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[[File:murder_on_the_orient_express_ver4_7581.jpg|frame]]
 
''[[Murder Onon the Orient Express]]'', or ''Murder in the Calais Coach'', is an [[Agatha Christie (Creator)|Agatha Christie]] detective fiction murder mystery first published in 1934. [[Hercule Poirot]], the famous Belgian detective, is ready to return from his case in Syria when he is snowbound on the Orient Express. He is disturbed in his sleep by dead quiet and a passing figure in a red kimono, and when he awakes, the contemptible Ratchett is found having been stabbed 12 times to death. Poirot discovers he was actually a notorious American gangster, who had kidnapped and murdered a three-year-old heiress. The mystery begins to unravel as he discovers that the passengers have connections to the murdered man and the family of the child that man murdered.
 
The book was made into a successful movie in 1974, again into a [[Made for TV Movie]] in 2001, and once again in 2010 for David Suchet's ''[[Poirot]]''.
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==== Tropes used by [[Murder Onon the Orient Express]] (''there will be non-concealed, highly spoilerific material later: you have been warned''): ====
* [[Actor Allusion]] / [[Casting Gag]]: Anthony Perkins plays [[Psycho|a guy with severe mommy-issues]].
* [[Adaptational Angst Upgrade]]: In the original novel and most adaptations, Hercule {{spoiler|rather cavalierly lets the murderers go free,}} but in the 1974 film and ''especially'' the 2010 ''[[Poirot]]'' versions, {{spoiler|he is deeply conflicted before finally making the choice.}}
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* [[Artistic Title]]: The 1974 film opens with a montage sequence by [[Richard Williams]] depicting the kidnapping and murder of Daisy Armstrong via various [[Spinning Paper|Spinning Papers]].
* [[Asshole Victim]]: Ratchett's portrayed as a terrible man, so there isn't much sympathy when he is killed. {{spoiler|We find out that he's so deserving of his fate that Poirot eventually lets his murderers go.}}
* [[The Bad Guy Wins]]: [[Zig -Zagging Trope|Averted, subverted, played straight]], or ''something''... It really depends on your definitions of "bad guy" and "win".
* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: {{spoiler|While the murderers do get off scot-free, that's because even Poirot agrees that Ratchett's crime against the Armstrong family (who they all had connections to) had been paid back justly, with interest.}}
* [[Busman's Holiday]]
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* [[The Killer Becomes the Killed]]
* [[The Killer Was Left-Handed]]: One clue Poirot notices is that the victim was stabbed by both a right handed and left handed person.
* [[Let Off Byby the Detective]]: Being an [[Asshole Victim]] of the highest order, Poirot rationalises that his murder meant justice was done. Instead of revealing the real solution to the police, he manages to come up with a plausible enough explanation involving an unknown assassin that doesn't incriminate the guilty party.
* [[Massive Multiplayer Scam]]
* [[Off Onon a Technicality]]: How Ratchett managed to walk free after the killing of Daisy Armstrong. He still recognised that the public would have torn him apart the moment he left court, hence why he fled America and changed his name.
* [[One Degree of Separation]]: The passengers all are closely connected.
* [[Orient Express]]: Obviously.
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** It's an insult about his huskyness.
* [[Snowed In]]
* [[Thriller Onon the Express]]: [[Trope Namer]], along with the numerous examples that use the title format for a reference.
* [[You Never Asked]]: The solution to the mysterious handkerchief with a H on it. It involves the Cyrillic alphabet and Princess Dragomiroff's first name.
* [[You Said You Would Let Them Go]]: Cassetti kills three-year-old Daisy just after the ransom had been paid and flees the country. [[Pay Evil Unto Evil|He gets what he deserves.]]
* [[Zig -Zagging Trope]]: {{spoiler|[[The Bad Guy Wins]]. Trust us, the "bad guy" and "wins" parts are tossed every which way.}}
 
{{reflist}}
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