I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Woman In Carriage 3’ by Alison James in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Every evening Hattie Sewell catches the 18:53 train from Waterloo where she joins a group of commuters sitting in Carriage 3 who she become friendly with. Then one of their group collapses with a suspected heart attack that the police are treating it as homicide.

Hattie is ‘The Woman in Carriage 3’ and I was fifty percent through before anything happened and despite my best intentions to carry on reading there was nothing in this book that made me want to continue. I thought Hattie was the least likeable of the characters as she was self-centred and far too obsessed with alcohol and meeting men, and at her age of thirty I really wanted to shake her to sort her life out before it was too late. This is the eighth book I’ve read by Alison James and the first I’ve been unable to get involved in and although I’m sure I’ll be in the minority I’m really sorry that I didn’t enjoy it.

Firstly, a big thank you to NetGalley and Bookotoure for providing me with a copy of this book in return for my honest review.

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with this book, the synopsis sounded really good but I realised that I was 20% through the book and nothing had happened yet. I felt as if by that pointi should’ve known a bit more about each character and started to form a connection with them.

I did read the rest of the book and it did get a bit better with some twists and turns that you would expect from a thriller

This is such a brilliantly written thriller, full of surprises and twists.

Harriet commutes like a clockwork everyday to her office. She takes the same train, heads to the same carriage and the same seat everyday. One day there was an accident on the train and the train got delayed. The regular commuters finally had a chance to talk and 18:53 crew group was created….

The second part of the plot has a strong focus on Harriet's personal life, including her love life, family and job. Harriet is around 30 year-old, still staying with her parents and quite active on the dating app. She drinks and sometimes just blackout. Harriet is attracted by one of the commuters - Casper, and she believes this will be a solid relationship. She shared this happy news with her close 18:53 crew friends, until Julian said watchout this guy. Not long after, Julian is found dead on the train by Harriet. Everything looks natural - a heart attack. But the author reveals the dark secrets one by one. Page-turner thriller!

Now, who can Harriet trust? Does she really know the regular commuters well enough? Is she putting herself at risk?

This is another thriller you cannot be missed. I read this in one sitting and I hope you all enjoy The Woman in Carriage 3 as well!

Kindle: 286 pages
Pub date: May 22, 2023

The book started off really well and the building up of the suspense is also very good. The author makes sure that the reader will be gripped by the storytelling. The group of myriad characters that the protagonist Hattie Sewell meets in Cabin 3 makes for an interesting read. The whole group travels by the same train everyday and then one day, one of them ends up dead. The needle of suspicion is hanging loosely on a few of the characters but who is the real killer? In the mean time, Hattie is embroiled in a romantic liaison with a man she met on the train. Where will this lead her? The suspense is intriguing and the culmination is impressive. However I would not call it a mind blowing climax. Definitely worth a read.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! I’ve read all of Alison’s James’ books and this one was no different she is the queen of thrillers. This book was so captivating one world WOW! It was brilliant, a fast paced and it kept me guessing throughout; a perfect book for psychological thrillers fans alike. From the very first page I drawn and couldn’t put the book down it was so good I read it in a day! The characters were likeable also.

Overall, I throughly enjoyed this book and all the plot twists that it presented! Another cracking book by Alison James!

I was given ARCs for both the digital Ebook as well as the audiobook for this atmospheric Whodunnit!

I alternated between the Ebook and the audiobook, and ended up listening to the second half of the audiobook, because the narrator was that good.
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Hattie Sewell has a troubling drinking problem. Throughout most of this story she is rarely sober, and as a result she can't hold down a job, even in a temp agency.

Hattie takes the 18:53 train home from Waterloo station to the parental home in Surrey every evening, and usually finds refuge in Carriage 3. They form a social group of sorts, and Harriet fancies herself in love with the "movie-star handsome" Caper Merriweather..

Harriet's lightning quick infatuation with posh Casper was a bit hard to accept, but then her behaviour until that point would hardly led any reader to believe that she had a sensible thought in her self-absorbed head.

The prologue starts of with a captivating hook: Hattie discovers the body of one of her carriage-mates. The identity of this body is only discovered about half way through the story as the author flashes back to an earlier, more innocent time and shines a light on several of the Carriage 3 passengers.

I wouldn't say that there was much of a mystery to solve: but there were still a few surprises here and there - particularly the poetic justice displayed in the final chapters.

I'm rating this one a 3.75 rounded up to a 4 because I was entertained, the narrator did an excellent job, and justice was indeed done - although my credulity was stretched a few too many times. My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel and audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn’t put this one down, and while it had some “meh” moments, I did enjoy it. The characters were interesting and complex, the plot action-heavy, and the storyline unique. Some of the “twists” were blatantly obvious IMO, but overall I liked the story and felt it was wrapped up nicely in the end. Definitely pick this up if you’re looking for a light thriller!

Suspenseful with good chemistry among the characters.

The chemistry among the main principles is what made this story work. Hattie is a mess; working in a dead end job, living with her parents, a drinker, and one night stand hookups. Yet somehow, you find yourself rooting for her. As the passengers in Carriage 3 start to know one another, you can’t blame Hattie for wanting to hookup with Casper Merriweather who strongly resembles Jude Law. Adding to the group was Julian Cobbold, a barrister who had lost a son recently; Carmen, who worked at a university; Lewis, who none of them seem to know much about, and Bridget, a wallflower.

The plot was suspenseful and engaging. It started to lose some of it’s steam once the author revealed what the reader was suspecting. She couldn’t seem to keep up the suspense at that point, though the book was still good. I do feel Hattie was too accepting of situations when a normal person would have red flags everywhere. I did an eye roll a couple of times. Having said that, it didn’t take away my enjoyment of the book.

I liked the author’s style of writing. She wrote from several character point of views which always makes a story interesting. She kept the story moving without a lot of filler to slow the story down.

My review is voluntary and all comments and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. 6 strangers who commute every day on the same train, in the same seats, they form a friendship group and Whatsapp group and become friends. Hattie is our main character and she is a bit of a drunk and doesn’t always make good choices. She has recently split with her boyfriend and moved back in with her parents. I loved the way this was written in 4 parts and the Prologue had me hooked from the beginning. The characters were all well written and I found myself wanting to know more about them. I found this a real page turner and enjoyed the twists and turns in the book.
This is my first read by Alison James but I am happy to say I will be reading her other books.

What I like most about this book was the growth of the main character - Hattie. She begins as a self-destructive young woman, utilizing alcohol to cope with the downslide of the previous months. Though she is targeted to take the fall for a heist, Hattie learns to have more self-respect, hopefully more likely to embrace healthier lifestyle.
The plot was very creative - a chance meeting on a train brings a group of strangers together; a friendship, a group chat.
One of them dies due to suspicious circumstances.
A little predictable but I enjoyed the plot and writing.

Well written, very descriptive and easy to follow. I liked it but I thought that it was dragged out a little. Enough twists to keep you intrigued to the very end.
Thank You to NetGalley, Bookouture and Alison James for the opportunity to enjoy the audio version of this ARC

Alison James' The Woman in Carriage 3 is an addictive psychological thriller that will have you hooked from the very first page. The plot is fast-paced and filled with twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Overall, The Woman in Carriage 3 is a suspenseful read that fans of psychological thrillers won't want to miss. It's an easy read that you'll want to finish in one sitting. Highly recommended!

A lost and lonely young woman gets to know her fellow passengers on her daily commute which leads to murder and international intrigue. Good story with very good character development. Lovely mystery read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

The Woman in Carriage 3 is a fairly addictive and gripping psychological thriller with a good twisted ending by Alison James.

Hattie travels on the same train home every night. She sits in the same seat, in the same carriage, and sees the same people. The unwritten rule is you don’t talk to your fellow passengers, but Hattie has been watching them all for months now to distract herself from her own troubles. Then one night a commuter suddenly drops dead. And the terrible accident changes everything.

I enjoyed this psychological thriller as it had some good twists and kept me on my toes while reading. The author's writing flowed and kept me invested in the storyline and plot.

I give this a 4 out of 5 stars. I will check out more by this author.

#TheWomaninCarriage3 #NetGalley @bookouture

Hattie, the main character in this novel, is not going to be winning any awards for her intelligence, resourcefulness or motivation. She’s a flake, living with her parents at thirty, with no job and no boyfriend. When an incident on the train she takes most days makes her get to know her fellow commuters, she gets entangled in a plot that goes way above her head. It’s easy to figure out that there was something fishy with dreamboat Casper, but I honestly had no idea what he could possibly want from her. Some of the twists were a little predictable and I saw through the red herrings, but the story itself surprised me enough that it kept me invested. I was also rooting for Hattie, even while getting aggravated at some of the things she did. The last part was not as good, in my opinion, since people who should know better make some big dumb mistakes that seemed out of character. Despite these minor issues, I thought this was a fast and entertaining read.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Bookouture!

Enjoyed this new thriller by Alison James. Lots of secrets, lies and deception. Loved the characters as they kept me invested the whole time. Nice plot line that flowed easily with alternating POVs.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

What a brilliant book from one of my 'go to' authors, I just loved the storytelling and people and how they all met up in Carriage 3.

The storyline was great and I was on the edge of my seat from the beginning until the end with plenty of twists and turns which I just loved.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this fantastic ARC which I have no hesitation in recommending. A well earned 5* stars from me and I look forward to the next book from this author.

This book was an interesting read, and a little different from what I had expected. It is divided into four sections and the structure works quite well.

In the first, and arguably most suspenseful part, we are introduced to our female protagonist, Hattie Sewell, age 29. Because of a series of bad decisions and generally reckless behaviour, Hattie finds herself at a point where her excellent job and her live-in relationship are both in the rearview mirror.

Having apparently learned nothing from her previous mistakes, Hattie's life currently consists of a series of one night stands, a boring temp job, regular hangovers and moving back to live at home with her disapproving parents. Because of this, she has to take the 18.53 train from Waterloo to her parents' suburban home most nights.

Gradually, she becomes quite familiar with some of the faces she encounters regularly on that commute. After an incident leads to the train stopping unexpectedly mid-journey one day, several of the passengers in Carriage Number 3, including Hattie, end up introducing themselves to each other.

Julian Cobbold, a lawyer, is the initiator of the WhatsApp group that follows their social exchange, and others in the group include a buttoned-down civil servant, an attractive auction house employee, a tattooed single father etc.

What nobody realises at the time, is that within a few weeks, one of those very passengers will end up dead on that very train. And the killer will be a member of this group!

This is an enjoyable story and in the initial stages, also quite unpredictable. Even once the storyline becomes clear, the reader is kept engaged and entertained. I recommend it to anyone who's looking for a book that is not a run-of-the-mill psychological thriller, but more of an adventure story with thriller elements.

Although this book was not what I had expected, it turned out to be an okay read anyway.

I found the plot to be pretty basic and figured it out pretty early on, which I blame on the amount of books I read - not the author's fault.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and honest rate this book.

The premise was great, and the initial third was promising, a group of commuters start chatting and make a friendship and Watsapp group but some of them are not what or who they seem to be, our main character ‘Hattie’ however fails to notice this and ends up in a real predicament
In fact all the book was quite good but I guessed all the twists pretty quickly,tbh anyone who has a love of psychological thrillers will also guess quickly
The main character, for me, wasn’t overly likeable but I did gain a soft spot for her and almost a soft spot for one of the baddies too!
Not much else to say on it, it was a quick read book, written in an easy to get into style and great to visualise, the train/commuting part interesting to see how a group of strangers bonded and we’re easily fooled, the thriller bits however,for me,were very generic and easy to work out

7/10
3.5 Stars