Library Journal
This dramatization of Christie's famous murder mystery is admirably presented by the BBC. Hercule Poirot unravels a murder when the train from Istanbul to Paris--the Orient Express--is stopped by a snow drift in the Balkans. Using his flawless logic and innate ability to evaluate the evidence, Poirot solves the mystery and the dilemma faced by the occupants of the coach. The various narrators who portray the story's numerous characters are uniformly excellent, and the sound quality is good. Recommended for most mystery collections.-- Joanna M. Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Coll. of Continuing Education Lib., Providence
Time Magazines Literary Supplement (London)
"Need it be said—the little grey cells solve once more the seemingly insoluble. Mrs Christie makes an improbable tale very real, and keeps her readers enthralled and guessing to the end."
J. A. Jance
I always wanted to be Agatha Christie when I grew up. I still do.
Louise Penny
Agatha Christie’s books are both wonderful crime novels and studies in contrast and duality, and I adore them still. Underestimate them at your peril.
Chicago Daily Tribune
[Moves] smoothly and entertainingly to its surprise conclusion.
Jacqueline Winspear
Agatha Christie’s indelibly etched characters have entertained millions across the years and a love of her work has brough together generations of readers—a singular achievement for any author and an inspiration to writers across the literary landscape.
Sue Grafton
Agatha Christie taught me many important lessons about the inner workings of the mystery novel before it ever occurred to me that I might one day be writing mysteries myself.
Lawrence Block
It’s tempting to say that Agatha Christie is a genius and let it go at that, but the world’s had plenty of geniuses. Agatha Christie is something special.
Dorothy L. Sayers
A brilliantly ingenious story.
Times Literary Supplement (London)
Need it be said—the little grey cells solve once more the seemingly insoluble. Mrs Christie makes an improbable tale very real, and keeps her readers enthralled and guessing to the end.
New York Herald Tribune
Nothing short of swell. [Christie] is probably the best suspicion scatterer and diverter in the business.
New York Times
What more…can a mystery addict desire?
Donna Leon
Any mystery writer who wants to learn how to plot should spend a few days reading Agatha Christie. She’ll show you everything you want to know.
NOVEMBER 2017 - AudioFile
Kenneth Branagh offers a full-cast performance all by himself in this delicious production of a 1934 Christie classic that is often remembered only for its film adaptations. What a pleasure to encounter the author’s original intent and be reminded of how cleverly she devised plots and characters. For those who need reminding, the plot involves a murder on a snowbound Orient Express and Hercule Poirot’s investigation of the crime. The characters include Americans, Swedes, Russians, Brits, French, and, of course, our favorite Belgian. Men and women. Highborn and low. In between his fine, warm narration, Branagh becomes a fretful American lady, a nervous French train steward, a haughty Russian countess, an Italian laborer, and many more. In conversation, it’s breathtaking. Make it your next listen. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
