20 supremely cozy books and movies for hibernation season

16. Murder on the Orient Express

Truth be told, there’s an entire genre of “cozy mysteries”, wherein a gentle sleuth solves a murder while swaddled in wool sweaters and sipping endless cups of tea. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, of course. Still, perhaps you should start your mystery reading with one of the most famous whodunit authors of all time — Agatha Christie.

Murder on the Orient Express is not exactly cozy. It features one of Christie’s two famous fictional detectives, the Belgian Hercule Poirot (the other being British spinster Miss Marple). Poirot, for all his brilliance, is a fussy man who can be difficult to get along with. Yet, his vast intelligence, attention to detail, and drive to find justice make him one of the most compelling detectives in all mystery fiction.

This tale is set on the Orient Express itself, a train line that, at the time of the novel, ran from France all the way to Istanbul, Turkey. One night, while the train is stopped by a snowdrift on the tracks while in Croatia, a murder is committed.

It’s hard for anyone to feel especially bad for the victim, however. The newly deceased man is Samuel Ratchett, a deeply unpleasant man who had previously asked Poirot to help prevent his murder. Poirot, who had turned Ratchett down simply because he was so deeply grossed-out by the man, must now investigate the murder.

You’d think that would be pretty easy, given that hardly anyone has been on or off the train on account of the wintry weather. Yet, as Poirot uncovers clue after clue, the identity of the killer becomes ever murkier. The final reveal is one of Christie’s most famous and brilliant moves. If you’re a first-time reader, it will be sure to stick with you long after you’ve closed the book.