Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.
Murder on the Orient Express: Introduction
Murder on the Orient Express: Plot Summary
Murder on the Orient Express: Detailed Summary & Analysis
Murder on the Orient Express: Themes
Murder on the Orient Express: Quotes
Murder on the Orient Express: Characters
Murder on the Orient Express: Symbols
Murder on the Orient Express: Theme Wheel
Brief Biography of Agatha Christie
Historical Context of Murder on the Orient Express
Other Books Related to Murder on the Orient Express
- Full Title: Murder on the Orient Express
- When Written: 1929-1933
- Where Written: Istanbul, Turkey
- When Published: 1934
- Literary Period: Golden Age of detective fiction
- Genre: Mystery
- Setting: A train car en route from Istanbul to Calais
- Climax: The revelation that all twelve passengers murdered Ratchett
- Antagonist: Mr. Ratchett, formerly Cassetti
- Point of View: Third person
Extra Credit for Murder on the Orient Express
Mysterious Disappearance. In 1926, Agatha Christie disappeared for eleven days, spurring a media sensation and a manhunt that even involved fellow author Arthur Conan Doyle. She was found alive and well at a hotel and spa in Harrogate. Today, biographers attribute the disappearance to an emotional crisis following the death of her mother.
Collecting Clues. While working at the University College Hospital pharmacy, Christie collected information on poisons that later appeared in her novels. For example, she learned about thallium from the chief pharmacist there and employed it in her 1961 novel The Pale Horse.