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Murder on the Cornish Train

Cornish Murder Mysteries, Book 1

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Murder on the Cornish Train

By: JM Hall
Narrated by: John Telfer
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One missing passenger. One dead body. Is it murder on the Cornish train?

It is a dark and stormy night when Jeff boards the Cornish sleeper train at Paddington station.

As they make their way down the dark British coast, waves crash over the carriages and the wheels rattle in the gale.

Arriving in Cornwall the next morning, Jeff discovers one passenger has vanished into thin air.

The next day, another is found dead on a windswept beach.

Jeff can't accept these are coincidences.

Could he hold the clue to catch the killer who boarded the Cornish train?©2026 J.M. Hall (P)2026 Hodder & Stoughton Limited Amateur Sleuths Animals Cosy Culinary Genre Fiction Mystery Small Town & Rural
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Very disappointed. I've read and enjoyed all J M Hall's previous books. Had been looking forward to new characters and a different setting. Where to begin. The title is slightly bizarre. Only a small fraction of the story is set on a train, and no murder takes place on said train. 80% of the book is set in Cornwall far away from any train. Mostly in a hotel and the wild area around it. In the first scene in a station waiting room we are introduced to 4 couples. I concentrated as expected them to be the characters and suspects in the story. Within pages 3 of the 4 vanish never to be mentioned again. In the brief train sequence the character we meet most aside from central character is a steward. Assumed he'd be part of plot. Once off train, never seen again. The whole beginning is basically pointless. All it does is briefly introduce 2 characters we do meet at the hotel. It would have been easier if the book started at the hotel. Once in Cornwall it's very slow. Nothing much happens. Good descriptions of coast and the remote building which did have atmosphere. I stuck with it because of the author's previous work. This is nowhere close. No spoilers, but it does all resolve and make sense. Very few characters or suspects. The second half is better than the first. I'm guessing it might have been published unedited as it is littered with mistakes. Spelling errors (including character names). Repeat words in sentences. Some sentences have clearly been altered and not read back as original structure is still there. Generally very surprised after the 4 'Pat, Liz and Thelma' books. They were warm and real with great characterisation. I see on Anazon this is title 1 of 2. I won't be investing in Jeff's future. He didn't quite work for me. There was potential in bits of him, but largely disjointed. Sad to say, the poorest light crime I've read in years.

Disappointing

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having read and thoroughly enjoyed JM Halls previous books I was excited to read this new story - and was interested in where his imagination would take me without his 3 amazing retired primary school teachers to amuse and beguile.

Unfortunately for me, I found this very different book wasnt what I was hoping for. I found the plot required a suspension of disbelief which was beyond me, there was none of the humour I have previously enjoyed and I couldn't relate to the characters - or even like or sympathise with them.

the narrator was professional but also seemed to struggle relating to the characters and plot as felt quite monotone at time and didn't (or maybe couldnt) draw me into the story

far fetched

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Loved the immediate connection with main character. Great murder sleuth and excellently written as always

Super

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I just didn’t like the main character and the fact the narration remained with him . The teacher detectives in his previous stories had an energy and the pace was much quicker as the plot narration moved between them. This was turgid in comparison .
Sorry I really did want to enjoy this new direction but this wasn’t for me nor I suspect for the fans of our retired trio. I can’t really understand why an author would sabotage his own success but he has managed it spectacularly here .

Disappointing after the previous books

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