murderer? Murder on the Orient Express has been adapted to TV, film and radio as well. The book was first published in 1934. About Agatha Christie Agatha Christie was a crime novelist and short story writer, who also wrote plays. Among the many novels that she has written are best-sellers like Hickory Dickory Dock, Cat Among The Pigeons, By The Pricking Of My Thumbs, Curtain, Sleeping Murder, While the Light Lasts and Other Stories, Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories, and The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories. Agatha Christie is considered to be the best writer of crime fiction and murder mysteries till date. Her writing reflects strongly of her love of the mysterious and mystical with ceremonies and religious sects playing a large role in the settings of her plots. She has also been inspired to a great extent by the time she spent in archaeological field seasons in the Middle East as a result of which some of her writing includes extreme details of temples and excavation sites. Agatha Christie was born on 15 September, 1890, to a wealthy family in Torquay, Devon. Prior to marrying and starting a family in London, she served in a hospital at the time of the World War I. She is listed on the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling novelist of all time. The publication of her first novel in 1920 featuring her most famous character Hercule Poirot kick started her writing career. She then went on to write 66 novels and over 15 collections of short stories. She died on 12 January, 1976.