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Murder on the Orient Express

By: Agatha Christie
Narrated by: Tom Conti,Jane Asher,Ruta Gedmintas,Paterson Joseph,Rula Lenska,Art Malik,Eddie Marsan,Sophie Okonedo,Walles Hamonde
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Editor reviews

Editors Select, November 2017

A train stuck in the snow carries a cultural mixture of passengers...and all of them suspects in a brutal murder. All, apart from the great detective Hercule Poirot, mais naturellement, who is tasked with finding the culprit in a case where all is, of course, not what it seems. This multicast drama version of one of Agatha Christie's best known mystery novels features Tom Conti, Sophie Okonedo, Jane Asher, Rula Lenska, Art Malik, and many more great actors from around the world. With a full SFX soundtrak and exclusive score, the drama follows our wryly funny, sharply intelligent, and often grumpy hero as he untangles the most tangled of icy webs to uncover the truth. One of my favourite books since early teenage years, MOTOE showcases Christie in expert form, transposed into an excitingly immersive and lively production from Audible Originals. —Rebecca, Audible UK

Summary

Winner of the 2018 CAMEO Book to Audio Award

What begins as a routine journey on the luxurious Orient Express soon unfurls into Agatha Christie's most famous murder mystery. On board is the famous detective Hercule Poirot, and one man who, come morning, will be found dead, his compartment locked from the inside. 

This Audible Original dramatisation follows the train as it's stopped dead in its tracks at midnight. The train's stranded passengers soon become suspects as the race to uncover the murderer begins before he or she strikes again. 

This all-star production features lead performances from Tom Conti (The Dark Knight Rises, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence) as Hercule Poirot, Sophie Okonedo (After Earth, Hotel Rwanda and Ace Ventura) and Eddie Marsan (Sherlock Holmes, V for Vendetta and Hancock) plus a full supporting cast and even sound effects recorded on the Orient Express itself. 

Starring: Tom Conti as Hercule Poirot, Sophie Okonedo as Mary Debenham, Paterson Joseph as Colonel Arbuthnot, Walles Hamonde as Hector Macqueen, Jay Benedict as Monsieur Bouc, Jane Asher as Mrs Hubbard, Rula Lenska as Princess Dragonioff, Ruta Gedmintas as Countess Andrenyi, Eddie Marsan as Ratchett and Art Malik as the Narrator. 

Also featuring: Marie Rabe, John Chancer, Cedric Cirotteau, Andreas Karras, Barnabas Reti, Cristina Catalina, Greg Canestrari, Harry Hadden-Paton, Christope Delesques, Atilla Akinci, Hakan Silahsiz and Jeff Gerard. 

©1934 Agatha Christie (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"With a perfect accent and professional ease, Tom Conti becomes one of the most-beloved detectives in fiction, Hercule Poirot.... The entire cast has a wonderful time playing off Conti as the detective interviews the suspects one by one.... Even those who know this classic's clever ending will enjoy the production." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about Murder on the Orient Express

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All-star Poirot!

Being a big fan of audible's original dramatisation series (passenger 57, the child etc) I was looking forward to listening to this adaptation of a modern classic and boy was I not disappointed.

I'll admit that I have never read any of Agatha Christie's work up until now (I know, shame on me) but I certainly will be from now on, as I can now see plainly that I've been missing out.

Entertaining and enveloping, strap on tight as you board the Orient express because this has more twists than a formula one racing track. Absolutely 10/10.

28 people found this helpful

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  • AB
  • 02-10-18

Superb Audible drama production...

What a super effort from Audible. I was absorbed into the story right from the start, and wow, this twists and turns until the very end. When I thought I'd figured it out, I was soon found to be wrong..!
Great story, well produced and with some superb performances. Tom Conti is fabulous as Poirot.
Can't recommend this enough!

23 people found this helpful

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When's the next one Audible, please soon?


Although ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ is one of Agatha Christie’s more well known books, my view is it works better in a visual rather audio format. The problem is that after the murder is discovered the majority of the story is then played out in the dining compartment as Poirot interviews the passengers. Without the backdrop of the snow and decor of the Orient Express to keep you enthralled, the story begins to plod. Though I can understand why this story was chosen as it links with the new film, of the same name, starring Kenneth Branagh. It is still an ingenious story, but there are better ones.

Anything bad? Nope not bad, I did really enjoy it, though found some of the minor cast accents a little wobbly - they didn’t always seem authentic, some syllables sounded English/ Welsh.

After so many years with David Suchet depicting Poirot, it took a little time to adjust Tom Conti, but I do hope Audible will dramatise many more books so that he cements himself as the character.

22 people found this helpful

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Smashing!

Loved it. A first class cast recording. Tom Conti highly believable. Jane Asher a revelation. Very well done

21 people found this helpful

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I hope Audible do more Christie

Compelling story of one of Christie's most famous stories performed as a play. a great ensemble cast

14 people found this helpful

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A classic story marred by mediocre performances

I was expecting a fresh and exciting retelling of a classic story. For the most part, this is a “by the numbers” rendition, with no standout performances. The accents tend towards the farcical, in places sounding like something from ‘Allo ‘Allo. There was no sense of tension, and it felt flat overall. Not the best purchase.

11 people found this helpful

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Short and sweet and worth a listen

Not very long but a great short listen and worth the £3.99. Good voice actors

10 people found this helpful

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A slow burn

To start with i really didn't take to this book. I started several times and was going to return it. But one time I stuck with it and now it is my preferred version. It is very different to the david suchet style narration. In this one poirot is much more foreign, has more humour, is less arrogant, has much worse command of the English language. Generally is more plausible as a wealthy foreign exile. In the end I kept both versions and enjoy them both in their different ways. I recommend sticking with it if you are unsure after the first chapter.

8 people found this helpful

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first audio drama

this was the first time I listened to this type of play. I really enjoyed it.

8 people found this helpful

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Good Adaptation of a Classic

I loved this adaptation of a much loved classic. It sounded fresh whilst not straying far from the original. The characterisation is good and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good thriller.

8 people found this helpful

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  • Tracy
  • 06-11-17

A Classic Mystery, dramatized by Audible

Important note - This is a dramatized audio book, not a direct reading of the novel. Which means, this is a novel acted out by a full cast of actors, and is slightly shorter than the full reading would be. Personally, I LOVE dramatized audio, but some may not. Listen to the sample to see what it's like.

Ok, my review: I love Agatha Christie, and have listened to most of the Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot classics, either the full version or the dramatized version. I have also read and listened to (and watched!) Murder on the Orient Express, so, while this is an amazing classic mystery, I actually knew the story. And I still loved it! The characters are so rich, the acting is superb, and Poirot is such a delightful treat at any time.

This book throws no surprises, and sticks exactly to the plot of the novel.

This is an Audible Original dramatized book; there is an earlier dramatized version available, by the BBC and featuring John Moffat as Poirot here:

https://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/Murder-on-the-Orient-Express-Dramatised-Audiobook/B0042GI7CG/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1509979055&sr=1-1

You may also opt for the full novel instead. There is one read by Kenneth Branagh here on Audible.com here

https://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/Murder-on-the-Orient-Express-Movie-Tie-in-Audiobook/B07664YTBY/ref=a_search_c4_1_3_srTtl?qid=1509979010&sr=1-3

179 people found this helpful

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  • Chris T
  • 21-11-17

Very Entertaining But Not an Unabridged Book.

I found the performance quite enjoyable but I prefer unabridged audiobooks so I own both versions. I look forward to listening to the full story soon so I can better judge this abridged audiobook. The Poirot performance was uniquely done. His reactions of amused chuckles were unexpected but interesting.

64 people found this helpful

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  • Kate in SF
  • 20-11-17

Fun Listen - Not the Actual Book

This is a fun listen - Tom Courtenay as Poirot is reason enough - but it is actually more of a radio play than an audible experience of Christie's book. If you want something quick and light, this will work, but if you want the real book, there are other versions you can listen to.

34 people found this helpful

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  • John St. James
  • 12-11-17

Old Time Radio

It reminded me of listening to radio theater before TV became popular.
Lots of fun! !!l

28 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Mel
  • 10-11-17

Classic revisited with an ensemble


As far as the story itself: I had to remind myself that this was first published in 1934, and since then how many authors have borrowed Ms. Christie's cleverness. It is dated, but stands up when read in the spirit of its time. The setting of the Orient Express blocked in a snow storm felt perfectly claustrophobic and sinister; a great setting for the murderous deeds to come. The characters are like looking at a bag of glistening gems, each one beautifully colored, rich and faceted! It's hard not to see this story play out in your mind with every word Christie wrote

As far as the performance: I am a fan of the ensemble performances in most cases. I find them very entertaining, but sometimes the shift of character can seem jarring. This version was good, but not without a few notable faults that seem mostly technical. The sound effects team seemed like they just didn't fully commit to letting us have the full audio experience...were those sound effects I heard or just bad editing...was that a door shutting or something falling in the recording studio? I didn't detract any points for the effort, just am mentioning this so buyers know what to expect. It still added a little excitement to hear a train whistle or approaching steps. Overall a fun and entertaining experience.

Accents: Good news/bad news. Tom Conti as Hercule Poirot -- good acting but his accent was at times difficult to understand (perhaps because he is a Scottish actor doing a Belgian detective; perhaps because we are used to British actor David Suchet's portrayal for 25 yrs.) He almost seemed to be strangling on his accent in the beginning. His personal dialogues are half whispered with an echo-y effect added making them particularly difficult to understand. It gets smoother, stay with it.

For fans and those familiar with the story a good purchase, otherwise I would say read the text first and then if you enjoy that, try this production.

28 people found this helpful

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  • dr Frank
  • 03-11-17

Amazing - I couldn't stop listening to it

Very few audio books hold my attention to where I don't want to stop and this is one of them. The story is excellent - A classic Agatha Christie - I will not give anything away except - expect the unexpected if you are not familiar with Agatha Christie and/or this classic novel.

The performance is amazing, keeping the listener engaged and anticipating the next part of the puzzle.

I hope Audible creates more Audible Original Dramas and wish there were more like it.

23 people found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 26-11-17

change in volume makes version hard to understand

This version has 2 volumes within the story line. The change in volume makes it too difficult to understand part of the story. I will be listening to a different version of this book

15 people found this helpful

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  • Kassi Beach
  • 15-11-17

OH MY GOD

This audiobook WAS PHENOMENAL!!! I couldn't stop listening. The sound effects, character voices, and background sounds just tied it all in. I haven't listened to an audiobook since Harry Potter book 5 came out on CD. This brought me back on how much I love them. I can not thank the creators enough for this most exceptional piece of work.

10 people found this helpful

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  • Matthew Kelley
  • 14-11-17

Audible invites you to Board Christie's Train

Now THIS is a trip worth taking. Even if you are familiar with Agatha Christie's classic novel Murder On The Orient Express, Audible's full cast production is a pleasant revelation. Tom Conti makes a wonderful Hercule Poirot and heads up a terrific ensemble cast. The acting really is first rate and the sound effects enliven the listening experience. Now go, get your ticket (audible credit) before the train leaves the station, but be warned, it is already a pretty full ride! "Audible 20 Review Sweepstakes Entry"

9 people found this helpful

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  • Mystery Maven
  • 04-11-17

Mystery Maven

Absolutely marvelous! Strongly recommend! All performances were perfect.

Will there be more of this type?

7 people found this helpful