"Only by interrogating the other passengers could I hope to see the light, but when I began to question them, the light, as Macbeth would have said, thickened."

Murder on the Orient Express 
By Agatha Christie

Last night I ended up watching the fantastic movie “Murder on the Orient Express”. I saw it for the first time as a child (I watched a lot of AMC as a kid) and forgot how many acting legends graced the screen: Lauren Bacall, Albert Finney, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, Vanessa Redgrave, and Michael York. 

The movie also took me back to one of my first literary loves, Agatha Christie. Growing up I never tired of her succinct, clever books and would often return again and again to my favorites. I always considered her books like a cool drink of water, after reading a few novels that were only so-so, I knew I could pick up an Agatha Christie mystery and feel refreshed at the end of my reading journey. Her fastidious Belgian detective Hercule Poirot will always be one of my all time favorite literary characters. Luckily the British stepped in and created a phenomenal television series out of the Poirot books with the actor David Suchet.

Hercule Poirot Mysteries

ABC Murders

The Clocks

Death on the Nile*

Evil Under the Sun*

The Mysterious Affair At Styles

Hallowe'en Party

Miss Marple Mysteries

4:50 From Paddington*

The Body in the Library

A Pocket Full of Rye

And Then There Were None* More commonly known as Ten Little Indians this remains one of her best loved mysteries, and one of my all-time favorite books. Ten strangers are invited to Indian Island by a mysterious host and are then accused of murder. Unable to leave the island, the guests begin to die one by one.

Death Comes as the End* Completely different from most of Christie's books, this story takes place in ancient Egypt.

The Mysterious Mr. Quin

Ordeal by Innocence

Three Blind Mice Friends trapped by a snowstorm in an isolated estate with a homicidal maniac on the loose. This book was the basis for The Mousetrap, the longest running play in history.