Girl on a Train (2013) By A J Waines

Several weeks ago, my close friend Angela recommended I read The Girl on The Train.  She says she warned me to be careful with the title, and though I don’t doubt that (she has a flawless memory) obviously, I forgot.  

Last weekend, we had brunch while she was changing from a train to a plane in Chicago. In conversation I told her I had started the book and was around page 100.  In briefly discussing the plot however, we weren’t making a/the connection. Ends up I caught on the wrong train.  But, it wasn’t a bad trip.  It also turns out that I’m not the only person to make this mistake because sales of Girl on a Train by A J Waines are surging.

While considered “new” in the US market, Waines is a best-selling author in Great Britain with such titles as: Dark Places to Hide, The Evil Beneath, and No Longer Safe.  You can tell by her titles that psychological thrillers and crime stories are her specialty.  She’s less gritty than Sara Parestky, and less political than Matt Benyon Rees, standing comfortably on her own.

The plot of Girl on a Train begins – obviously -- with a train, boarding at Portsmouth, England. Anna Rothman, the lead character who is a freelance journalist, sits next to a young woman who seems merely aloof at first and then later crosses over to out-and-out stressed.  Both are headed back to London. 

Yet when the train stops at an intermediate station, this other passenger will exit, but not before secretly slipping a locket into Anna’s carry-on.  While in the station, Anna’s carry-on gets stolen, but then abandoned by the thief without anything of value, including the locket, being taken.   

When the train commences again, it hits and kills a pedestrian, who is of course the stressed out young woman.  The rest of the novel entails the “why” of the locket and some improbable clues and subplots.  Police are determined to call it a suicide, Anna thinks otherwise.

The rule of thumb for grading a mystery novel is was it suspenseful?  “A” train begins its trip rather slowly, but then speeds into the Station quite fast. 

Recommendation: Yes, and I’ll probably read some of her other books.  Oh, I’ll also read The Girl on “The” Train.