I loved the premise for the book: a writer struggling to write, gifted a round trip ticket on a long train ride to really focus on her craft. What could possibly go wrong? Except people who shouldn't be on the train are, and then the bodies begin to stack up and the train is stuck....It's a creative spin on a locked room mystery, and reminiscent of Agatha Christie. Unfortunately, the various components do not knit well together, and a defter editorial hand could have worked wonders on the storyline. As it stands, it's a variety of unlikeable characters behaving in increasingly unbelievable ways and the storyline clacks along in less-than-comfortable surroundings. Which is, it's true, similar to some train rides I've experienced!

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this mystery. As always, all opinions shared are exclusively my own.

I enjoyed this book but found it slow in parts. All the reveals at the end were fun but I still felt unsatisfied by the ending; not all the motivations were completely clear to me. A solid 3.5 stars; it might resonate well with other readers.

This was my first time reading an Eva Jurczyk novel. She is an amazing writer. Strong plot line, well developed characters and just enough twists and turns and u turns to keep your mind working hard to figure out the solution to the mystery. The premise is pretty simple. A day trip on a train as a gift to a struggling fiction author to help break her writer’s block. But, nothing is truly as it seems in this book and when a passenger dies just as a howling blizzard stalls the train, confusion and mayhem rule the day. This was a tough book to put down and I lost a bit of sleep trying to get to the end. NetGalley was kind enough to provide me with an advanced reader’s copy but the opinion is my own.

My Review of 6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk

I really enjoyed the Canadian setting—it brought the story to life and made the train journey feel so atmospheric. The mention of everyone wearing Blundstones was such a relatable and funny detail that gave the book a quirky, authentic vibe.

The mystery itself had some good twists, but overall it didn’t quite deliver that edge-of-your-seat feeling I was hoping for. The pacing slowed in parts, and I found myself not really connecting with the characters as much as I wanted to. Some of the conflicts between the passengers felt a little overblown for my taste, and I think I was hoping for just a bit more tension or depth.

That said, the writing is solid and the story is easy to follow, which could make this a great pick for newer readers of the thriller genre who want something more cozy than dark or gory.

Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the Arc and inexchange for an honest Review!

I will not be posting this on my socials.

6:40 to Montreal: 2 Stars 🚞🕷️👩‍💻

I just couldn’t get into this one. I’ll admit I’m pretty picky when it comes to thrillers, so take that as you will.

My issues started right from the beginning—the “hook” in the early chapters centers on the main character’s shady behavior. It quickly becomes clear that she’s either walking out on or cheating on her husband and family, which made it hard for me to connect with or care about Agatha. I wasn’t overly invested in what happened to her for the rest of the story.

The train setting, while initially interesting, made the story feel a bit stagnant. The murders added some much-needed shock and action, but I didn’t feel enough intrigue around who the killer was—there just wasn’t a strong, palpable motive.

The twist was okay, but overall, I just wanted more from the story. Unfortunately, I found myself feeling bored while reading. Maybe I would’ve enjoyed this more during the winter or if I were newer to the thriller genre, but ultimately, it wasn’t my cup of tea.

I want to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me the opportunity to read this e-Arc in exchange for my honest review.

While having a compelling premise, the forward action of this story is a slog. The emergency exit is mentioned right at the building, and two people need to die before they even think to use it? The characters are just props, and the final twist is gross, not in a fun an interested way, but in a "what???" way. The protagonist is a writer who only can write inspired by real events, and she refuses to even change names when she fictionalizes real people. I guess it was going for the anti-hero unreliable narrator thing, but it was gross and unpleasant. Would not recommend, though the plot kept me reading.

I really wanted to like this book because the premise caught my eye and the cover is gorgeous. However, this book would benefit from another round of editing. The narrative jumps around so much that it is alternately too confusing or too convenient (the narrator remembering or revealing key info at the perfect moment). There were also so many comma splices and run-on sentences that I found myself wanting to take a red pen to a physical copy of this book.

I think there is a good story here but the style makes it rough to follow and the writing errors are distracting. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

Agatha is a struggling writer who has had one best seller. She’s under immense pressure to write another book, but has writers block. Her Husband gives her a first class ticket from Toronto to Montreal to hopefully inspire her creativity. He doesn’t realize she is meeting her potential lover in Montreal. She indeed starts to find story ideas when her obnoxious seat mate is bitten by a mysterious spider and dies. Agatha is afraid the spider was meant spider was meant for her. To compound her concern,,the train runs into a blizzard and is at a standstill, with no outside communication. The murderer must still be on the train, and they are stranded in the middle of nowhere.
In this unsuccessful homage to Agatha Christie, several characters are suspects. They are so annoying no one cares. The ending is incredulous, and the story execution is weak. This book is not up to the author’s usual high standard.

2.5 stars rounded down. I loved the premise for this, and the cover attracted me in. Sadly there wasn’t much else I enjoyed - none of the characters are really even remotely likeable, certain things are mentioned as nauseam (Dorcas’ bouncing curls, Blund-whatever boots), and a tiny part of my brain threw up every single time Vivien or Rupinder said “Mommy”. He’s a grown ass student, not a toddler. The reflections by Agatha were random and would pull me out of the story while she mused on Cyanne’s working at the restaurant in the past, or the stitches in Agatha’s leg, etc. Ultimately it was a bit of a slog to read, and I even lost the benefit of the twist at the end, after someone on another review site didn’t hide a spoiler in their review… but the whole plot was just hard to fathom, trying too hard to shock or create tension. While I hoped for a good read, this sadly didn’t deliver for me.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

This book was okay but not quite for me. I do not like to give negative reviews but it was not quite as smooth a reading process as a lot of other thrillers I have read.

Hmm.. I wish I didn't have to write a review for this, I feel bad writing bad ones.. But this one just wasn't it for me. It was actually a DNF, I tried so many times to finish it but I couldn't :(

Not my favorite it had a clunky undeveloped plot , unlikable characters and just wasn’t that good
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review book

A grounded and personal whodunnit with a very chaotic but engaging turn of events that leaves your inner sleuth satisfied.

What can I say? This was... not great. Unlikable characters, clunky writing, extremely underdeveloped (and idiotic) ending.

I feel bad, because I love a good Canadian thriller by a solid Canadian author, but this just was not it. I could barely get through the seemingly mundane and straight up boring chapters in the first half, I tried to stay with it, but it was so dull I couldn’t finish. I was super hopeful about this one so it’s hard for me to write a critical review, but this was not for me. The only saving grace was, growing up in southern Ontario, I recognized and related to many of the towns and scenes that were mentioned throughout.

Agatha’s husband buys her a first class ticket on the train from Toronto to Montreal. She’s an author in a slump. This might be a perfect opportunity to focus on her writing. Now, throw in a blizzard, a train stopped in the middle of nowhere, a dead body or two and locked doors with six people trapped. Who can they trust? Will help arrive before someone else meets their demise? The premise of this book sounded great. It started off well and then fizzled. All of the characters had quirks, secrets, and ultimately they were just not likeable. The plot twists at the end were also too strange. This book started out as a 4. However, the ending was a 2.

Is it any coincidence the main character is named Agatha? The few hints of And There Were None and Strangers on the Train could have been developed to up the quality of this read.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Thank you to the publisher and the author for the arc in exchange for an honest review. This was such a fun ride, pun intended - a modern-day Agatha Christie mystery with d--k pics and social media, to (Blundstone) boot. Eva Jurcyzk's writing is wry, observant, witty and tense, and her characters colorful and memorable. Highly recommend for suspense and mystery-lovers.

Thank you to Poisoned pen press for giving me this book in exchange for my honest review.


I loved the concept of this book when reading the summary. Which is why it hurt so bad when the book fell so flat.

1/5

Holly Collins

First, I want to thank the publisher Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. To quickly recap, this book follows our main character Agatha who recently received a cancer diagnosis and is learning to navigate her life in this new normal. After publishing her first book, she quit her full time job and is looking to start her next book, but is having a hard time. Her husband gifted her a train ticket to Montreal as a Christmas gift to help her focus on writing this new book. The train ride is where we see the bulk of this book take place.

I immediately noticed how the author, Eva Jurczyk draws inspiration from world renowned Agatha Christie. Between the name of our main character and even mentioning her in this book, I can see where she drew parallels from Christie’s books. I really like the way Jurczyk develops our main character Agatha. I really understood her through the book and I could feel what she was feeling the whole time. She could be the reader’s daughter, wife or sister.

One problem I did have with the book is that the pacing felt a little off. The first half seems a little slow, while the ending was very quick to wrap up and very vague. I wish the ending could have been a bit more developed. Without spoiling the ending, it seems like it came out of left field and I wish there was a bit more explaining. I think this is another place Jurczyk tried to parallel Christie's writing style but I don't know that it worked as well.

I also really like how she developed the scenery. I really felt like I was in the train car with Agatha the whole time. It’s winter in Canada, so as you can imagine, the setting is frigid. Adding this to the locked room feel, Jurczyk really made me feel the claustrophobia and fear from the characters.

Overall, this book was very enjoyable and easy to read. I'm glad I read it. I would also recommend this to my friends to read. I would rate it a 3.5 star read, and will look into reading more of this author’s work.

Agatha, the FMC, is stuck in limbo. With a crushing diagnosis, the fear of being forgotten, and running against the clock, her husband does what he thinks is best: give her time to write. That is how she ends up on a train to Montreal. Unfortunately, Agatha is then stuck on the train car after winter weather changes her plans and the first body is discovered. The story has a slow build, but everything starts picking up (metaphorically) when the second body drops. Overall, I loved the twist. There were little crumbs spread throughout, and once Agatha figured it out I was hooked. A fun thriller that will have you binging the story.