Murder on the Christmas Express takes newly retired Met Detective Roz Parker on a first-class sleeper car trip – a parting gift from her colleagues – as she makes her way home to the Scottish Highlands for the holidays and the impending premature birth of her granddaughter.
Several references to the is Die Hard really a Christmas movie debate among a group of university students en route to try out for a reality quiz show was among the first clues that this wasn’t a cozy yuletide mystery.
Alexandra Benedict, author of The Christmas Murder Game, still embeds Christmas-related anagrams and quizzes into her well-plotted puzzle where the protagonist comes to terms with the death of her mother.
There is also a crippling snowstorm but this time, however, Benedict offers us an emotional locked room mystery that has our detective flashbacking to some of her own trauma, while trying to solve one last case, as the reader soon discovers that the dead aren’t the only victims.
Eighteen passengers and a cat board the train in London – some known to each other, some not. You’ll have to read for yourself to discover how many will live to disembark under their own power.
I recommend Murder on the Christmas Express for mystery lovers, puzzle lovers and readers of non-traditional holiday-themed novels.
I received this Advance Reader’s copy of Murder on the Christmas Express from Poisoned Pen Press, an imprint of Sourcebooks, courtesy of NetGalley.
Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.
Several references to the is Die Hard really a Christmas movie debate among a group of university students en route to try out for a reality quiz show was among the first clues that this wasn’t a cozy yuletide mystery.
Alexandra Benedict, author of The Christmas Murder Game, still embeds Christmas-related anagrams and quizzes into her well-plotted puzzle where the protagonist comes to terms with the death of her mother.
There is also a crippling snowstorm but this time, however, Benedict offers us an emotional locked room mystery that has our detective flashbacking to some of her own trauma, while trying to solve one last case, as the reader soon discovers that the dead aren’t the only victims.
Eighteen passengers and a cat board the train in London – some known to each other, some not. You’ll have to read for yourself to discover how many will live to disembark under their own power.
I recommend Murder on the Christmas Express for mystery lovers, puzzle lovers and readers of non-traditional holiday-themed novels.
I received this Advance Reader’s copy of Murder on the Christmas Express from Poisoned Pen Press, an imprint of Sourcebooks, courtesy of NetGalley.
Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.