3.5 stars

I love a good snowed-in and/or stuck-on-a-train murder mystery, though this one leaned into the thriller genre. The ‘mystery writer turned sleuth’ trope is an oldie but goodie, and the fact that our protagonist was potentially the killer’s target gives her an excellent reason to stick her nose in. The cast is a varied mish-mash of personalities who are all very committed to their own agendas and priorities.

This is a genre-savvy love letter to murder mysteries somewhat reminiscent of <i> The Woman in the Library </i> by Sulari Gentill. I liked it a lot better than the last Eva Jurzyck book I read, which was much slower paced. The isolation of this setting—a train trapped in a blizzard—helps to up the anxiety of every character involved, and force these strangers to become intimately acquainted as they come to suspect a killer rides amongst them.

I would recommend this book to mystery/thriller fans moreso than to cozy mystery lovers.

I received a copy for review. All opinions are my own. Wow I had no idea this book would end up being so hard to put down. I was constantly guessing what would happen next. I felt thrills and chills the whole way through. It was easy to envision everything playing out with such a great description of the characters and scene. Such a great plot!

Passengers on the train from Toronto to Montreal are in for a few surprises. A six hour ride turns into a longer nightmare when the train gets stuck in the snow. There’s a dead body and many suspicious passengers. A surprise twist at the end.

The plot is interesting. A train ride with no wifi or connectivity from the outside world and raging storm outside. It was a very slow paced read with strange circumstances and more inner musings of Agatha than the story itself. I couldn't connect with her at all throughout the book. I couldn't differentiate between reality or her imaginations. I just kept reading to understand the story but the ending is completely absurd. I think this book wasnot for me. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

This story was just...okay. It is interesting that it is based on something an actual write does...ride trains to write...I am not quite sure I believed the ending. But it was an interesting concept and idea. Although being stuck on train isn't anything new. It might have been a little slow in some parts, but not a throw away book at all.

This book was high paced and worth every minute. I gave it 5 stars. It had me hooked from the start!

Okay, this is totally my kind of mystery—moody, character-driven, and just a little weird. The train setting is such a great device; it traps you with the characters in the best way. The plot isn’t super fast, but the tension is all about what people aren’t saying. There were moments where I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I was happy to be along for the ride. It reminded me of Agatha Christie meets Tana French (vibes-wise, not style-wise).

Not for people who need big action scenes or clean answers, but I’d definitely recommend it to fans of introspective, literary mysteries.

What I liked best about this book is that it kept me on my toes for the who done it. I never would have guessed the ending. I actually highlighted the reveal with a WHAT in two spots I was surprised by it.

The way that the story is written kept me on my toes as we wound through Canada.

I would sometimes lose what was going on as we flashed back about events in Agathas life, and then back into the train and how that anecdote related to the story.

For me the beginning 30-40% of the book was a bit slow, but then it picked up in a way that I couldn't put my book down. The ending felt like it was a bit abrupt, I would have hoped for a little more to wrap it up.

Overall a 3.5 read that rounds up to 4 for Goodreads.

The publisher's description of 6:40 TO MONTREAL intrigued me enough to read Eva Jurczyk first book.

This story follows Agatha, author of a bestselling novel, who is gifted a first class ticket by her husband, aboard a train from Toronto to Montreal during the Christmas season, hoping to give her the space and freedom to overcome her blank page syndrome.

The plan is a scenic, peaceful day-long train ride: perfect setting for the huis clos that will unfold.
The author offers the reader a perfect description of a real Canadian winter blizzard that throws everyone’s plans off track.

The train gets stuck, passengers become trapped in their first class wagon, panic and anxiety sets in among the passengers as they realize that they are cut off from the outside world.
You can feel the despair , isolation and the claustrophobia set in.

The man sitting next to Agatha is mysterious bitten by a poisonous spider and dies. Agatha and her fellow passengers , one of which is her arch nemesis, in the train car suspect this man was murdered, but which one of them did it?

As tensions rise, so do the questions:who is the killer and will someone else dies?
Suspicions are high and whom can you trust to survive when you are stuck on a train track in a blizzard?

This made a very tense and sinister reading.
I would have liked more information about each passenger in order to have a better understanding of their role in the story.

I enjoyed reading this book , but the final pages and the ending left me a bit unsure if I had missed something or if the ambiguity was there on purpose…

Thank you #NetGalley and #PoisonedPenPress publishing for this digital ARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I could not put this book down. It grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go. I stayed up past my bedtime to finish it.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC. I had high hopes for this book based on the synopsis, but ended up struggling to really get into the story.

There were some interesting twists, but as you learned more they felt unrealistic. I found that I didn’t develop much connection with any of the characters so I didn’t really care what happened to them. I felt like the story dragged a good bit, but then the ending felt very rushed.

The plot was unique so kuddos to Eva Jurczyk for that. Overall, a unique, albeit far-fetched, story that didn’t quite meet my expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 4
Pace: 5
Plot development: 4
Characters: 4
Enjoyability: 4
Ease of Reading: 4

Overall rating: 4 out of 5

As a longtime fan of Murder on the Orient Express (and train rides in general), I admit the publisher's description of 6:40 TO MONTREAL intrigued me by virtue of being a mystery on a train. I wasn't prepared to have it defy my every expectation or lead me on such a twisty, diabolical journey. Agatha is a one-hit wonder, the author of a runaway bestselling novel. But personal circumstances have conspired to stifle her muse, and so her husband has gifted her a first class ticket on a day train to give her the space and freedom to write. Initially, she is distracted with the secret plans she's made, the trajectory of her life, and her fellow passengers. But when the train is partially derailed by a blizzard and they are cut off from the world outside, things begin to spiral out of control. This story is a shape-shifting tale of strangers, mortality, mystery, and morality, and I was utterly riveted.

I absolutely loved this book. The characters were very engaging. The story was unpredictable and exciting. I was hooked.

A mystery on a stopped train leads to all kind of confusion. I thought this was well-written with a good plot. I didn’t love thr ending but really enjoyed reading this.

So think murder on the orient express but with a new twist. This was so fun. I picked it because I loved confessions on the 7:95 by Lisa unger and I thought this would give me the same vibe and while they aren’t super similar this was still so good

I wanted to like this book, but it wasn't for me. I felt like it was too long, and I was not invested in the characters. I think this would have been a better book if there was different POVS.

The cover of this book, the description, and the title were what initially drew me in. Think Agatha Christie, Clue, type of murder mystery. The FMC was questionable at times, and in many instances I found myself going back and forth between enjoying and despising her. The premise for the book was great, but I found that it took a lot of force for me to get through the final 25%. It did drag on a bit, and the ending wasn’t shocking enough for me and left a lot of plot holes and unanswered questions.

What made me pick-up this book was the description. I love a good murder mystery story with a locked room trope. However, "6:40 to Montreal" is lukewarm at best and had me wanting a story with more nuance and witty plot wrap-ups.

Plot setup: 3⭐s
Writing: 3⭐s
Characters: 2⭐s
Plot twist: 2⭐s
Overall: 2.5-3⭐s

Publish Date: 09/23/2025

This story follows Agatha who is gifted a first class ticket aboard a train from Toronto to Montreal during the Christmas season. Agatha, a writer, is hoping to use this time to work on her manuscript for an upcoming novel. Things go awry when the man sitting next to her is mysterious bitten by a poisonous spider and dies. Agatha and the other passengers in the train car suspect this man was murdered, but which one of them did it? The question becomes more pressing when a blizzard causes the train to stop, trapping all the guests inside.

What I enjoyed was the isolated locked room trope. There was potential for the story to go in a classic "who-dunnit" direction. I also enjoyed the psychological aspect with the snow storm trapping the guests. This added some great moments of tension and distrust between the other characters.

What fell flat for me was the character writing and the plot twists. The characters were written in a way that felt disassociated from their predicament. Someone is murdered on their train, yet they behave rather normal and proceed to carry on with eating, drinking, and doing what's best for themselves. This reaction had me shocked since in other locked room tropes books at least one character would be scared or traumatized immensely for the remainder of the plot. Agatha's voice and reaction to events was also shocking. Her response was nonchalant as the plot unfolds and it was a challenge to peg her motivations and her "why". The plot twist reveal did not tie up loose ends to some of the plot points and didn't fit the overall feel or vibe of the story.

Not my favorite mystery thriller.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press publishing for this digital ARC. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I needed a few days to process this book before I wrote my review.

The premise of this was great; I love a locked door mystery & anything Agatha Christie esque, so I was excited to read this. It was atmospheric, claustrophobic, fast paced and had so many twists. The FMC was questionable & I was kept guessing until the end. Also a special mention for the cover art, it’s so pretty!

I was loving this book until the last 25%. The grande reveal was anticlimactic and didn’t make much sense. You never really find out a motive for the murder or the victim, other than “just because”. The more I thought about it, the more plot holes there were. If you suspend all logic, this is a great popcorn thriller. 3.5 stars overall.