Murder on the Orient Express delivered a knockout murder mystery on its opening night at Southampton's Mayflower Theatre on Tuesday.

Agatha Christie's timeless tale sees world famous detective Hercule Poirot solve his most complex case yet after an American first-class passenger, Ratchett, is murdered by a killer on the train heading from Istanbul to Paris.

It's a well-known story that was first published in print form in 1934 before being immortalised on the big screen in Sidney Lumet's 1974 film, that became the highest grossing film in Great Britain.

Stacked with an all-star cast including Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Sean Connery, and Richard Widmark – as the infamous Ratchett – the film was remade in 2017 with Kenneth Branagh, Johnny Depp, and Daisy Ridley.

With much to live up to the stage version delivers an immersive version of the same story with a diverse cast including Bob Barrett, Debbie Chazen, and Michael Maloney.

The latter of which gives a larger-than-life portrayal of the Belgian detective (there's a long running joke that reaffirms the fact he's not French) that steals the show, managing to interchange between the comedic and the unamused.

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More Albert Finney than Kenneth Branagh, Maloney's Poirot is led by his amazing moustache to uncover every hidden detail and reveal the murderer in heart-stopping fashion on board the luxurious train stranded in a snowstorm.

The Mayflower stage evolves over the two hour and ten-minute run time to show everything from the interior of the train compartments, the lengthy corridors, and grandeur of high-class restaurants.

Not to be missed for fans of the novel or the films, Murder on the Orient Express is a delight for murder mystery fans, that will also have novices hanging on every plot twist.

Murder on the Orient Express is running at Mayflower Theatre from Tuesday, February 18, until Saturday, February 22.