Murder on the Orient Express vs The A.B.C. Murders: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Agatha Christie, Detective, Hercule Poirot, Stories, Mystery, Fiction
Murder on the Orient Express
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While en route from Syria to Paris, in the middle of a freezing winter's night, the Orient Express is stopped dead in its tracks by a snowdrift. Passengers awake to find the train still stranded and to discover that a…
The A.B.C. Murders
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There's a serial killer on the loose, bent on working his way though the alphabet. There seems little chance of the murderer being caught - until her makes the crucial and vain mistake of challenging Hercule Poirot to…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Murder on the Orient Express has the widest readership — 765496 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Murder on the Orient Express | The A.B.C. Murders | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (765496) | 4.0 (213357) |
| Hardcover | 4.5 (5) | 4.0 (1) |
| Google Books | 4.5 (4) | 4.0 (2) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (290) | — |
Reception
| Murder on the Orient Express | The A.B.C. Murders | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 765496 | 213357 |
| Editions | 247 | 142 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 507548 | 106266 |
| Reading it now | 23902 | 6947 |
| Written reviews | 52399 | 14392 |
| Wikipedia attention | 64317 | 7792 |
| Pages | 168 | 272 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Murder on the Orient Express or The A.B.C. Murders?
Murder on the Orient Express has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Murder on the Orient Express 4.2/5, The A.B.C. Murders 4.0/5).
Which is shorter to read: Murder on the Orient Express or The A.B.C. Murders?
Murder on the Orient Express is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Murder on the Orient Express (168 pages, ≈ 3 h 07 m); The A.B.C. Murders (272 pages, ≈ 5 h 02 m).
Which is harder to read: Murder on the Orient Express or The A.B.C. Murders?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Murder on the Orient Express: Moderate; The A.B.C. Murders: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
Murder on the Orient Express: no film adaptation on record; The A.B.C. Murders: 5 film adaptations.