Night Train to Perdition

Murder on the Orient Express, written by Agatha Christie in 1933 and published the following year, is perhaps her seminal work.  It is also possibly the work most directly inspired by a true crime case, the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby.  This episode explores the novel and several related true crime cases as well as the use of forensic xylotomy in the original Case of the Century.

For the full blog post, visit www.christiesmysteries.com.

Resources:

• Christie, Agatha.  An Autobiography.  New York: HarperCollins, 1977.
• Christie, Agatha.  Murder on the Orient Express.  London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1934. 
• Holgate, Mike.  Agatha Christie’s True Crime Inspirations. Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2010.
• Morgan, Janet.  Agatha Christie: A Biography.  London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2017.
• Osborne, Charles.  The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie.  London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1999.
• Thompson, Laura.  Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life.  New York: Pegasus Books, 2018.
• Cahill Jr., Richard T.  Hauptmann’s Ladder: A Step-by-Step Analysis of the Lindbergh Kidnapping.  Kent: The Kent State University Press, 2014.
• Cornett, Doug.  “Big Picture, Small Picture: Context for Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express.”  Ploughshares at Emerson College.  Accessed November 04, 2019.  http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/big-picture-small-picture-context-for-agatha-christies-murder-on-the-orient-express/
• Donnelly, Marea.  “Real-life mystery behind Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express.”  The Daily Telegraph.  Accessed November 04, 2019.  https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/reallife-mystery-behind-agatha-christies-murder-on-the-orient-express/news-story/32ca22fb0467c9a5e27d612a3a7ae763
• Escobar, Natalie.  “What Was the Inspiration for ‘The Murder on the Orient Express’?”  Smithsonian Magazine.  Accessed November 04, 2019.  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-was-inspiration-murder-orient-express-180967305/
• Milton, Joyce.  Loss of Eden: A Biography of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh.  Open Road Integrated Media, 2014.
• Schrager, Adam J.  The Sixteenth Rail.  Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum, 2013.

Music:

• The Missourians Vine Street Drag, 1929
• The Varsity Drag, 1927
• Grapes by I Dunno, 2008