The COVER ART of Agatha Christie's THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN

AGATHA CHRISTIE'S novel of murder and theft begins innocently enough on Le Train Bleu, a luxury night express passenger train, so called because of its dark blue sleeping cars. The train runs south from Calais, France, on a nearly straight-line route to the city of Paris, and then on to the Cote D'Azur (Coast of Azure), or as the English prefer to call it, The French Riviera, with its final destination being Nice, a picturesque city on the south east coast of France. On board are an eclectic cast of American, British and French citizens, plus one mustachioed Belgian, the fastidious but gentlemanly Hercule Poirot, known to many as the world's greatest detective. Also on board, and in the possession of a beautiful young heiress, is the cursed yet coveted ruby necklace famously known as the Heart of Fire.

With an alluring set-up like that its hard to foresee disappointment, but in fact Christie herself described The Mystery of the Blue Train as "easily the worst book I ever wrote," and indeed, it was written during a blue period of her life, but according to her critics she wrote even worse books such as Postern of Fate, Elephants Can Remember and The Big Four. The "Blue Train" is really not that bad, a Christie mid-Lister in my opinion, and some folks might argue that it's one of her "Ten Best." Give it a ride and you might find yourself arguing as one of the latter.

The first publication of The Mystery of the Blue Train was in serial format in the London evening newspaper The Star, in thirty-eight, non-illustrated installments from February 1, 1928, to March 15, 1928. But the first true hardcover edition was published by William Collins & Sons of London in March, 1928. The dustjacket art was produced by Salomon Van Abbe (1883-1955), a Dutch born naturalized English citizen, using his C. Morse pseudonym. As a rule Abbe signed most of his commercial work as Abbey, or sometimes S. Abbey. His brother Joseph was a book cover artist who also signed as Abbey, so to distinguish themselves from each other they drew the letter "y" in their last name differently, in either a straight line or slash for Solomon, or a loop for Joseph.

 

'Jewels always have exercised a baneful spell--so with the famous HEART OF FIRE ruby. It passes into the possession of a beautiful American woman, and doom follows swift upon it. Whose hand was it that struck her down? Were the jewels the motive for the murder? What part did the beautiful foreign dancer play? The story tells also how these strange and dramatic happenings affect the life of a quiet English girl who has felt convinced that "nothing exciting will ever happen to me." She uses very nearly those words to a chance acquaintance on the Blue Train--a little man with an egg-shaped head and fierce moustaches whose answer is curious and unexpected. But even Hercule Poirot, for it is he, does not guess how soon he will be called upon to unravel a complicated and intricate crime when the Blue Train steams into Nice the following morning.'

The first US hardcover edition was published in July, 1928, by Dodd, Mead & Company of New York. A dustjacket designer or artist was not credited, and today that person, or persons, still remains unknown.

'Here is Agatha Christie's first full-length detective story since "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd," that masterpiece in its field and one of the most striking detective stories ever written. The new mystery is equally baffling--and equally startling and dramatic in its finish...'

Grosset & Dunlap of New York were also licensed to published two reprint editions in 1928, one with the same cover art as the Dodd edition, but with a new color scheme, and one with entirely different cover art (again, neither artist was credited).

[All of these 1928 dustjackets can be obtained in facsimiles at Facsimile Dust Jackets LLC (dustjackets.com), a wonderful reproducer of dustjackets made before 1976. They sell for about $22, and there are thousands of covers to choose from, in every genre imaginable. Perfect for wrapping that jacketless cloth edition you own, or for framing.]

Here is a 1930 hardcover reprint from Collins, the original publisher, and possibly quite rare these days. It was issued under their Detective Club imprint, a precursor, I'm guessing, to their soon to be launched Crime Club imprint. The jacket illustration was not credited.

"Few detective writers can tell a dramatic story so simply and effectively as this brilliant creator of Hercule Poirot. Lively dialogue, excellent plots, skillful characterization and dramatic denouements make all her novels models of their kind-- '

This is the first US mass-market paperback edition, published by Pocket Books in 1940. It was the 38th Pocket title since their initial launch in 1939. An artist was not credited here either.

 

Pocket's 12th printing was published in November, 1948. The cover art was produced by Roswell Keller (1915- 1975), one of Pocket's best cover artists during the 1940's and 50's. He also produced hardcover jacket art, magazine illustrations, advertising art and even some eye-popping, calendar pin-up art.

 

HERCULE POIROT ANSWERS FOUR QUESTIONS:

 

     "What was my first case? I began work as a member of the detective force in Brussels on the Abercrombie Forgery Case in 1904.

     "How, you ask, would I be recognized in a crowd? Alas I have none of those theatrical peculiarities which distinguish the detectives in story books. I myself am quite cosmopolitan. True, I have my little prejudices. For breakfast I have only toast which is cut into neat little squares. The eggs-- there must be two-- they must be identical in size.

     "There are but two questions left-- what do I read and what is my technique in solving a crime? I read almost nothing. As to the method, my force is in my brain-- not my feet.

     "If people would like to know more about Hercule Poirot, let them read his cases with precision. Every little fact and more than I have told you is in those pages."

James Alfred Meese (1917-1971) produced the powerful cover art on Pocket's 15th paperback edition, published in 1956. Meese was one of finest illustrators of the vintage paperback era who tended to specialize in glamorous yet dangerous looking women. And sometimes stricken women.

 

"The police had three suspects in the brutal killing of wealthy and glamorous Ruth Kettering: Her husband... her lover... her husband's mistress... Each of the three had the same greedy motive: money. At the time Ruth boarded the Blue Train, headed for the Riviera and a secret love affair, she was carrying the fabulous "Heart of Fire" rubies. When the train arrived, Ruth was dead and the jewels were gone. The three suspects were all on the train that night-- unknown to Ruth and to each other. But unfortunately for the killer, the train also carried another passenger. He was Hercule Poirot, the world's master detective!"

British artist John Pollack (1918-1985) produced the cover art for this 1954 Pan paperback. Pollack was, for the most part, a fine illustrator, of whom I know very little about. His Poirot has a large cranium, I'm guessing because he believes Poirot has more little grey cells to house than the average Joe, or Jeffersen.

Fontana (Collins) of London published this paperback edition in 1959 (No. 258 in their lineup). I've not discovered who the actual artist is--a good guess might be Pat Owen--but I really like their composition (note the train at the top), and the way it's drawn with heavy lines.

In 1962 Fontana reprinted Christie's novel with a new cover illustration by John L. Baker, one of their regular artists who almost always signed his work vertically (look closely at the left side below the red dress).

"One of Europe's crack trains roars through the night. The Wealthy passengers retire to their compartments for the night and the car attendants settle down for another routine trip. But the next morning when the train glides past the blue Mediterranean one compartment carries a corpse."

I've never been a big fan of Harry Bennett's style, but he was nevertheless a talented artist who occasionally produced impressively unusual work. Here Bennett is trying to capitalize on the burgeoning gothic romance field of the early 1960's (or at least his art editor is) and to some extent that's insightful, because at the heart of this murder mystery is a woman's adventure story. This 17th paperback printing from Pocket was published in May, 1962.
   

For the 20th printing Pocket changed the cover art once again, now showing a train crossing light cleverly disguised as skull-n-crossbones. This paperback, with its uncredited cover art, was issued in 1966.

"I see, Madame, that you have a roman policier. You are fond of such things?"
"They amuse me," Katherine admitted. "And they give one the illusion of living an exciting life."
 Poirot nodded gravely.
"Of course, one knows that such things don't really happen."
"Sometimes, Mademoiselle! Sometimes!" Poirot interrupted sharply. "I who speak to you--they have  have happened to me. Would you like them to happen to you?"

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Pocket's 28th printing was published in November, 1971, and it featured artist Tom Adams, who at that time was producing cover art for practically every Christie title in existence, and for both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

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Here are a pair of Adam's original "Blue Train" cover paintings. The one on the left was featured by Fontana in 1979, and the one on the right is the already featured 1971 Pocket edition.

Yet another Tom Adams cover, this time for a 1974 Fontana reprint.

"At Cook's, Katherine discovered that she had to queue for her ticket to the Riviera. Everyone seemed to be going there-- including the man in front of her. He turned aside abruptly and she stepped into his place. In some vague way the man's face was familiar to her. Where had she seen him before? Ah yes, it was in the Savoy outside her room this morning. She glanced over her shoulder, made uneasy by some nameless thing. The man was standing in the doorway staring back at her. A cold shiver passed over Katherine; she had a haunting sense of sadness, of impending tragedy."

Pocket's July, 1974, 34th printing was part of a routine refreshing of cover art on Christie titles utilizing the skills of Robert Emil Schulz, one of the publishing industry's outstanding pure painters. Schulz's image of a lean, diminutive Hercule Poirot stayed with me for years until actor David Suchet came along and supplanted it with his balding head and portlier girth. Suchet owns the character now, or at least on film he does, and in fact he's almost a perfect match with the actual physical description of him given by Christie (egg-shaped head notwithstanding).

 

"A man with a mask, rubies too fabulous to wear, an unhappy couple each having an affair... a case of murder for Hercule Poirot..."

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Pocket changed the cover art yet again in 1976, using this acrylic painting by Alan Magee for several years and printings, including this 40th from 1978 that's featured here.

This paperback edition from Fontana was published in 1986. The cover art was produced by British artist Martin Baker, who signed all of his covers with his initials M. B.. He produced at least 40 Christie covers for Fontana during the 1980's, and they're all stunningly unique.

This paperback edition from Fontana is circa 1990. The artist is not known, to me at least, but I suspect it could be more work from the enduring Tom Adams.

Berkley Books published two softcover versions of TMOTBT in 1991. The artist on the first release (top) is unknown. Richard Waldrep is credited with the next printing (bottom), Berkley's 15th, which was published in November. 

"A mysterious woman, a legendary cursed jewel, and a night train to the Mediterranean-- ingredients for the perfect romance? Not when the train stops, the jewel is missing, and the woman is found dead in her compartment. It's the perfect mystery, filled with passion, greed, deceit. And Hercule Poirot is the perfect detective to solve it..."

 

"Bound for the Riviera, detective Hercule Poirot has boarded Le Train Bleu, an elegant, leisurely means of travel, free of intrigue. Then he meets Ruth Kettering. The American heiress--bailing out of a doomed marriage--is en route to reconcile with her former lover. But by morning, her private affairs are made public when she's found murdered in her luxury compartment. The rumor of a strange man loitering in the victim's shadow is all Poirot has to go on. Until Mrs. Kettering's secret life begins to unfold..."

HarperCollins, an imprint of William Morrow, published this trade softcover in September, 2011. I'm pretty sure that the art-deco styled cover design was produced by Michael P. Correy, who's credited with designing most if not all of Harper's Christie reprints.

"The daughter of an American millionaire dies on a train en route for Nice... When the luxurious Blue Train arrives at Nice a guard attempts to wake serene Ruth Kettering from her slumbers. But she will never wake again--for a heavy blow has killer her, disfiguring her features almost beyond recognition. What is more, her precious rubies are missing. The prime suspect is Ruth's estranged husband, Derek. Yet Poirot is not convinced, so he stages an eerie re-enactment of the journey, complete with the murderer on board..."

In October, 2018, HarperCollins published yet another edition of Agatha Christie's The Mystery of the Blue Train, a "special hardcover edition" with an attractive new art-deco cover design.

*   *   *   *   *

THERE ARE are more covers that I have not been able to show, from Fontana, Pocket, Berkley, Easton Press, and others, which I either don't own or haven't found a decent image of. The Folio Society published a slipcased, limited hardcover edition that's beautifully illustrated, and I've been contemplating buying it for a couple of years now--but like my wife says, "if a new book comes in an old book must go out." Ha!

It's unlikely that Christie will ever go out of print, not in my lifetime anyway, and the chances of getting new covers are practically a guarantee. I look forward to seeing them all.
 

"Trains are relentless things, aren't they, Monsieur Poirot? People are murdered and die, but they go on just the same. I am talking nonsense, but you know what I mean."

"Yes, yes, I know. Life is like a train, Mademoiselle. It goes on. And it is a good thing that that is so."

"Why?"

"Because the train gets to its journey's end at last, and there is a proverb about that in your language, Mademoiselle."

"Journey's end in lovers meeting'" Lenox laughed. "That is not going to be true for me."

"Yes---yes, it is true. You are young, younger than you yourself know. Trust the train, Mademoiselle, for it is *le bon Dieu who drives it."

The whistle of the engine came again.

"Trust the train, Mademoiselle," murmured Poirot again. "And trust Hercule Poirot. He knows."

                                                            --- THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN

                                                                        * The good God.

[© June, 2019, Jeffersen ]