Murder on the Orient Express is one of Agatha Christie's greatest mystery novels. featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 1 January 1934. A curious group of passengers is assembled on the Istanbul–Calais coach of the Orient Express. They include a Russian princess, an Italian salesman, an English colonel … and Hercule Poirot. The morning after the train is stopped dead by a deep snowdrift, American millionaire Mr Ratchett is found stabbed to death, his compartment bolted on the inside. It is clear that the murderer must be one of his fellow passengers and must therefore still be on the train. and Poirot's trip home to London from the Middle East is interrupted to solve the case. The novel boasts a truly audacious solution and has kept readers rapt since it was first published.