M is for Murder (on the Orient Express)

I will not give spoilers for Murder of the Orient  Express. I will not! (fights to insert Tommy Wiseau joke here) "Oh.Hai Mark!" Dammit, I lose...

Sorry, if you don't get the joke (but not really sorry, cause it was funny).

Anyway...today is murder day. M is for Murder on the Orient Express written by the Grand Dame of Murder. Agatha Christie is pretty much considered the queen of the murder mystery and has written a few in her days (33 novels and 54 short stories with Poirot alone). Two of them have even been turned into successful plays; one is STILL running at St. Martin's Theatre in London. Yeah, I know a bit about The Mousetrap, having directed it. I wrote a bit about during the late winter of 2015. Maybe I should do a ful post about it sometime. But, I did a blog post for And There Were None, the other famous novel turned play by Ms. Christie for the A to Z Challenge in 2015.

Now is the time to talk about her other famous murder mystery, on a train, in the snow, in the mountains, and all alone. Murder on the Orient Express that has been made into a number of number movie featuring the likes of Albert Finney (1974), Alfred Molina (2001) - that was a surprise find, David Suchet (2010), and now Kenneth Branagh (2017) as the quirky Belgian detective with zee leetle grey cells and a knack for solving the unsolvable crimes. This time he may have meant he match.

As for other actors who have played Poirot, and there are a lot, check out Book Riot's Kathleen Keenan, A Guide to Onscreen Versions of Poirot. I stumbled upon this one by accident. :-)

Murder on the Orient Express is an ensemble cast, where it is not just a singular person that stands out, but the whole cast. Okay, that is as far as I get with spoilers, but the real reason I enjoy the Orient Express is because it doesn't give you everything right away.  It lets you savor the story and the characters, quite a bit different than other Christie mysteries where the focus is on a few characters, and the rest of supplemental characters to forward the plot. That isn't bad thing, but it makes things interesting on the Orient Express.

Do you have a favourite Agatha Christie mystery, Dear Readers? Not counting Orient Express, I am partial to The Mousetrap, Death in the Clouds (which feels like Orient Express at times), or The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

Now for some poetry...Enjoy!

How about some murder?

Once there was a train,

famous in name more than anything.

Drawing everyone to ride the length

of two continents and many mountains.

Famous in name more than anything;

when strangers board for the Orient,

of two continents and many mountains

and a little man with a wild moustashe.

When strangers board for the Orient

and gather together to break bread;

and a little man with a wild moustashe

asks for just the right egg, indeed.

And gather together to break bread,

before the night's respite begins

asks for just the right egg, indeed 

and meets his fellow travelers.

Before the night's respite begins

and the murder most foul appears

and meets his fellow travelers

with violent stab wounds.

And the murder most foul appears

and collects its suspects like carousel rings

with violent stab wounds; 

to begin to suspect every and all passengers.

And collects its suspect like carousel rings

in a deadly ring around the rosie;

to begin to suspect every and all passengers

includes Poirot's little grey cells.

In a deadly ring around the rosie

and a little man with a wild moustashe

includes Poirot's little grey cells.

Once there was a train.