by Riley Sager

A Mystery/Thriller, 2025 by Dutton, 383 Pages

What I Didn’t Like:

The concept has been done before, obviously. Locked room mysteries on trains are practically a sub genre of cozy mystery at this point. Because of that, there was very little to this storyline that felt original, making it predictable. Worse, the things that should’ve made the story unique (the vengeance angle) had a lot of questionable things about it that made it a bit ridiculous.
One dimensional characters. They’re all obvious, predictable, and flat. There’s no one to root for because they’re all so dry. Worse, many of them are forgettable.
The twists felt gimmicky, which is never fun with this type of book. They didn’t feel authentic or realistic, just intended to shock and surprise.

Easy to picture events. Whether it’s the train itself, the scenery, or the action, everything is described in a way that is easy to picture. It’s almost like watching the movie unfold.
Fast paced. This one moves along quickly, aided by the timeline for the train’s arrival. The action keeps moving and you never really have a chance to get bored.
Accurate for the setting. This one is set in the 1950s and that timeline works. The author did a good job of keeping all the details accurate for the 1950s as well.

If you’re a historical fiction fan who wants to take the jump into locked room mystery, this just might fit the bill.

For me, this one had been done before and better. The lack of originality and connection to the characters made it problematic, in my opinion.