Winter storms cancel almost all the trains heading to the north of England to Scotland. Most stops are cancelled, so in what becomes a locked room type mystery, only about twenty souls are on the train when is derails in the snow. Roz is recently retired detective from the police force, on her way to be present for her granddaughter's birth. The social media stars, University quiz students, families and other assorted folks make up the group that has to rely on each other as people begin to die. Great Agatha Christie vibe in a modern setting. ( )

Best for:
Those who enjoy a murder mystery in a locked location (in this case, a derailed train).

In a nutshell:
Roz, retired Met police officer, is heading north on the sleeper train to be with her daughter, who is giving birth up in Scotland. Instead, she finds herself on a derailed train, with a possibly murdered influencer.

Worth quoting:
N/A

Why I chose it:
My partner and I don’t exchange gifts at Christmas, except for one book, that we open on Christmas eve. This was his gift to me this year.

What it left me feeling:
Entertained but also sad.

Review:
CN (and the author includes this at the start of the book): sexual assault and rape do factor into at least one storyline within this book. The author is a survivor herself, and takes care with the subject, but obviously its good to know that in case that is a deal breaker for readers.

After delays due to a snowstorm, the train gets going with a much smaller number of people on board. They include a team hoping to make it to a university quiz program; a family with four children; an older man, his elderly mother, and their cat; an attorney, a woman traveling alone, our main character, and an influencer / reality star couple. Roz, the main character, is desperate to get up to her daughter, who has gone into early labor. After a raucous evening in the bar car, the train derails, and someone is discovered dead.

Overall this was a book that was basically right up my alley. It takes place on what in real life is the Caledonia Sleeper train, which runs from London up to various points in Scotland. I’ve taken it twice myself, including a few months ago when we moved to Scotland and needed a safe way to move our cats too. The main character is Scottish, and the coziness (though eventual claustrophobia) of a train traveling through the mountains during a snowstorm is something I hope to experience - though without the derailment. And murder. But it also explores the very real and devastating impact of sexual assault. I know, not exactly a Christmas story, but I think the book does a decent job of it.

The main drawback for me is some of the author’s writing. She has interesting, well-developed characters, and when she’s focusing on telling the story, it is riveting, but also told with care given the subject manner. But she really wedges in some fairly overwritten metaphors that really pulled me out of the story. There aren’t a lot, but enough that it was noticeable.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it ( )

A newly retired cop is on the sleeper train to be with her daughter who is pregnant. Worrying about her daughter also raises old ghosts of guilt and regret but she barely has time to dwell on these with a train full of characters - and that's before they start finding dead bodies. This might have been a 4-star book if not for the didactic final chapters. ( )

As the title suggests, Murder on the Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict is a modern take on Agatha Christie’s novel, Murder on the Orient Express…sorta. A group of passengers are on a train on Christmas Eve when the train derails. As they wait for help, a body is found in a sleeping compartment locked from the inside. Then another. It is frighteningly clear to the remaining passengers that there is a murderer among them who seems determined to pick them off one by one and help is still a long way away.

When I started this novel, I expected a nice Christmas cozy with all the trimmings but this is definitely not that. First, the only connection to Christmas is the time of year but it hardly factors into the story. Second, it was a long and sometimes draggy ride to the first murder which doesn’t occur until about a third of the way into the story. And there is nothing cozy here. This is a very dark tale with several references to rape, sexual, emotional and physical assaults as well as descriptions of a high risk pregnancy.

Having said that, although I can't say I enjoyed this book, I didn't hate it either. It is well-written and compelling. It kept me guessing right up to the ending which seemed an appropriate homage to the original story.

I received an arc of this book from Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review ( )

triggers, spousal-abuse, traumatic-delivery, PTSD, trains, closed-circle-mystery, multiple-murder, investigation, retired-cop, social-media***

A little too dark and fraught for me, but my neighbor really enjoyed the way that the characters were introduced and developed.
I requested and received an EARC from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. ( )