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#YOAreadalong Discussion 2: Murder on the Orient Express

5.12.2016
Hello dear readers!

We wanted to give you some details about our second #YOAreadalong of the year: Murder on the Orient Express!

As with our first readalong, we are also having a little giveaway (we love spreading the Agatha love!)

THE PRIZE!
For this giveaway we will be sending our lucky winner a copy of And Then There Were None as well as a print of the amazing Agatha Christie bookshelf by artist Jane Mount (see below!)


RULES:
Okay so how do you win this cool stuff?

1.) Leave a comment on this blog post before 11:59pm EST on Friday, May 19th 20th! OOPS!
2.) We will randomly select a winner on Saturday, May 20th 21st
3.) This giveaway is open internationally (yay!), but only to our readers age 13+ (cause we'll need your address to send you your prize and stuff like that!)

Readalong Deets:
Okay so you're reading Murder on the Orient Express. What do you think? We have a few general questions below to guide our thoughts and feelings, but of course welcome ALL your thoughts and feelings!

Characters:
>there are a lot of characters in this one! anyone stand out as particularly shady?
>no Hastings to be found in Orient Express! is Poirot the same for you without him?
>what would Hastings add to the mix if he was in the story?
>what about the Hastings-stand-ins? Aka M. Bouc and Dr. Constantine?

#MURDER:
>who is your initial suspect for the murder?
>stabbing vs. poisoning? Which does Agatha do best?

Story:
>thoughts on the inclusion of the backstory (#cassetti #armstrongs)?
>what about the train setting? is Orient Express train life better than The Mystery of the Blue Train?

As with last time, be advised: everyone is reading at their own pace so spoilers may be inevitable! Post and read at your own risk! :)

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

-A. & E.
8 comments on "#YOAreadalong Discussion 2: Murder on the Orient Express"
  1. This is such a fabulous story! The first time I read it I thoroughly enjoyed it! The eighth time I read it.....I thoroughly enjoyed it!!! Love the movie, too! Even the eighth time I watched it!!!! I will definitely be joining the read along! šŸ“–šŸ“ššŸ˜

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    1. Hooray, Patricia! We are so excited you'll be joining us! This is a favorite for both of us too, both in book and movie forms. Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

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  2. Just about to start reading it! Will answer the questions soon. Love that print btw. Will also be watching the tv episode after it �� (@bookishsteph1)

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    1. So glad you're joining in! (And YES, that print is too amazing!!)

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  3. This was my first Agatha Christie novel of you can believe it!! Oh so much to say...

    The characters... Well, I listened to the book via my audible subscription, so fans of the book I hope you are good natured...

    The overwrought American woman, let's call her Mrs. Doubtfire. I liked her the best. I thought she was hilarious and she really threw us for a loop, revealing so many of the clues and still having a strong alibi. Obviously I'm not familiar with Hastings and I'm sorry to've missed him! I did not much care for Poirot's other two companions; they did not help our understanding of the plot or add much humor it interest to the story. The Dr's contribution was especially lacking.

    #murder I am THE WORST guesser and I even suspected Poiroit's companions at some point. I was certainly surprised at the final reveal!

    Backstory... While Casseti was clearly a terrible man, I never gained an understanding of the emotion behind the actions. Well, I suppose empathy would be the opportune word. By the final reveal it all made sense in a way, but I would've liked to've felt the need to stab Casseti myself 12 times to really understand the role the other characters played. I felt there was too much time spent in the explanation of alibis and while that was meant to define the characters, I think the false pretenses distracted us from any characters being built.

    Overall, I'm very happy to have read this classic, thrilling novel.

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    1. Hooray for your first Agatha Christie book! The audiobooks are generally very well done - Dan Stevens does a really great job with the huge cast in Orient Express, but some of the best ones are narrated by David Suchet (he does Sad Cypress and Death on the Nile, and some short stories I think) if you need some more Agatha audiobooks for your collection :)

      Love your assessment of "Mrs. Doubtfire" - it's funny to see (in many of Agatha's books!) the temperaments of American characters, and this was no exception.

      I go back and forth about whether this book would have been enhanced by Hastings. You should definitely read another Agatha book with him - he and Poirot are just too great together. I agree - Poirot had pretty sub-par companions in this one. But at the same time, it lets him have all the glory of finding the solution, and yet also allows for additional opinions at the end on which solution should be accepted.

      #murder: UGH I know it is so frustrating sometimes because Agatha is SO good at putting the solution right in front of your face, and yet it's often so hard for me to figure it out! #youarenotalone :)

      Very good point RE: Cassetti. This book has so many characters, it's hard to get the character development you would normally see from an Agatha novel.

      So glad you joined us for this one!! :)

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  4. Murder on the Orient express is such a classic! I was kind of spoiled for the ending by my bf, but when I finally figured it out I spend about 10 minutes running around the house yelling. This and "Five Little Pigs" are currently tied for first as my favorite Agatha Christies. I hope you guys enjoy it! I would also love to enter the give away, I've heard "And Then There Were None" is one of her darkest stories and I'm really curious.

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    1. So glad you like this one! And yes, "Five Little Pigs" is also SO GOOD! You are definitely entered to win the giveaway :)

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