Eva Jurczyk’s *6:40 to Montreal* is a locked-room thriller that traps you on a snowbound train with a dead body and a whole lot of secrets. Agatha St. John, a writer with a blockbuster debut and a bad case of writer’s block, boards the 6:40 from Toronto to Montreal for a one-day “retreat.” But when a blizzard stalls the train in the Canadian wilds and a passenger turns up dead—thumb severed, no less—it’s less inspiration, more survival. Jurczyk’s prose is tight and chilly, dripping with claustrophobic vibes. Agatha’s a prickly gem, but the twists can feel a bit over-the-top. Still, that final gut-punch reveal? Worth the ride. 4 stars—great if you love a snowy, murderous puzzle.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I liked the premise of this story and it got off to a strong start, but sadly it quickly turned into a slow slog through the proverbial snow.
Our main character Agatha, is on a day trip by train to work on her novel. We learn that it was a gift from her husband to shake her out of her depression resulting from a terminal cancer diagnosis. We learn that she has some “other “plans”.
I could see that the author was trying to do a character study on how people behave when trapped and societal norms are removed. There were brilliant moments when the story almost becomes literary fiction and a study of the human condition rather a mystery or thriller.
Unfortunately, for me it didn’t achieve either. There are whole long scenes where absolutely nothing happens. We learn what they are eating, how intensely Agatha dislikes the men’s footwear “Blunder soles”. The chapters are titled by the time and we feel the tedium intensely, to the point where I started marking “ something happens” . Nothing of much interest happens until 9:30(22%) then nothing again until 11:15 (34%), then 1:15. (39%), 2:30(45%) etc. I think the author was trying to give the readers the feeling of being trapped, which I did -but not in an exciting way.

From a mystery standpoint the ending was a total letdown and from a literary standpoint the “who done it” was not fitting of the character as developed.

Great book. Couldn't put it down. Stayed up all night trying to get to the end. Five stars. Thank you for letting me read this book in advance.

Agatha is on a 6-hour train from Toronto to Montreal in an attempt to get some writing done. The train breaks down in a snowstorm and the few passengers in Agatha's car are trapped together in the middle of nowhere. If that is not bad enough, one of the passengers is discovered to be dead. The ending to this made no sense to me and felt full of holes. I enjoyed the story up to that point, but it just fell apart for me at the ending. 2.5 rounded to 3 stars.

Yup, I'm a total cover junkie. I saw this one and was like, "Oh, pretty! Must read!" So, I dove in with ridiculously high expectations. Because, you know, a beautiful cover always equals an amazing story... right? But let's be real: 6:40 to Montreal is not your typical mystery. Instead, it's more about how a bunch of strangers react when they're stuck together in a crazy situation. The book tries to be a clever, psychological thriller, but it ends up being a messy, plot-hole-ridden disappointment. The characters are dull and unlikable, especially Agatha, who spends most of the book complaining about her life. The train setting is the only somewhat interesting aspect of the book, but even that gets old after a while. It's a slow burn, folks, and I mean SLOW. I had to wrestle myself to the finish line. Honestly, this book is just your run-of-the-mill, mediocre thriller. It's not terrible- just don't expect it to blow your mind.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I liked this! This was my first intro into the author, but I felt that this book was fast paced and well written! I will read more in the future!

Wow, this is a trainwreck, pun fully intended. Look, the premise is fine, and while the writing is not great (it's pretty standard thriller/murder mystery kind of writing) that's also not the biggest issue. While reading this I was perpared to give this a 3 star rating.

And then we get the resolution, and the stupidity of it all hits like a truck (or a train, in this case). I thought that I'd get answers to the mysteries, but I didn't expect to get answers that don't make sense, which in turn led to even more questions. Come on, the hallmark of a good murder mystery is a satisfying answer, and this? Utter rubbish.

The whole story is absurd, filled with inconsistencies and illogical decisions by characters you struggle to relate to. It's confusing, with plot details that were mentioned and then dropped without explanation. Early in the book Agatha witnessed a car crash that no one else saw. Was it a hallucination on her part? But then it was quickly forgotten in favour of the murder mystery... which was then dropped to follow the travails of the dying Rupinder and what they could do to save him.

Incidentally, Agatha was very motivated to save Rupinder because he's a young man and Agatha thought about her own little boy. This went on and on, and I kept thinking, "You don't have to justify not wanting someone to die, okay?" Like, I don't even have kids and I'll still want to save that guy! But perhaps this was meant to highlight how shitty Agatha is as a person; I just struggled to like her throughout the entire book.

I kept reading in the hopes that the ending will tie everything together. Instead, the pieces of the puzzle wouldn't fit even if you try supergluing them together, and even then the whole thing falls apart if you as much as breathe in its direction. Needless to say, I'll have to get to the spoilers to further discuss this.

**spoilers ahead; please skip to the last of my comments for a summary**

**spoilers alert**
Turns out the whole thing was a ploy to... make Agatha feel less depressed?! 'Teddy hadn't been trying to kill me. He'd been trying to recuscitate me.' What the...? Bleargh, okay, but dubious motivations aside, I have so many more questions. How did Teddy manage to get on the train as a trainee? I knew he had the uniform, but wouldn't the train company make arrangements for the training session? You mean you can just show up in their uniform, board their train, and start learning right away? Or did he kidnap an actual trainee and take his uniform because at one point it was mentioned that the uniform is ill-fitting?

Also, it feels like the whole murder mystery was left behind after a while. How did Teddy sneak the spider aboard, given his great fear of spiders? How did he ensure that it wouldn't kill Agatha, or anyone else for that matter? Or did he not care who the spider killed, as long as someone died? Was Finch picked beforehand? There was a whole bit in the book about how troublesome it is to handle the spider, but dude just used a mesh bag? Then there's also the question of how he managed to avoid being seen by his wife and Cyanne, both of whom knew him for YEARS? Agatha had also seen him from behind (and noticed his shoes and uniform) but she couldn't recognize her own husband's silhouette? The author's excuse for that was, 'How closely do you ever look at the people who serve you things?' Uhhh, I do notice the people serving me things because I try to look at them and thank them when they put food on my table? Plus, it was a weird excuse given how Agatha noticed so many details about Dorcas, who was serving her!

Incidentally, what's with Dorcas? Was she part of Teddy's convoluted plan? If so why was she so dedicated to keeping the passengers locked in the carriage, even when a young man was literally dying? There was some sort of weird reasoning about her wanting to keep the peace, but... I don't get it and I'm not buying it.

Part of the tension in the story came from the fact that no one knew what was happening or when the train will start again. But here's a big question: were there no PA systems in the train? In such a situation where something serious has caused the train to be delayed for hours, presumably there will be plenty of announcements about it. Also you're telling me that throughout the entire ordeal, no staff member from the other cars tried to come to their carriage to check on the situation?

Plus, why would anyone buy the whole 'the doors are automatically locked' excuse? Even the emergency exit? The book kept going on and on about 'there's no power, so the doors wouldn't open', and I was like, "WHAT KIND OF STUPID ENGINEER DESIGN EMERGENCY DOORS THAT WOULDN'T OPEN WITHOUT ELECTRICITY?!" How come no one figured out that there must be a manual override? Also it took Agatha forever to think about breaking the window, even though there was a scene about it with Dorcas giving a safety briefing. You're telling me that all the other characters never thought about the windows, that none of them happened to glance at the hammer/glass breaker (which are usually placed in a highly visible spot)? Not even Jeff, who has taken this train multiple times? Jesus.

Then at one point Jeff volunteered to wander into the snowy vicinity to try to get help for Rupinder. In the hopes of finding a village or something, he ended up being left behind as the train started moving again. But the whole idea is ridiculous because THEY'RE ALL ON A FUCKING TRAIN. Why walk AWAY from the train when you can walk ALONG it to get assistance from the other cars? Why wander off into some unknown territory where you can't see a single house, when the chances of getting help from the staff and passengers are certainly higher? By the way, prior to this the characters also discussed getting help from the other cars, so it's dumb that this idea was just dropped in favour of having Jeff die pointlessly and conveniently.

Speaking of dumb characters, there's Cyanne, who's possibly the worst of the lot. When Agatha pointed out that they could get out by breaking a window, Cyanne said, "We will be charged with destruction of property." THAT'S NOT A THING IN AN EMERGENCY, CYANNE. I don't even get the point of this character because she's just annoying in outrageous ways.

**end of spoilers**

This book is a solid example of what happens when an author has an idea and is willing to twist the story and the characters in an unnatural way to get to it. The worst thing about this book was that the real stinker came towards the end. This meant that I read the whole book only to realize it's all bullshit. So here I'm doing everyone a favour and tell you that if you're looking for a solid murder mystery, perhaps skip this and read the vastly superior 'Murder on the Orient Express' by Agatha Christie instead, which this work was obviously referencing (the main character being a writer called Agatha, and there being a murder on a train in a snowy setting).

3.5 stars rounded up.)

This was a fun and propulsive read about a writer trapped on a train car in a blizzard, and had great tension and drama. Definitely worth a read! The ending hits you a bit like a punchline, but in a wry way that felt more suited to a short story.

What an roller-coaster. The author did a fantastic job of laying out just enough of the story to keep me hooked, but not too much that I know everything too soon. That said, I enjoyed the mystery very much. I haven't read nor seen Strangers on a Train, but I have a feeling there were elements of Eva Jurczyk's story that were a nod to the classic.
This was a fast read. I couldn't read fast enough! I wanted the answers right away, but I'm glad they were teased first.
Great book overall. I will look out for more books by this author.

6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk is a locked room-actually a locked train car mystery.Agatha is the author of a novel that was a bestselling surprise to her. Now she is struggling to follow up with her second novel.A health’ scare and marriage struggle are not helping.Her husband gave her train tickets as a Christmas gift so she is using this time to work on her novel and some other things!There is a snowstorm and the train-car she is in becomes locked.The series of events that take place are bizarre and kind of unbelievable.The characters are not very fleshed out .If you can suspend your ideas of reality you may enjoy this book.Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me to read this ARC.

2.5 stars rounded up. I was initially drawn to the cover art (and, well, I do love train travel). 6:40 to Montreal is a locked room mystery thriller in the first-class car on the way from Toronto to Montreal. Bestselling author Agatha is gifted a solo trip by her husband, ostensibly so she can get some writing done on her new novel. Agatha may have other plans though - but do they include murder? I liked the premise of this novel, though I found nearly all of the characters irritating. I did not see the final twist coming. While I have mixed feelings about the twist itself, definite bonus points for keeping me guessing.

The pace of this book started slow easing us into it, getting to know the characters and the setting a feel for how this story was going to go. As things picked up and everything started happening I could barely put this book down, wanting to devour every piece of the puzzle we were given to find out the mystery unfolding before us. Nothing could have prepared for me how this book finished and I loved every second of it.

I loved the main character and seeing her perspective through everything, despite what was happening around them she couldn't stop seeing it through her lens as a writer, how she would frame the story if she was writing it and little details to include about everything she saw and the people she passed. This was an engaging story with interesting characters and a thrilling mystery to follow along with.

A locked room mystery on a train with clear allusions to Agatha Christie! This was a fun quick read that kept me guessing!

#1. I am happy to enjoy a simplistic story as long as it has two things: a strong hook delivered early in the story and a fast pace. Sadly, this book has neither of those things. I am guessing Agatha's abrupt departure right at the beginning of the book was intended as a hook but the flat writing style does not provide any anchoring point of interest. The synopsis essentially describes the entire plot.

#2. I am just as happy to enjoy a small burn of a story as long as the author is able to build engagement and empathy. Now, it is not enough to give a character a terminal illness to build empathy from readers. Also, there have to be better ways to describe one of the key characters than just making repetitive references to their "bouncy hair". The entire cast of characters are essentially just names with labels.

As a plot driven story this book does not manage to build up any momentum or tension. As a slow burn, there is no one to care for. The author gave zero 'love' to any of the characters she populated her book with. Agatha clearly draws on the author's Polish/Canadian roots but her character is reduced to just a couple of names that have any significance in her life. None of this is elaborated to any meaningful extent. I mean, there has to be at least a scenery to describe in order to build the atmosphere. There are ways authors foreshadow plot developments by describing the weather or the surroundings. So many interesting possibilities could have been executed here to avoid this pedestrian, clinical, and very stilted writing.

And finally, it is 2025, I feel it is time authors stop using "no wifi" or "no reception" as anchoring points for their plots.

Rating: 🤗/4
Review: A cold winter locked room literary mystery. Fast paced with great chapter structure. Touches on living life, motherhood and marriage.
Format: 👩🏻‍💻
Source: #netgalley
Published on Goodreads 3/3/2025

A twisty claustrophobic book. Agatha is on the 6:40 train to Montreal, a gift from her husband. She is going to take the time to get her creative juices going and kick start her writing. Sounds lovely but there are so many layers that happen during this scenic train ride, so buckle in.
Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC. Enjoyed giving feedback.

I wish I liked this book as much as I liked the cover. I was immediately drawn to the setting and characters, but the plot (or lack thereof) was a bit of a let down. I absolutely love locked room mysteries by this one did not keep me entertained throughout. Yes, there were times I was very intrigued and couldn’t read fast enough, but there were also times that I felt bored and was ready for it to be over.

6:40 to Montreal: A Review

During that weird, quiet week between Christmas and New Year’s, Agatha—an author struggling with writer’s block—gets an unexpected gift from her husband: a first-class train ticket from Toronto to Montreal. She boards the 6:40 expecting a peaceful trip, but things quickly take a turn. When the train breaks down in the middle of nowhere and a passenger dies, the cozy first-class cabin turns into something much darker.

The book isn’t a straightforward murder mystery. Instead, it’s more about what happens when a small group of strangers is trapped together under intense circumstances. Tensions rise, secrets come out, and survival instincts kick in.

Agatha herself is a tough character to like at first. She spends a lot of time complaining—about her husband, her kid, and just life in general—which makes her feel self-absorbed and distant from what’s happening around her. But as things get worse, we start to see cracks in her tough exterior, making her a little more interesting.

The book does a good job building tension, and the claustrophobic train setting adds to the unease. That said, a few details don’t fully add up, which makes certain parts of the story less effective. It’s still a decent read, but it doesn’t quite stick the landing.

Overall, 6:40 to Montreal is an okay thriller. It’s a quick, suspenseful read, but some plot holes hold it back from being great. I’d rate it three stars (★★★☆☆).

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review.

Agatha St. Clair should be happy. She has a handsome and doting husband, an adorable three-year old son, and a lovely home she bought with the proceeds of her best-selling novel. She should be, but she’s not. Her muse has gone silent, and some days she finds it hard to get out of bed. Her husband has given her what he thinks is the perfect Christmas gift: a first-class train ticket from Toronto to Montreal, where she will have several hours of uninterrupted time to work on her next novel. She has her own plans for what will happen when she arrives in Montreal, and it doesn’t involve writing.
There are only five other passengers in her cabin: a mother and teenage son, a gentle giant, an obnoxious and entitled businessman, and, to her shock, a former friend who now hates her guts. The crew members are one cheery, competent customer-service agent and a hapless male trainee.
They set out in a blinding blizzard, and halfway to Montreal the train gets stuck in the snow. As the hours pass, tension builds in the cabin. When they realize a sleeping passenger is, in fact, dead, murdered in a particularly brutal manner, alliances are formed and broken, and paranoia reaches a deadly level.
This novel is a brilliant combination of Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock’s best works.

Unfortountly, I have had to DNF this story at about 45%. I am not enjoying the story, it started out really interesting and I was getting into it, even with the chracters that fel flat and underdeveliped then is just slowed down and there became a serious lack of focus. I lost interest, and I feel like ther characters did as well. Maybe the story is just not for me. Bummer as I really love the idea of this read.