Search - Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot, Bk 9) (aka Murder in the Calais Coach)

One of Christie's most famous mysteries, and deservedly so. It is a truly ingenious pure puzzle novel -- there is no description to speak of, and the characters are never more than their descriptions in the front of the novel. They don't need to be. It is a novel to be read simply for the sake of matching wits with Christie, and there are very few people who would win in that confrontation. My only objection is that the action Poirot takes at the conclusion of the novel do not seem in keeping with his stated philosophy in other books. Still, that is a minor quibble for an otherwise superb detective novel.