One might expect a cozy mystery by looking at the cover, or at least I did. All the Poirot-esque elements are certainly here but in a much more modern, darker form. Just retired London Metropolitan detective Roz Parker took a first-class ticket to Scotland on the last overnight Express before Christmas. She must arrive on time as her daughter is in labor, and Roz has somehow managed to miss most of the significant events of her life. Just retired London Metropolitan detective Roz Parker took a first-class ticket to Scotland on the last overnight Express. She must arrive on time as her daughter is in labor, and Roz has somehow managed to miss most of the significant events of her life.

The train has a very motley crew of travelers on board. We first meet Meg, a social media influencer taking the train to post updates and sell some products. Meg is obviously in trouble with her boyfriend, Grant. Grant is a reality TV star who is handsome and can be charming but is also belittling, and there are more than hints of physical violence. Meg is terrified of him but also alarmingly co-dependent. We also have a put-upon husband with a herd of children and a drunken wife. A group of university students are on their way to Scotland to participate in a trivia contest on TV. An elderly woman and her son, and a mousy young woman who doesn't seem to fit in anywhere. Roz takes her under her wing but has her own problems because her daughter's labor has become life-threatening. When the train grinds to a halt in a blizzard, and bodies keep dropping, Roz must take things in hand to find the killer.

Murder on the Christmas Express tackles issues never seen in the cozy genre; sexual violence, rape, and the lasting effects of trauma. It also has the most unattractive cast of characters, except Roz and a few others I have ever encountered. What did I like about Murder on the Christmas Express? The plotting was excellent, with one twist, turn, and misdirection after the other. It definitely kept me reading until the end to see who the killer might be. I'm giving it 3 Stars based on that page-turning quality and the somewhat hopeful turn of events at the novel's close.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.

This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. Thanks to the publisher and the author. This is a great mystery. This talented author has written a cannot put down novel. Enjoy the realistic characters and intriguing story. The red herrings abound. Trying to discern the ending is somewhat difficult.

Be careful that the sleeper car doesn't make you sleep forever.

In a refreshing, twisty, locked door, murder mystery, Roz has to solve who the killer is, before it's too late.

This is a perfect Christmas mystery, with puzzles, riddles and clues abound for the reader to try and unravel.

A content warning should be noted, there are several rape mentions in this book.

This was such a letdown. I was expecting something more along the lines of a cozy Christmas mystery. This was not the case. Definitely some triggering topics discussed and pretty frequently. The characters didn’t really have their own sense of self and I was constantly confusing several of them. I had such high hopes for this novel and was severely disappointed.

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.

I’ve never read a book by this author before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the story and the characters.

An updated Murder on the Orient Express! Super good locked room mystery! I highly enjoyed it and will recommend Alexandra Benedict's mysteries to anyone who will listen! Such a good Christmas mystery!

Murder on The Christmas Express is an obvious homage to Christie’s classic Murder on the Orient Express. Roz is a newly retired detective on the way to Scotland for both Christmas and the premature birth of her granddaughter. The weather is terrible and the train derails in the midst of a blizzard. In the aftermath of the crash, the first victim is found.
The passengers are stranded indefinitely until help can get to them and Roz can’t resist conducting her own investigation while waiting for the police to arrive. Before she can question all of her fellow passengers, one of the prime suspects is found murdered as well.
I tend to enjoy locked room type mysteries, but this wasn’t one of my favorites. None of the characters were very likable – including Roz. There was also a depressing and overwhelming emphasis on rape, domestic violence, and traumatic births. Even the ending was unsatisfactory and didn’t provide a sense of resolution or of justice really being served. Overall this story had potential, but it just didn’t deliver.
#netgalley

A strong four out of four stars for me - this was a wonderful detour in my life to Christmas-time. I read this in one sitting and will share the clear plotline, clever ideas, and trustworthy character development that made this book impossible to put down to all of my patrons!

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for approving my request to read and review this book!!

The story is based on a sleeper train from London to Fort William. There is a host of fantastic characters, which have been written beautifully that you can imagine them in real life. The descriptions of the journey and the sleeper train are described in great detail. Can Roz find the killer before the end of the line? Only you can find out by reading this book. I will be recommending this to my fellow book friends.

If you like lovked room mysteries and Murder on the Orient Express this book is for you.

Christmas eve on a train that gets trapped in a snowstorm. A murder and just whodunit?

A good holiday mystery

2⭐

Murder on the Christmas Express follows newly retired Met detective Roz as she rushes to reach her daughter and new grandchild on Christmas Eve. As the title suggests, the story is heavily influenced by Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, which is a dark story, but one of my favorites of hers. I'm a big fan of locked room mysteries, and isolation thrillers, so I was excited to give this a read. Orient Express this is not.

The good:

1. Our main character, and Poirot stand-in, Roz is a likeable character.

2. The train setting, while done many times before, is a setting I enjoy for whodunits.

3. Following the story of Roz's daughter, who is in labor during the story, was entertaining and somehow more engrossing than the actual murder.

The bad:

1. TW - Rape. I'm so disappointed that a trigger warning isn't listed for the MANY mentions of rape. If I remember correctly, at least four characters mention being raped, and some in detail. I'm not at all a fan of throwing triggering topics into a book as a motivation for murder if it's at the expense of your reader's well-being.

2. So much forced drama, and too many unlikeable, know-it-all, and just straight up mean characters.

3. So. Damn. Many. unnecessary pop culture references. We get it, you like Kate Bush. And the annoying trivia? Ugh. It felt like a heavy handed way of trying to make this an actual "cosy". I found it cringy and that it absolutely detracted from the story.

There was just too much going on for this to be enjoyable. The dialouge felt clunky, and too many side character stories that were too inane to be "red herrings". I won't be reading another book from Alexandra Benedict, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the e-copy I received in exchange for an honest review.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: domestic abuse, sexual assault and rape

Here was me thinking this would be a light hearted cosy read and it was so far from it.

While very Agatha Christie-esque with the Murder on the Orient Express vibe I found the Author trying to deal with too much darker subjects which totally took away from the actual story.

Please be aware of the trigger warnings before reading.

This mystery will remind readers of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. It uses the well known mystery trope of putting people together somewhere from which they can not escape and with a serious killer in the mix.

In this book, there is a disparate group traveling on the overnight train to Fort William. What a group they are! There is a (constantly on her media) instagrammar and her rather awful boyfriend; a group hoping to make it in a trivia contest; a recently retired police officer; a member of the CPS: an elderly mother and son who have a cat named Moustache; a young woman named Ember; train crew and more.

It takes a while for the first murder to occur although it is acknowledged on the very first page of the book. More trouble and chaos will ensue before the train is again in motion following its derailment.

The book’s protagonist has a bit of a complex backstory. Readers will hope that she is able to make it to her daughter and new granddaughter soon and unscathed.

As a bonus, this book is peppered with puzzles. I think that these extras are trademarks for this author.

I enjoyed this title. Readers of locked room mysteries will enjoy trying to solve the case.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

Thank you so much for the ARC!

When I saw that this book was about murders on a train stopped in the middle of nowhere, I requested it right away as I love these kind of settings !

In the end, the story starts about 50% into the story. We spend a lot of time learning about the characters as we know one of them will be the killer, but none of them was attaching nor interesting except for the main character. They all seemed to have one personality trait for the whole book and that was it. It was a quick read, which is good because there's hardly any twist and turns until the very end, and even then, it felt a bit messy.

The main themes are rape, domestic violence, traumatic birth experiences, and there is good discourse about believing victims of assault and speaking up. Other than that, it wasn't an unforgettable read unfortunaly.

On another note, the formatting of the ARC on my kindle was terrible.

I grabbed this the moment I saw the title, but I'm sorry to say it didn't meet my hopes. The story is fairly predictable, the writing pedestrian and the characters stock. It's extremely graphic about physical, emotional and sexual abuse, including rape - unexpectedly so, in a Golden Age-inspired 'cosy'. I also bristled at the cringe insert of a nonbinary person with a sapiosexual partner, who earnestly explains their sexuality so the main character can nod acceptingly and think how relatable they are. I did actually rather like the main character, Roz, and her mission through the night with a bag of sweets to her pregnant daughter. Crones, indeed. But, overall, not for me.

My thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

Dark Themes Abound,,
The sleeper train to the Highlands is derailed on Christmas Eve amidst appalling weather conditions. In the midst of the snow, the passengers are trapped and a killer lurks. With a large, although well drawn, cast of characters making a long list of suspects, a typical setting and an intricate plot this is a modernised version of a well used Golden Age theme although distressing and serious themes abound amongst the characters which makes this particular tale rather heavier and much darker than expected. An interesting, although disturbing and unexpected, well written mystery.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.