The Mystery of the Blue Train

A jewel worth killing for. A train that runs on time. A detective who would rather be gardening.

Agatha Christie once called this novel the worst she ever wrote. She was wrong. It is not her best—that crown belongs elsewhere—but it is a roaring, glamorous, thoroughly entertaining ride through the French Riviera, complete with a murdered heiress, a missing ruby, and a Belgian detective who would much rather be left alone to grow his vegetable marrows.

The train is the Blue Train, a luxury express that carries the rich and reckless between Calais and the Côte d'Azur. The passenger is Ruth Kettering, an American heiress trapped in a miserable marriage. She is carrying the "Heart of Fire," a fabulous ruby worth a fortune. She is also carrying a lover, a secret, and a growing sense that someone wants her dead. By the time the train reaches Nice, she is a corpse. The ruby is gone. The lover has vanished.

Enter Hercule Poirot, who happens to be on the train. He did not want to be there. He was forced into the journey by his wealthy friend, Rufus Van Aldin, who happens to be Ruth Kettering's father. Van Aldin wants justice. Poirot wants peace and quiet. He gets neither.

The suspects are a parade of Christie's finest creations: the dead woman's cold, slippery husband; her ostentatiously grieving father; her faithful maid; her mysterious French lover; and a pair of rival jewel thieves who may or may not be who they claim to be. The solution involves a second murder, a case of mistaken identity, and one of those classic Christie moments where Poirot assembles everyone in a drawing room and reveals the truth with the theatrical timing of a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat.

This is Christie at her most glamorous and unapologetically entertaining. The plot creaks in places. The coincidences strain credulity. But the rhythm of the mystery—the gathering of clues, the parade of suspects, the final, satisfying click of the puzzle locking into place—is pure Christie.

• First published in 1928, the sixth Hercule Poirot novel

• The setting—the French Riviera—was inspired by Christie's own travels on the Blue Train, the luxury express operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits

• Christie was famously unhappy with the novel, calling it "the worst book I have ever written," but it remains a fan favorite

Available in multiple formats:

• Paperback & Hardcover: Beautifully designed print editions presenting the complete, unabridged text made to last.

• Ebook: DRM-free EPUB compatible with Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, and all major e-readers.

• Audiobook: Professionally narrated, complete and unabridged, available on all major audiobook platforms.

A beautifully crafted edition for your shelf, your device, or your ears, or the perfect gift for anyone who knows that a long train ride is the perfect excuse for a murder.

About the Author

Agatha Christie (1890–1976) was an English crime novelist, short story writer, and playwright, widely regarded as the best-selling novelist of all time. Her works have sold over two billion copies worldwide, outranked only by the Bible and Shakespeare. The Mystery of the Blue Train was written during a difficult period in Christie's life. She had just returned from an eighteen-month tour of South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, following her divorce from her first husband. The novel was not a critical success, but it was a commercial hit, confirming that her readers would follow Poirot anywhere. Christie died in 1976 in Wallingford, Oxfordshire.