The Mystery of the Blue Train

The Mystery of the Blue Train – Agatha Christie
In true Agatha style we join our cast of suspects on The Blue train to the South of France. One of our key cast members the American Millionaire Van Aldin is purchasing a valuable Ruby necklace for his beloved daughter Ruth. Ruth is finally convinced to go for a divorce from her husband who is blatantly having an affair – mind you so is Ruth.
Ruth is found murdered in her carriage and her jewel case has been taken – however was she murdered for her fabulous collection of jewellery or other reasons?
Our cast is Katherine Grey who having recently inherited money is enjoying a holiday, Ada Mason Ruth’s personal maid but she hasn’t been with her mistress long, Richard Knighton Van Alden’s new secretary, Armand the Comte De La Roche a slippery customer and serial defrauder of rich women, Mirelle the mistress of the deceased with her eye always to the main chance, Derek Kettering land rich and money poor English Aristocrat who would gain all his wife’s money if she were to die before the divorce.
This book was published just after her divorce from Archie Christie and she states in her autobiography it was a difficult one to write with immense pressure from her publishers despite not being in a great mental heath space to write. Some of the material comes from a short story she had previously published called the Plymouth Express but was reworked with a different location and a much larger cast of characters. It is also possible that Agatha travelled on the Blue train in 1926 or when she visited her sister in Corsica though she doesn’t specifically say so.
The Blue train is also the first mention of the Village of St Mary Mead which is where Miss Marple comes from.

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