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The Man from the Train

The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery

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About this listen

 An Edgar Award finalist for Best Fact Crime, The Man from the Train is an “impressive…open-eyed investigative inquiry wrapped within a cultural history of rural America” (The Wall Street Journal). In this groundbreaking work of historical true crime, legendary statistician and baseball writer Bill James applies his analytical genius to crack an unsolved century-old mystery surrounding one of the deadliest serial killers in American history.

Between 1898 and 1912, families across the United States were brutally murdered in their sleep with the blunt side of an axe. Valuables were left untouched, bodies were staged, and faces covered. Some cases, like the infamous Villisca Axe Murders in Iowa, gained national attention—but few believed the crimes were connected. Fewer still noticed that every family lived within walking distance of a train line.

Digging through thousands of newspapers, court transcripts, and public records, James and his daughter Rachel uncovered a chilling truth: these murders were the work of one man, traveling by rail, who would go on to become one of America’s most prolific yet largely forgotten serial killers.

Riveting and immersive, The Man from the Train offers a vivid portrait of turn-of-the-century America, exposing how cultural blind spots, flawed investigations, and opportunistic detectives allowed this killer to operate undetected. Blending meticulous research with narrative drive, this modern classic of true crime nonfiction will fascinate readers of Devil in the White City, My Favorite Murder, and fans of unsolved mysteries and historical crime investigations. Americas Crime Murder Social Sciences True Crime United States Exciting Mystery Sports Fiction
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Great unknown mystery solved with logic and a little bit of humour. Narrator was fantastic. I hope Bill James (and Rachel) sound just like him.

Best crime book I’ve nearly read in years

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Really interesting, frightening and atmospheric book about a series of axe familcides across North America at the beginning of the 20th century. Well researched and perfectly captures rural, small town life in the US at that time. Very frustrating at times, partly down to lack of available information and the attitude of law enforcement at the time. I also think there is too much repetition, I get it for linking the crimes, but certainly phrases or information was unnecessarily repeated again and again. However this was a fascinating story and I couldn't stop listening.

Fascinating unknown story.

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All the components of a good book here. All the evidence presented seems well researched and thought out. The suspect presented seems plausible if not probable. I was inspired to explore aspects further and re explore the arguments and evidence a second time.

The book opened up an area of American crime history to me in a very accessible manner and I am left in no doubt that there was more of a sequence to the murders of 1911/1912 than previously thought.

A thoroughly enjoyable read/ listen!

Intriguing and persuasive argument

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Really interesting, a very impressive amount of research.

My only real complaint was some of the authors own profiling on one of the Villisca suspects.

The authors personal opinion on the suspect did not appear to be based on any expert professional opinion, and certain illegal and very concerning behaviours that involve this suspect are downplayed, minimised and flat out dismissed.
I was left worry that the author felt these sexual behaviours were perfectly innocent and that a man of slight build would be harmless. It makes for uncomfortable listening.
This section felt out of place, considering the level of detailed research that was taken for the book overall.

There also appears to be a glitch in the last chapter, the story seemed to skip forward quite a bit.

Researched

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It's a fascinating story and the authors have made out a solid case against a man who's most likely been dead for close on a century, maybe more. It also gives a good view of rural America and the limitations of murder investigations in the first decade of the 20th century.

Makes you think

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