Reviews

A Christmas Railway Mystery by Edward Marston

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kbkittyb's review

2.0

Not the best. It was...okay. Predictable and cheesy are the first words that spring to mind. The characters are stereotypical and exaggerated. Reminded me of scooby doo in some places.

I read it to get into the festive spirit. I was disappointed in this also. Not Christmas-y at all, just set in December. Not the cosy read I expected.

It was, however, an easy read that did keep me reading without getting too disinterested. The ending appeared somewhat rushed but not too out of place. The constant switch between differing narratives was also not something I relished.

An alright read but a bit too cringey for me. But some of the characters were endearing in their own way.

jakwalker's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

lorebooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

annareadsmysteries's review

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2.0

I have debated this long and hard. I want to find something from Edward Marston that finally gets at least a 4 - I mean, it's Edward Marston, surely he has written something good. Well, I'm sad to say that this was not it.

I've picked this up, as it was advertised as a Christmas mystery, but there is not much Christmas in this book. The only mention of it is that the detectives 'must' solve a murder that happened before Christmas so that they can travel home and spend time with their families. There are also sections inserted into the story, where the main Inspector's wife is decorating the house and is waiting for letters from her husband, debating with her father if his husband will arrive home or not... These parts kept repeating to the point that I'd started jumping over them. But without these parts, this was not festive at all.

Now let's talk about the storytelling. It was so bad - so plain, direct - condescending even. Often I felt like either this is written for children, either the author thinks we are idiots.
I made it a point to look up if this is at least classified as YA, but nope - It's for adults alright.

There is not much to talk about this book otherwise - it's a story that could have functioned without the Christmas element and it has a very weak murderer revelation. If you have already read this, you must agree that the person the author chose as the killer did not work and the motive was so weak that it did not make sense why that person would do a few things and then be revealed as the one who committed the deeds.

SO with all said and written down, I would not recommend much from Marston. Some of his Murder on the Cunard line books are alright and he does really good story collections, on the other hand, so feel free to pick up anything edited by him.

julesreadsallsorts's review

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3.0

An easy read and perfect for a festive season. The story was engaging but it didn’t grab me so I had to make myself come back to the book time and time to finish. I think this is partly because the writing is quite simple and the characters of substance are all male, don’t think this book would pass the Bechdel test. An OK read for the holidays but it’s unlikely that I’d be reaching out for other books in this series.