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“You tell your lies and you think nobody knows. But there are two people who know. Yes--two people. One is le bon Dieu--and the other is Hercule Poirot.��

The Mystery of the Blue Train is a fine title, and I like the blue cover of this edition that I read, and though it is not one of Christie’s best, as the sixth (which is to say early) Hercules Poirot (of 39!) it is a strong effort. Having also just read Agatha: The Real Story of Agatha Christie, the graphic biography that insists she was the Very Model of a Modern Woman, and a feminist, I felt supported in my view that the disparaging comments she has various characters make about women throughout had a purpose in the mystery’s solution. I know an author’s autobiography is usually a sketchy source at best for divining purpose in fiction, but Christie had just been cheated on and dumped by her first husband in the year before this was published, and I thought this book’s (in part) focus on women may have come in part from her life events.

Ruth’s Dad: "Have you got the grit to tell the world you made a mistake. There’s only one way out of this mess, Ruthie, cut your losses and start afresh. . . ��
“You mean. . .��
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As with other, better books from Christie, a murder takes place on a train (oh, some take place on boats, too!), the night or “blue�� train from Calais to Nice, (as Christie herself did much world travel via train). (oh, and I was reading this about a location in Nice on the day I read of a truck bombing in Nice, which was somewhat strange). In this one Christie tries third person omniscient (rather than have some buffoon like Hastings narrate it) and experiments with having us not meet Poirot at all for more than a third of the book. You know very well that anything that happens with respect to solving the case is a wash until Poirot gets on the scene, and even then it is a slow, deliberate process. I have heard this lesser known book from Christie was done rather quickly, as she needed cash for her and her daughter, but that seems unfair, because while this one wasn’t particularly innovative, I can see her working on different things as a writer, developing her craft.

So: Ruth Van Kettering is murdered. She was unhappily married to Derek, who is struggling financially but could use the money he might get from Ruth’s rich daddy, who hires Poirot to do the investigation. Ruth also was given rare rubies from her father, and they are of course missing at the time of her death. Derek also “hangs out�� with an exotic dancer named Mirelle who seems (hotly) unpredictable. Ruth's and Derek's marriage is one of convenience, not love (and for any mystery reader, the obviousness of him as possible murderer takes him out of the running pretty quickly, eh?).

Then there’s someone Ruth may have been seeing on the side, too, the Comte de La Roche who could also use the cash. A sophisticated ladies man. But is the murder linked to the theft?

There’s a woman, Katherine Grey, that we come to like very much, one of the best of Christie’s early characters. She’s been working for a crusty old lady, Miss Viner, for many years and is going to receive an inheritance from the old crank (who contributes some comic relief). Oh, and Grey has "contacts" with The Count and Derek, too.

But who is M. Marquis? And what of Mr. Kettering’s valet, Knighton, and his maid? Do we have enough characters for a line-up? Not to worry, we will interview all of them! We will get to the bottom of this!

There are many many slyly satirical comments about women throughout, such as this exchange between Miss Viner and Katherine:
Ms. Viner: “Don't think you'll get married, though, my dear, because you won't. You're not the kind to attract the men. And, besides, you're getting on. How old are you now?"
"Thirty-three," Katherine told her.
"Well," remarked Miss Viner doubtfully, "that's not so very bad. You've lost your first freshness, of course."
"I'm afraid so," said Katherine, much entertained.

An early statement from Olga: “Most women have that madness. I do not.��

At one point Derek says: “She might bring me bad luck. Women do.��

The book is full of such observations about women, which led me to think she was exorcising some demons, making a fun feminist point overall.

This one takes a while to get going. Too long. It doesn’t match up to her very best, but I still liked it. I rate it somewhere between 3 and 4, rounded down for some of the slowness of the opening. The resolution is neither all that surprising or satisfying, after we have of course spent the whole book looking at obvious and obviously wrong choices for murderer. But it’s a good read, overall.