Murder on the Orient Express Characters

Aside from Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie's Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot, formerly of the Belgian police, is probably the world's most famous fictional detective. He appears in 33 novels and 54...

If ever there were a no-goodnik in the genre of British mystery, Mr. Samuel Edward Ratchett is it. He's a mobster, a kidnapper of children, a murderer, and basically just an all-around monster of a...

Just as the villainous Mr. Ratchett is patently evil, his victim, poor little Daisy Armstrong, is a paragon of innocence and youth. Her age and beauty work together to render her death all the more...

The beautiful Countess is the daughter of Linda Arden and the sister of the late Mrs. Armstrong. Like her mother, she is an excellent actress, though it's the grease smudge on the Countess's Hungar...

Always quick to rush to his lady-friend Mary Debenham's defense, Colonel Arbuthnot is a rather stuffy Englishman who served in India and doesn't much like Americans. The pipe cleaner that was found...

M. Bouc is a something of a big shot at the train company that runs the Orient Express, and he's an old friend of Poirot's. He is Poirot's companion and sidekick during the investigation, a type yo...

Dr. Constantine is the Greek doctor who was on board the Athens coach with M. Bouc at the time of the murder. He is not a suspect in the murder of Mr. Ratchett. Dr. Constantine plays a sidekick rol...

The Englishwoman Mary Debenham is the first passenger that we meet in the novel, and of all the passengers on board, Poirot gives Mary the hardest time. Mary was a governess in the Armstrong househ...

This older woman is a Russian Princess, and she is unusually ugly (M. Bouc calls her "ugly as sin," at one point, 1.3.27). Though she is feeble and elderly, as Poirot says, "I think, Madame, that y...

The loud and talkative Italian man, Antonio Foscarelli provides a foil to the taciturn English valet, Mr. Masterman. Foscarelli's Italian heritage attracts M. Bouc's suspicions, as M. Bouc believes...

Mr. Hardman is an American private snoop, hired by Mr. Ratchett to guard him. In reality, he is the man who loved the young nursemaid who tragically threw herself out of a window when accused of be...

Mrs. Hubbard is the elderly American woman who is always talking about her daughter – and she's played with gusto by America tragic actress Linda Arden. As her confession in the last chapter reve...

The young American Hector MacQueen is Mr. Ratchett's secretary. His father was the District Attorney on the Armstrong case, and he has no problems whatsoever owning up to his dislike of Ratchett. H...

The quiet Mr. Masterman, an Englishman, is a foil to the Italian, Foscarelli. On the train, he works as Ratchett's valet. He served as Armstrong's batman in the war, and later his valet. Mr. Master...

Pierre, a Frenchman, is the conductor on the train. His daughter was the nursemaid who threw herself out of the window when accused of connection with the Armstrong kidnapping case. Pierre reports...

The yellow-haired Greta Ohlsson was the nurse at the Armstrong house. We are constantly told that she has yellow hair and a face that looks like a sheep (2.5.6). Poirot is usually gentle and kind i...

Hildegarde Schmidt is a German lady's maid to Princess Dragomiroff, and an incredibly loyal one, at that. She is the former cook at the Armstrong house.