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.

“6:40 to Montreal” offers an interesting setup: a writer named Agatha boards a train from Toronto to Montreal for a quiet day of writing, only for the journey to take a turn when the train breaks down and another passenger dies suddenly.

The claustrophobic atmosphere and snowbound setting create a palpable sense of tension, and the premise holds promise for a thrilling mystery. While the characters are well thought out, I struggled to understand Agatha, whose motivations and actions sometimes felt inconsistent.

The twist at the end, while ambitious, didn't fully resonate with me, leaving some questions unanswered. Despite these critiques, the novel's unique setting and suspenseful moments make it a worthwhile read for fans of psychological thrillers.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing the ARC!

This story followed Agatha on a train to Montreal. After breaking down in the middle of nowhere, the story gets very interesting. Despite taking place in one location, the pace was perfect and the feel for the story was easy to follow. Overall I enjoyed this one and definitely will check out more from Eva Jurczyk.

3 stars for a murder mystery with an ending that I found unsatisfactory. Agatha, a best selling author, is given a first class train ticket on the train from Toronto to Montreal. Her husband gives her this ticket so she can get some writing done with no distractions. But then someone on the train dies in a seat that was assigned to Agatha. The man had bullied Agatha into giving her the seat. But he dies from a venomous Australian spider bite. Agatha and the passengers realize that it was murder, but the train has stopped in the middle of a storm. The door to the other cars automatically locks when the storm knocks the power out. They anxiously await help but none comes for hours and a passenger goes into a diabetic coma.
Agatha does find out who the killer is, but her reaction was unsettling.
Thank You Poison Pen Press for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.

Pub Date Sep 23 2025

I really wanted to like this one, a locked room mystery, but on a train. This story drug on for way too long and with only one character's viewpoint. The other characters weren't very interesting and the repetive musings of the main character were boring. I almost put it down and didn't finish and maybe I should have. The 'twist' at the end was strange and didn't feel like it fit.

6:40 to Montreal was my first read by Eva Jurczyk, and I wasn’t sure what to expect going in. What I got was a suspenseful, atmospheric mystery that kept me turning the pages — even if I’m still not entirely sure what happened by the end.

The story follows Agatha, whose husband gifts her a train ticket to help inspire her to finally write a second book. The plan is a scenic, peaceful day-long train ride. But a fierce winter blizzard throws those plans off track — literally. The train gets stuck, panic sets in among the passengers, and then... people start dying.

To make things worse (or better, in terms of drama), Agatha’s arch nemesis just so happens to be on board too. As tensions rise, so do the questions: Is there a killer among them? Or is something more sinister at play? The truth doesn't unravel until the very end, which helped hold my attention and added to the eerie atmosphere.

Agatha herself is a classic unreliable narrator — and that worked both for and against the story. It made for a tense and intriguing read, but also left me feeling a bit disoriented by the final pages. I liked the book overall, but the ending left me scratching my head, unsure if I’d missed something or if the ambiguity was intentional.

Still, the isolated train setting during a blizzard was a great backdrop for suspense, and Jurczyk does a solid job building a slow burn mystery. If you enjoy unreliable narrators, locked-room vibes, and a creeping sense of dread, this might be worth the ride.

I want to start by saying thrillers are not usually my genre of choice. But I was in the mood for something mysterious and this trapped on a train story sounded interesting. Unfortunately, I did not really enjoy it. There were parts where I felt like I wanted to keep reading, but overall the twists just felt very odd and the ending was really disappointing.

This was a fun take on a locked-room thriller that would be great for those that love a slow burn with quirky characters. I do wish they had been a bit more developed and at times felt I had to push myself to keep going. The ending was unexpected but seemed to come together a little too neatly after the long buildup. However, overall I did enjoy the concept

All aboard the 6:40 to Montreal.. Choo Choo 🚂

This first class cabin, train journey is a classic locked door murder mystery, through the scenic Canadian wilderness..

No accessible WiFi, No phone reception what could possibly go wrong!! A brutal Snowstorm haults the train..!

Agatha, a mother, wife & author aboards the 6.40 to Montreal using the gift as a writers retreat, with an ulterior motive.

Each first class passenger had their own flaws & uniqunes which adds a little depth to the story.

I did enjoy the inner thought process & mind wandering of Agatha, The mystery did keep me guessing the entire time.. if you love a closed door who-dunn-it?? Give this one a read.

I was initially intrigued by this premise, but as the book went on this ultimately fell a little flat for me. I didn’t necessarily get the can’t put this book down feeling I like to get with thrillers. The lack of character development and side characters with quests that felt like they had no tie in to the end. However, this did keep me intrigued but wasn’t my favorite.

Eva Jurczyk's 6:40 to Montreal offers a promising setup—a train journey with a murder mystery twist—but the execution falls short. The pacing drags, particularly in the middle, causing the suspense to wane. While the premise is intriguing, the plot ultimately left me disappointed. A 3-star read that had potential but didn't quite deliver

As someone who absolutely loves a good murder mystery this story really was a great read. It captivated my attention early on and held it throughout the story. When a snowstorm halts the train in the middle of nowhere, and it quickly becomes clear that being stranded is the least of their concerns. There were several different subplots within the story that kept things interesting. It really was a great read. I appreciate Netgalley giving me the opportunity to read and review this story.

The mystery kept me guessing the entire time—just when I thought I had a suspect figured out, a new twist would throw me off track. Overall lovedddd.

I really enjoyed this tense and atmospheric, twisty ride of a thriller. 6:40 to Montreal takes the classic locked-room mystery and throws it onto a snowbound train in the middle of the Canadian wilderness, with no WiFi, no escape, and danger lurking among the passengers.

Agatha is a writer with secrets of her own, and what starts as a quiet writing retreat turns into a slow-burn unraveling of trust, truth, and survival. The pacing kept me hooked, the setting was claustrophobic in the best way, and I loved how the tension built with each stop and stall.

If you’re in the mood for a smart, chilling whodunnit that keeps you guessing until the final stop, this is one train you’ll want to board.

Although the book had an interesting premise that initially drew me in, I found it difficult to connect with the main narrator. Their voice and perspective didn’t resonate with me, which made it hard to stay fully engaged. Ultimately, the execution didn’t live up to the potential of the concept, and I struggled to stay invested in the story.

dnf

6:40 to Montreal is an intriguing thriller harkening back to Murder on the Orient Express. The main character is named Agatha : ) The ending was a twist that I certainly did NOT see coming.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this book!

The train may stop for Agatha on her trip to Montreal, but the twists getting on chugging along.

3.5 rounded up ✨
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC!
As a Montrealer, this was a really fun read! I enjoyed the train mystery vibes and the journey.
No spoilers, but I did find the ending and plot twist a bit out there. I think if you go into this story and suspend your disbelief a little, it can be even more enjoyable. I will say that I did like the overall message of the book and reading the author's inspiration helped tie the story together.

6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk; this cover is giving huge Orient Express vibes. Obviously those are very large shoes to fill and I wasn't expecting it to be anything like that, but this one fell flat by comparison to me.

Eva Jurczyk's 6:40 to Montreal was billed as an intense thriller, so I expected a fast-paced, gripping read. However, the novel struggled to hold my attention, as the buildup felt glacial compared to other similarly recommended books. I couldn’t connect with the characters at any point, and I never felt there was a major turning point that delivered any real satisfaction.

The author's writing style was also challenging. While her lavish language might suit a meandering, contemplative narrative, in a forced-proximity thriller that promises heart-pounding twists, it felt more distracting than effective.

I’ll admit I may have some bias, as I’m not a huge fan of the whodunit-style mystery, which this novel leans into heavily. That said, I believe most of my critique comes down to personal preference.

Jurczyk is clearly a talented writer, but she may be better suited to exploring other genres that better match her stylistic strengths.

Thank you NetGalley and poisoned pen for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.