Agatha Christie · 1934 · rail

Agatha Christie's 1934 mystery. Aboard the Orient Express from Istanbul, a wealthy American is found stabbed in his compartment as a snowdrift halts the train in the Balkans. Trapped with the suspects between Belgrade and Brod, Hercule Poirot untangles a dozen tangled alibis to reach a solution as unusual as the crime, before the line is cleared toward Calais.

1. 1
   Istanbul

   Poirot boards the Orient Express, bound west across Europe.

2. 2
   Sofia

   The famous train winds through the Balkans, every berth booked.

3. 3
   Belgrade

   A mismatched set of passengers settles in for the long run.

4. 4
   Vinkovci

   A snowdrift halts the train, and by morning a passenger lies dead.

5. 5
   Trieste

   The Simplon Orient Express runs down to the Adriatic at Trieste before turning inland for Italy - one of the booked stops on the timetable Poirot works through when he reconstructs the night of the murder.

6. 6
   Milan

   The Simplon route would carry the express on through the Alps.

7. 7
   Lausanne

   Through the Simplon tunnel into Switzerland at Lausanne, the last great stop before Paris - and a station that matters to the reckoning, because who could join or leave the train, and where, is the whole case.

8. 8
   Paris

   Westward the line runs toward Paris and the waiting Channel boat.

9. 9
   Calais

   At the journey's end Poirot names the killer - and chooses mercy.