Few Christie novels boast such a dramatic and memorable opening chapter as this one. Travelling on the eponymous train, Mrs Elspeth McGillicuddy witnesses a murder. In a train passing her own, she sees through the window a man strangling a woman. But no-one believes her story apart from her friend Jane Marple, for there is no news of a woman having been found dead, either on a train or in the vicinity of the spot where the crime took place. Patient investigation convinces Miss Marple that the body must have been secreted somewhere on the estate of Rutherford Hall, owned by an elderly miser called Crackenthorpe. In order to test her theory, she persuades Lucy Eyelesbarrow to take up a position at Rutherford Hall with a view to finding evidence of the crime.
Lucy, a resourceful and intelligent young woman, is one of the most original and agreeable supporting characters in the whole Christie canon, and many commentators have expressed regret that this is the only book in which she appears. The plot is neatly composed, and the killer so efficient that it must be said that Miss Marple relies rather heavily on intuition to pin the crime upon him. The part she plays in the climactic scene is also a little 'over the top' considering her age and frailty. But these are minor quibbles: this book proves once again that it is much safer to rely on Agatha Christie than on the British rail network