Train travel in books

With the literary train pulling into the last station of the @transworldbooks booktrail tour, train travel via a book is  the new way to travel! There’s sometimes a murder, sometimes a little romance but always intrigue…

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

The last book featured in the Transworld booktrail tour was the Girl on the Train. Now this was  a cracking read I took on the train back in January to recreate the atmosphere and the setting, oh and the ability to do just as Rachel did and look out the window and wonder….

This is apparently being made into a film with Emily Blunt and I can’t wait!

I read this on a train for the ultimate booktrail and I really recommend this as you can spy into houses and watch your fellow passengers just as Rachel does….

Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express

Just watched the TV version of this again with Albert Finney in the staring role. Now, there’s something about murder on a train – closed compartments, a limited chance to get away, the murderer must still be on the train scenario…..

This is still the classic of all murder mysteries and classic Agatha Christie.  Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. An American businessman who was travelling on the busy train was found murdered in his bed – with the door locked from the inside. Hercule Poirot slowly starts to unravel the stories of each of the passengers and finds that nothing is as it seems.

I don’t know how many times I’ve read this but I can read it again and again and get the same amount of pleasure from it each time. It’s nostalgic and a classic.

Mr Briggs’ Hat: A Sensational Account of Britain’s First Railway Murder – Kate Colquhoun

A very real life case of a murder on a train was explored in the novel by Kate Colquhoun – Mr Brigg’s Hat explores how in July 1864, Thomas Briggs was travelling home when he got on the 9.45pm Hackney service of the North London railway.

By the time the train had arrived in Hackney, Mr Briggs has seemingly disappeared yet the carriage he was travelling in was stained in blood and a hat was found on the seat.

This is a great read as there is a real sense of police work and investigations back at a time when police procedure was new and unlike that it is today. The whole affair is more shocking and suprising as it’s true and this book really gripped for the way it immersed me into the time, the attitudes and society of the time.

A Night on the Orient Express by Veronica Henry

A happy train journey to end with – one with romance, flowers and the ultimate destination of all – The Orient Express is back but this time, it’s a case of strangers meeting, families getting along and young lovers spending time together….

I really felt like an observer on this train. Seeing so many people and wondering who they were travelling with and why they were on the most iconic train in the world. Maybe I’m just nosy and love people watching…..but I really enjoyed meeting everyone and finding out their stories.

Which ever book you curl with, enjoy your journey!