If you liked “Girl on the Train,” I think you’ll really enjoy this. Agatha takes the 6:40am train from Toronto to Montréal under the guise of writing her book. As the train pushes from the station in a snowy morning, we learn there’s ulterior motives for Agatha’s reason for being on the train. She’s in a writing rut, a marriage impasse, and she’s dying. Shorty after they leave the station, the train comes to a grinding halt in the middle of nowhere with no cell service. 95% of this book takes place in one train car as the passengers and service worker, Dorcas, become very familiar with one another.

When the first death appears, all passengers begin to wonder who could’ve been the murderer and who was it really meant for? This book hooked me from the very beginning and it kept my attention the entire time. As the book went on, I kind of got the impression that Agatha may be insane, but the way the book ends, you realize she’s not the only one. She also slowly becomes an unreliable narrator as the book goes on and with the introduction of Cyanne, but i loved it.

Overall, I enjoyed this book - it was fast-paced, kept me guessing with each new chapter, and the ending presented a twist I didn’t expect! I’d recommend this for readers who’s like suspenseful books that have you questioning who the villain is. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read an early copy of this book!

A woman needs a break from her everyday routine in order to focus on work and get her creative spark back. Her husband gifts her a day trip on a train to, you guessed it, Montreal. Unexpectedly, the train makes its way into a blizzard and is immobile for the foreseeable future of the journey. With every chapter time stamped, you learn more and more about each of the trains’ passengers by the minute- all mysterious in their own ways. When something awful suddenly happens, everyone is trapped and forced to solve what seems to be a murder . Told in the first person, I loved the modern take on an Agatha Christie/Murder on the Orient Express type of mystery. I found some of the chapters a bit slow, but this book has a twist I never saw coming.

Decent mystery by an author previously unknown to me with decent twists along the way. Likeable characters and would read further publications by this author

My biggest pet peeve with reading is when the author don't trust their readers to get what they are writing and starts to repeat everything and writing the reader on the nose. This book is an example of that, unfortunately.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

The premise? 10/10. I love this kind of setup and enjoy a cast of suspicious characters. But the story? I didn't enjoy that so much. I think in part it was difficult for me to get into this writer's style. At times, it was very readable, and at others, I just felt lost. I'm surprised to see that the book is just 352 pages because it like it was 500 -- sloooow progress and lots of repetition, and then everything happened all at once. We learned some details about the narrator but I never felt that her character was fully fleshed out, and her motivations were wild to me! Everyone acted weird, too. Not in a "this is interesting and compelling" way, but in a "these people are so frustrating and daft" kind of way. I feel like the timestamp telling of the story makes it feel like a real slog. I would have appreciated something MORE, like switching timelines between writing the first novel and struggling with the second.

A mundane train ride turns into a complex murder mystery with a group of passenger all suspicious of one another . The main character Agatha is unstable as are her fellow passengers . Lots happens at once and then sections when events are repetitive and information is useless .. like the Doritos , the descriptions of Dorcas the train attendant , the suitcase with clothes and the blundstones . Ending is bizarre , although the significant of the blundstones is revealed .The book left me wondering what did I just read. It did portray accurately a typical Canadian snowstorm and how lives can be altered when its effects can virtually close off contact with the outside world.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Eva Jurczyk, and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Always eager to tackle books by authors new to me, I gladly accepted this ARC by Eva Jurczyk. Agatha is on her way between Toronto and Montreal by train. While the rails are always a wonderful spot to come up with ideas for a novel, Agatha has other plans in Montreal. The journey is paralyses during a winter storm, forcing Agatha and the others to wait it out, without connection to the outside world. When a man dies onboard, suspicions run high and motives emerge, as well as a sickening truth as the minutes turn to hours. Eva Jurczyk entertains with this story and keeps the reader guessing.

Agatha is on a deadline to get her new book in order. While she may be a popular author, she is still stymied by writer’s block at times. Her husband has the solution when he purchases her a ticket to travel between Toronto and Montreal by train. This will surely get the juices flowing and Agatha will have a winning novel in no time.

After boarding her first-class compartment, Agatha is pleased that there are only a few other passengers, lots of coffee, and snacks to tide her over. She also has a secret of her own waiting in Montreal. However, soon after the train pulls out of Toronto, a crippling blizzard leaves it stuck in between stations, with no WiFi or other connection to the outside world for these passengers. Things get rough, particularly when the passenger seated next to her dies mysteriously. Panic engulfs everyone and the battle for survival commences.

Stuck in the snow and with little to do, theories emerge amongst the passengers and it is soon even more troublesome when medical issues arise. No one is safe, nor are they aware of who is out there, pulling the strings. What began as a chance to be creative has become a macabre writing assignment where the mystery is never-ending. Eva Jurczyk delivers a great mystery set in the middle of a Canadian winter.

Mysteries set in Canada are of great interest to me, especially when the author can capture the nuances of the entire experience. Eva Jurczyk does well to create a believable situation and keeps the reader in the middle of the mix. The narrative flow works well with this piece, mixing a great mystery with the ever-present docility with which Canadians have been branded. Each character is essential to the larger story and keeps the reader on their toes, learning about them and trying to piece their backstories together. Plot points help thicken the mystery and provides a stellar surprise or two for the reader who is seeking to decipher what is going on. I cannot wait to find more or Eva Jurczyk’s work to compare!

Kudos, Madam Jurczyk, for a story that never flew off the rails!

I haven't read anything by this author before, and I was excited to read a book that takes place on a train in a snowstorm! As a huge fan of Agatha Christie and Murder on the Orient Express, I had to check this one out.
It was a fun, quick read that I will definitely recommend to mystery readers. There were a couple plot points that didn't make sense, but overall it was a fun mystery.

For me, the concept was more interesting than the execution.

Whilst I understand the chapters follow Agatha through her journey, and that concept works on the whole, it would have helped to learn more about her, the dynamic of her life, to get a sense of her, and to connect with her. But that just doesn't happen really - I didn't honestly care about her, or any of the characters really. There just wasn't that connection.

I will say, the first 30% of the book I liked - it was a bit of a slower burn, we were starting to get a bit into some of the characters, and I was starting to wonder what's going to happen, let's build the tension. And then it just felt like it went wacky. How did we get deaths, collapsing, blood, murders, smashed windows, affairs, and more, in such a short space of time. I didn't know where to look.

I would have liked to hear more about Agatha's life as a writer, her drive to write & where she was struggling, as well as some intrigue into the characters in her train car, and a bit of their stories too. And whilst we get those elements, it just falls flat unfortunately. Concept is better than the execution, sadly.

I love atmospheric locked-room mystery stories, and a snowbound train situation is even better, so this book was definitely for me. The characters are engaging, and the story hooks you from the beginning. Recommended for readers who enjoy travel suspense stories with memorable twists. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

#6:40toMontreal

This was a fantastic thriller. I will always love a train murder mystery! It will always remind me of when I first started reading Agatha Christie books. This one was especially I trifling and the ending was just horrifyingly delightful.

I didn't make it to the twists and turns; the endless observations at the start of the trainride left be bored out of my brain. I gave up around 30%.

⭐️⭐️⭐️½

A remote stretch of Canadian wilderness. A broken-down train. A body in a seat. No WiFi, no way out…

6:40 to Montreal is a clever locked-room thriller set aboard a snowbound train, where nothing is quite as it seems. Our protagonist—fittingly named Agatha—is a bestselling author in need of a breakthrough (and perhaps a breakdown), setting out on a first-class writing retreat that quickly derails into a deadly game of survival.

It’s hard to miss the nod to Agatha Christie, and fans of classic whodunnits will appreciate the layered cast and rising tension. That said, to really enjoy this one, you do need to suspend disbelief and overlook a few plot contrivances. It’s fast, diabolical fun, but not without its flaws.

Still, I can absolutely see this being a great vacation read—just maybe not if you’re planning to take the train. 🚆😅

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC! Released 23 September 2025.

Have sent private thoughts to the publisher, but this one just wasn’t for me, so I dnf’d at 23% despite the author’s clear talent for writing. It was a pacing issue for me, I think.

No WiFi, no distractions. No way out…

Agatha's husband has bought her a first-class ticket on the scenic six-hour train from Toronto to Montreal as a gift—a one-day writing retreat so she can get some serious work done on her new book, a highly-anticipated follow-up to Agatha's runaway bestseller debut novel. The first-class car is the perfect place to be productive, with only a handful of other passengers, plenty of snacks and drinks, and beautiful views flying by outside the window.

But Agatha has other plans for her day out… plans that are unexpectedly derailed when the train breaks down in the middle of the frigid Canadian woods and one of Agatha's fellow passengers dies quietly in his seat. Soon, a pleasant morning in transit turns into a fight for survival against an unknown and unseen enemy. Will Agatha—or any of the passengers—make it out alive?

From international bestselling author Eva Jurczyk, 6:40 to Montreal is a claustrophobic, deceivingly bloody thriller that twists and turns until the very last page.

6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk
Not a fan. I see where the author was trying to go but it went off the rails for me. Didn't like the characters as people and didn't like the resolution. Unpleasant people with unpleasant motives.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for granting my request to read this e-ARC and provide my honest thoughts.

No WiFi. No distractions. No way out…
This is exactly what Agatha needs — total isolation to focus on writing her next book. But everything changes when one of the passengers quietly dies in his seat… and the train breaks down in the middle of the woods.

I love a good closed-door murder mystery — the stakes are high, everyone’s a suspect, and anything can happen. So I went into this with high hopes. And at first, it delivered. My heart was racing (in a good way!), and I was desperate to find out who did it and why.

But then things started to spiral. Another person ends up dead, and from there, the plot began to lose its footing. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’ll just say: I didn’t fully understand Agatha. The way the story painted her as the victim felt… off. And her reactions didn’t always make sense to me.

Overall, I think this book could’ve been stronger with clearer motives behind each murder — something to ground all the twists and tension.

Thank you once again for the e-ARC!

"6:40 to Montreal" by Eva Jurczyk is a psychological suspense novel featuring Agatha, a mystery author struggling with depression, who embarks on a train trip to Montreal. What begins as a peaceful retreat quickly turns into a tense ordeal when a fellow passenger dies mysteriously. Stranded by a blizzard, Agatha and the others are forced to face their secrets, with the looming threat of a murderer among them.

The book excels in its character development, particularly Agatha, whose complex motivations keep the reader intrigued. Though the story starts slowly, it builds suspense, creating an atmosphere of tension and excitement as the plot unfolds on the isolated train.

While the ending may not fully satisfy all readers, "6:40 to Montreal" is a gripping choice for fans of psychological thrillers. With its vivid characters and unexpected twists, it’s perfect for book clubs or anyone seeking a compelling, suspenseful read.

I was really looking forward to this because I thought it was a mystery whereas it's actually a thriller. I enjoyed the snarky main character that you dislike the more you get to know her but the book was quagmired by too many plot details and the ending... it's quite ridiculous.