Books that Hook: Woman on the Orient Express

Books that Hook

BY KALIE CHAMBERLAIN

Our senior book reviews are written with the understanding that mature, sensible, premium-aged people may not want the bother of searching for well-written, sleaze-free reading materials—that’s why we’ve done the searching for you. We hope you enjoy this month’s pick.

This Month’s Fiction Selection: Woman on the Orient Express

Author: Lindsay Jayne Ashford

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing         

Length: 330 pages

In 1928, Agatha Christie was stuck in the spotlight. Already a best-selling novelist—due to the popularity of her Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot—she garnered extra unwanted attention as her marriage to Archie Christie dissolved. Historical novelist Lindsay Jayne Ashford picks up the thread laid by these facts and weaves her version of Agatha Christie’s journey to the Middle East in search of solace and anonymity.

When the novel begins, Agatha boards the Orient Express, headed for Baghdad. Hoping to leave her failed marriage and bad publicity behind, Agatha purchases a ticket under a false name. Soon after boarding, she meets two women: Katharine Keeling, her roommate and an artist with a shrewd eye for the truth; and Nancy Neele, a young woman who finds herself in a terrible plight.

The three women soon begin a friendship that lasts the rail journey and afterwards, taking them to an archeological dig site in Ur and into the camp of local tribesmen. But all three of them are harboring secrets that are not easily worked out, no matter how carefully Agatha applies “the little gray cells.” Love, tragedy, suspense, and mystery work together to make this well-researched novel a delight for any fan of Agatha Christie or historical fiction devotees.

Peppered with characters from Agatha Christie’s own life as well as fictional ones, The Woman on the Orient Express imagines how the seeds for settings, plots, and even characters in Christie’s later novels may have germinated on her journey to the Middle East. The story also gives a closer look at the history and life of one of the world’s most beloved writers.

Author Lindsay Jayne Ashford is a former journalist and holds a master’s degree in criminology from Queen’s College, Cambridge.

You can borrow Woman on the Orient Express from your local library. Purchase it from a local bookseller or at www.amazon.com. Also available in e-book and audio book format.