Agatha Christie (author), Kenneth Branagh (narrator), Murder on the Orient Express. New York: Harper Audio, 2017. ISBN: 9781538520857.
Genre:fiction
Subgenre: mystery, detective novel, murder
Format: online audiobook
Source: Hoopla, via Madison County (KY) Public Library
This is one of those books that I have always wanted to read in part because mom was a big fan of Agatha Christie. In addition, I have seen this particular novel adapted into film a few times, including the Kenneth Branagh adaptation, which is the cover for this book. However, aside from the book cover, this is the original novel, not a novelization of the film. I really enjoyed this one in large part because Branagh was reading it. I also enjoyed the book because Christie really pays attention to detail; I found the many small details and clues to be fascinating. I admit a small challenge was envisioning the story without always seeing the characters as portrayed in the recent film, but that is a minor issue. Mom, for instance, often envisioned Poirot as portrayed by Peter Ustinov; for me, David Suchet is the quintessential Poirot, though I found Branagh's performance, somewhat a bit playful, to be interesting.
Anyhow, for me listening to the book worked really well. Branagh has a good reading voice, and he performs the different parts well. This unabridged edition is 6 hours and 13 minutes, so it is not long. You can do it in a few sittings or while you are doing work or other task. Overall, this was a very good reading experience, and I do recommend the novel. I also liked this edition, and I recommend it as well.
I noticed Hoopla has an audio edition of Death on the Nile, also read by Branagh; it's a companion edition for the upcoming movie adaptation. I will be checking it out in the near future.
5 out of 5 stars.
Book qualifies for this 2020 Reading Challenge:
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