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The 1933 Timewarp

AndThenThereWereToon 02 Jun 09 at 8:28 a.m. GMT

I've just finished reading Murder in Mesopotamia.  Fellow fans may recall that after this story, according to Nurse Leatheran, Poirot goes back to Syria and about a week later he gets mixed up in a murder on the Orient Express.

Well, here's fun.

Murder in Mesopotamia takes place in late March.  We know this because Father Lavigny arrived on Feb 27th, "three weeks ago almost to the day", which means the day after the murder (when Poirot arrives and questions him, on the Sunday) must be close to March 20th.  Three days later Poirot leaves for Syria, so when he catches the Orient Express "about a week later" it must be around April 1st.  Spring, in Europe.

Yet in Murder on the Orient Express it's a winter morning and there's a big snowdrift.

Funnily enough, you can make the dates work if you assume that, for the duration of these two stories, time runs backwards.  Feb 27th - (three weeks + three days + about a week) = last week of January.  That's possibility number one.

So - possibility number two - was Poirot involved in a murder on the Orient Express on two separate occasions, one in winter and one in April?

Obviously there's more investigation to be done around this.  I haven't had a chance to reread Orient Express yet.

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9 replies

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AndThenThereWereToon 14 Jun 09 at 4:27 p.m. GMT

I think this anecdotal material about where we've seen snow in April is distracting us from the core business: April is not part of winter.

Now, is someone going to start the wild, fanciful speculation about a second murder on the Orient Express in April, or do I have to do it myself?!

Number3 04 Jun 09 at 3:13 p.m. GMT

Where I grew up in the states it was common to have snow in April.  I've even seen snow falling in Agust.

Maybe Christie did the dates that way to give us a "easter egg".

AndThenThereWereToon 03 Jun 09 at 5:51 p.m. GMT

Well yes, Sigerson, obviously that's the real reason - but where's the fun in that?  I'm trying to explain the mistake on its own terms.  Some people enjoy that sort of thing.  It's a sort of game.

S_Sigerson 03 Jun 09 at 1:06 p.m. GMT

Two years between publication dates. Agatha Christie simply made a mistake with the dates and didn't realize the inconsistency.  

AndThenThereWereToon 03 Jun 09 at 7:47 a.m. GMT

Lessee... Orient Express in 1934, Mesopotamia in 1936.  Perhaps you're wondering why I put "1933" in the title.  Well, it's as good a guess as any.  OE in 1934, the events of Mesopotamia happened "four years ago" (1932)... might as well average them out at 1933.

I still haven't given OE a full re-reading, but a quick flip through the first chapter reveals that it definitely is "a winter's morning", that heavy snow has been reported not only in the Balkans but also in Germany, and that it's "freezingly cold" in Syria of all places.  So definitely not spring then.  I'm sticking to my guns on this one.

S_Sigerson 02 Jun 09 at 3:02 p.m. GMT

You said, April 1st; not April 30th. And yes the tracks did run through the mountains. Maybe a typographical error on the part of the publishers. By the way since you have read both novels, when were they originally published?

AndThenThereWereToon 02 Jun 09 at 2:35 p.m. GMT

Hmm, fair enough I guess on the snow (although... a storm in April? and does/did the train track go through the mountains?).  But that doesn't get around the fact that Orient Express starts on "a winter's morning".

S_Sigerson 02 Jun 09 at 1:56 p.m. GMT

The former Yugoslavia (the country no longer exists) is dominated by mountains so a snow storm around April 1st would not have been that unusual. 

go_leafs_nation 02 Jun 09 at 10:38 a.m. GMT

Interesting observations!