Small man, distinctly foreign in appearance, with a rigidly waxed moustache and an egg-shaped head which he carried rather on one side. She replies that may be because they give ‘the illusion of living an exciting life’ and that ‘nothing of that kind ever happens to me.‘ From then on however, she is drawn into the mystery along with Poirot, that She is reading a roman policier when they meet at dinner and Poirot comments that they always sell well. I liked the reflections on detective novels through a conversation Poirot has with another passenger on the train, Katherine Grey, from St Mary Mead who has inherited money from her employer. There are a number of suspects ranging from Derek and his mistress, the dancer Mirelle, who had both the motive and the opportunity, to Ruth’s lover, the Comte de la Roche, suspected of stealing the jewels. Fortunately Hercule Poirot is also travelling on the train and he of course unravels the mystery. Later Ruth is found strangled in her compartment in the Paris-Nice train, known as the train bleu, on its arrival in Nice and the fabulous ruby, the Heart of Fire that Van Aldin had given her, has been stolen. There’s only one way out of this mess, Ruthie. Have you got the grit to admit to all the world that you’ve made a mistake. Agatha’s views on divorce are clear when Van Aldin tells Ruth she should divorce Derek, who he thinks is no good, rotten through and through and had only married her for her money, saying:

Ruth Kettering, the daughter of millionaire Rufus Van Aldin, is married to Derek, against her father’s advice. It may not be her best book, but it’s still a good read. (pages 368-9)Īs she was writing this book at the time of her disappearance and divorce from her first husband, Archibald Christie it’s hardly surprising.

I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you are writing and aren’t writing particularly well. That was the moment when I changed from being an amateur to a professional. I was driven on by the desire, indeed the necessity, to write another book and make some money. I knew, as one might say, where I was going, but I could not see the scene in my mind’s eye, and the people would not come alive. I had worked out the plot – a conventional plot, partly adapted from one of my other stories. To begin with I had no joy in writing, no élan. In her autobiography she wrote that it had not been easy writing it and that she had always “hated” it: Agatha Christie didn’t enjoy writing The Mystery of the Blue Train (first published in 1928).

The mystery of the blue train book