推荐一本英文侦探小说

初中的时候很喜欢看《名侦探柯南》，喜欢看工藤和小兰的爱情，和服部的友情，迷他的博学和破案时的“真相只有一个”。学英语后，我还看过英文配音版的动画片，从兴趣出发学英语。

《名侦探柯南》的英文版叫 Case Closed，在 Youtube 上就可以看

有一段时间没看小说了，我心血来潮想读一读侦探小说，经典但是篇幅不长的那种。于是买来了一套阿加莎·克里斯蒂（Agatha Christie）的作品，从 Murder on the Orient Train 《东方列车谋杀案》读起。

Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English and another billion in 100 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Mrs Christie is the author of eighty crime novels and short story collections, nineteen plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.

Agatha Christie 的作品很容易读，据说英语水平好些的初中生就可以读。读这类小说的“缺点”是一旦读进去了，就停不下来，特别想知道凶手是谁。

我先是在有声书平台 Audible上听了一部分，坐地铁时看完了2/3，今早起来看完了整个故事。读的过程中我还有意地标记了一些简单实用的表达，读完后我还找了电影来看，把一个故事物尽其用，全方位吊打。

“每个人都有过去，每个人都有嫌疑”

2017电影版 Murder on the Orient Train 海报

Agatha 的故事中没有过多血腥的场面，没有高智商的推理，而是突出人物和心理。

在 Murder on the Orient Train 中，Agatha 塑造了来自不同国家、阶级、年龄的人物。有高冷的英国家庭教师，话痨的意大利商人，大惊小怪的美国老太太，霸气十足的俄罗斯公主......

描写这些人物的时候 Agatha 也花了些功夫。比如写一个又老又丑的女人，她没有直接写她的年龄和五官，而是写道：

At the small table, sitting very upright, was one of the ugliest old ladies he had ever seen. It was an ugliness of distinction - it fascinated rather than repelled. She sat very upright. Round her neck was a collar of very large pearls which, improbable though it seemed, were real. Her hands were covered with rings. Her sable coat was pushed back on her shoulders. A very small and expensive black toque was hideously unbecoming to the yellow, toad-like face beneath it.

这一段用了两次"upright"，写出了这个人物身份的高贵。“fascinated rather than repelled”调侃式地写出了丑得独特；通过特写“round her neck was a collar...” “a very small and expensive black toque...” 同样调侃了她的穿着和品味，一位老富婆的形象跃然纸上。

丑得够独特吗？

她也会通过对话来表现人物形象，借侦探之口调侃了下英国的绅士形象：

I like to see an angry Englishman," said Poirot. "They are very amusing. The more emotional they feel the less command they have of language.

Agatha 小说中的“一哥”是比利时侦探 Hercule Poirot，他个子不高，是名副其实的浓缩精华，沉稳克制，还会多国语言。他和每一个人物对话，观察他们的表情和表达方式，然后用纸笔和大脑一点点分析、演绎，查个水落石出。他说他关注的是“pyschology”而不是什么指纹，因为他深谙人性，和每个人对话的方式看起来漫不经心，但其实都是精心设计过的。

But I know human nature, my friend, and I tell you that, suddenly confronted with the possibility of being tried for murder, the most innocent person will lose their head and do the most absurd things.

If you confront anyone who has lied with the truth, they usually admit it—often out of sheer surprise. It is only necessary to guess right to produce your effect.

这个故事里每个人都有故事，每个人也都有嫌疑。通过对人物的塑造和拼凑故事，我们看到了邪恶和善良，也开始思考正义和道德。也有那么一刻，她让你相信这个世界是有秩序有底线的，坏人总会被抓到，正义不会缺席。

如果你想读英文书的话，我建议你可以从小说读起，娱乐消遣的同时学点英文。读一读不同题材的小说，读言情、科幻，也读笑话、武侠。若是哭了笑了，恨了怒了，就说明你读懂了。