The Mystery of the Blue Train: Book Review

Today, we will be reviewing The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie, the sixth Hercule Poirot novel in the series. Find out what we thought of this novel and if you should read it next!

The Mystery of the Blue Train Summary

Ruth Kettering and her husband are headed for divorce after Ruth’s dad made it known that she should separate from him. That would leave her estranged husband penniless and he is in debt. Ruth and Derek have been seeing people outside of the marriage and Ruth boards the Blue Train to travel to the French Riviera to see her lover. 

But Ruth is killed while on the Blue Train and nobody knows who did it. One of the people aboard the Blue Train is none other than Hercule Poirot. He helps the police interview Katherine Grey, the woman across from Ruth’s cabin. 

Poirot offers his services to the father of Ruth, Rufus Van Aldin, an American millionaire, and dives headfirst into the case. As he interviews the people involved, he sees a conspiracy unfold and realizes that the murder at hand isn’t what it appears to be. Who killed Ruth Kettering and who stole the giant ruby called the Heart of Fire?

Commentary

The Mystery of the Blue Train was published in the U.K in 1928 and in the U.S. the following year. This novel entered the public domain in the U.S. in 2024 but will not under the public domain in the U.K until 2047, 70 years after the death of Agatha Christie.

After having read so many Miss Marple novels back to back, I enjoyed reading a Poirot novel once again. I forgot how different the approach of these novels is and how confident and arrogant Poirot tends to be, even if it is justified. 

Poirot calls himself the best detective in the world and in this novel, it feels like a challenge to Sherlock Holmes. The mystery at hand is a fun one with a simple plot. Christie’s murders are always interesting and when it comes to a Poirot novel, it feels like she makes the murders a lot bolder and daring to keep Poirot wondering. 

While I enjoyed this novel, it can’t be said the same of Christie. She was going through a tough time with the death of her mother in 1926 and of her husband’s infedility which led to Christie’s disappearance. 

Christie needed money and tuned to the 1923 Poirot short story The Plymouth Express. This novel was tedious for her and in her autobiography, she writes that she “always hated it.” 

I do think that has to do more with her situation at the time and the plot of the novel involves a husband cheating on his wife and the wife also cheating on her husband. The novel was really good and I loved all the different characters involved.

Conclusion

After finishing reading all Miss Marple books, I am excited to read all of the remaining Hercule Poirot novels. The Mystery of the Blue Train was a great reintroduction to the Poirot universe and I can’t wait to read even more books in this series. Happy reading!

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