I wanted to share a new children’s book with you which you will find inside our Christmas Gift Guide 2025: The Mystery of the Blue Train (Mini Mysteries) Written by Marci Kay Monson Illustrated by Greg Paprocki which we received in exchange for this review. Inside this post is my affiliate links. If you click on the links and make a purchase, I will make a small percentage from the products you purchase.
If your #Homeschooling your children and looking for a new subject, then you could have your students study the Author Agatha Christie. Then you could have your students read Agatha Christie’s The Mystery of the Blue Train a fun Murder Mystery book for upper Elementary Students.
My family loved seeing the blue Train we would like to ride on. Would you want to come with us? Charlie and I loved getting to know the characters including PIERE Hercule’s loyal companion I wish we could bring home with us.
David liked Hercule Poirot and his famous mustache which he wished he had. Charlie liked Blue Train Attendant because she gets to work on the Train. Which would be fun. Wouldn’t it? That is until a mystery happens.
Charlie, David and I enjoyed the story a lot and had fun doing the activates the Author included like figuring out whose luggage goes with who. I liked their dinner of Alphabet Soup and its cold here this morning so I wouldn’t mind joining them for dinner. Would you want to join us?
https://amzn.to/48FGd2EI love how the book keeps the activities going as we try to solve the mystery inside the book. Then at the end we are congratulated for solving the mystery. Come and join us and once you finish reading Agatha Christie’s The Mystery of the Blue Train a fun Murder Mystery book we can celebrate.
About the book:
This retelling of Agatha Christie’s The Mystery of the Blue Train is the second book in the Mini Mysteries series of interactive picture book mysteries for children.
“The second charming installment in the Mini Mysteries series makes murder feel marvelously cozy. The playful rhyming text is a pleasure to breeze through…. Bustling, vibrant illustrations are packed with detail….A wonderful way to get young readers hooked on whodunits.”—Booklist
The Mystery of the Blue Train is one of Agatha Christie’s early detective novels (a cozy mystery—no violence or gore), and where she continues to use the fictional detective Hercule Poirot as a major character. The story, set on a train bound for the French Riviera, is a true who-done-it full of mysterious characters, missing jewels, and teasing clues.
Monson’s retelling of the original book captures the plot and distills it in a way that is fun for children, gently ushering them into the literary world of Christie’s mysteries. Along with the story, there are activities, games, and puzzles throughout to help with children’s engagement, and might just foster a few budding detectives.
There is also a glossary of terms and French words.
Meet the Author: Marci Kay Monson
Marci Kay Monson is an avid reader, crafter, and gardener. She received her BS in Technical Communications from Utah State University and a graduate certificate in publishing from the Denver Publishing Institute.
She found a love for Agatha Christie when her book club read And Then There Were None and never looked back. She loves story, bright colors, and a little bit of (cozy and fictional) murder. Raised in Japan, England, and Germany, she now lives in Layton, Utah. You can find her on IG @marcisbookrecs.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
