Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: 6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk

  

Eva Jurczyk is a librarian performing collection development for University of Toronto Libraries by day and an author by night. She’s published two novels, the third is forthcoming this fall.

6:40 to Montreal (Poisoned Pen Press, 2025) is clearly a nod to Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, including the main character’s name. Agatha lives in Toronto, she is married to Teddy, a restaurant manager, and they have a son named Freddie. Agatha is an aspiring writer with multiple rejection slips to show for it. A couple of years ago, strictly as a lark, she wrote a fluffy murder mystery about a yoga instructor and would-be media influencer modeled on a young woman who had worked in her husband’s restaurants for several years. The book became a runaway hit, to Agatha’s surprise. The yoga instructor, whom Agatha thought would not see the book, recognized herself in the story and boiled over with rage, threatening Agatha with violence.

In addition to her unexpected status of bestselling author, Agatha was also diagnosed with advanced stage melanoma. She’s undergone surgery and is taking medication to reduce the likelihood of a recurrence. She is overwhelmed with grief at the thought of not living to see her son grow up and she’s been unable to do much of anything, include write another bestseller. 

To cheer her up and give her time to write, Teddy gives her a round-trip train ticket to Montreal. Agatha arrives at the station early despite the building snowstorm, takes her seat, and soon after an older man demands that she give him her place. The car is nearly empty and she moves across the aisle.

The snowstorm turns into a furious blizzard; the train slows and eventually stops. About that time they notice the older man who took Agatha’s seat is dead. Murdered, the group realizes.

The loss of power caused the wifi connection to vanish, the doors to lock, and the internal telephone to close down. Agatha has plenty of time to wonder if she is supposed to be dead instead of the man who took her place.

Another death, a passenger in diabetic coma, a missing attendant, and a small group of passengers who grow increasingly frantic. There’s a twist at the end that could be interpreted in more than one way.

Reviews on GoodReads are mixed. Some readers loved it, some disliked it, a few didn’t know what to think about it. I find myself in the latter camp, mostly because of a gap or two in the plot, the ambiguous final surprise, and Agatha’s reaction to it.

 

 

·         Publisher: ‎Poisoned Pen Press

·         Publication date: ‎October 28, 2025

·         Language: ‎English

·         Print length: ‎352 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎1464244464

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1464244469

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4gznnMP

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2025

 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.