What She Saw Last Night is my first book by author Mason Cross. Set on the Caledonian Sleeper Train, a women boards the train and sees a young girl with her mother, however in the morning the mother is dead and there is no sign of the young girl. A gripping thriller.

Couldn't stop reading! So gripping and tense. I raced through it in just one day, which is testament to that. Can't wait to read more from the author.

Very atmosphere read and slow burning. Liked it but did expect more. Did feel like I was on the sleeper train with the characters.

This is a fast paced thriller.
This is a great book with characters that I really cared about.
It was a 5 star read until 75% of the way through then it seemed to lose its way a little.
Still a good book though

I very much enjoyed this book. It has a good story and excellent main characters. I would definately recommend this book.

I did enjoy this book, not least because I’m keen to experience the Caledonian Sleeper! This is a gripping mystery, with engaging characters who have depth and a back story, and a twisty plot that keeps your attention until the reveal.

I really enjoyed this book. Jenny Bowen is travelling from London to Scotland on the sleeper train. When she is boarding she helps a young woman with a small girl. Later that night the woman is found dead in her compartment, but there is no sign of the girl. When the police investigate they find no sign of the child, either on the booking or on CCTV. But Jenny knows what she saw, and starts to make her own inquiries. With the help of a local police officer, she finds herself mixed up with some very nasty individuals who are determined to silence her. This is a real page turner and I would definitely read other books by this author. Thanks to Netgalley for a preview copy.
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Whilst thanks go to the publisher & author for the copy of the book, all opinions are my own. 
The “blurb” about this book intrigued me: Jenny boards a train & sees a woman with a child – but when the woman is found dead a few hours later, there's no sign of the little girl. The train company have no record of a child, and CCTV shows the dead woman boarding alone…
Jenny boards the Caledonian Sleeper Train at the last minute, and as she wanders through the train to find her sleeping compartment (sorry, “room”) she has to wait a moment in the narrow corridor for a woman to enter a door slightly further down the corridor. Jenny picks up a shabby grey bunny that has been dropped and hands it to the woman, glimpsing a young girl in the compartment as she passes. Settling into her own berth for the night, Jenny ponders the two events that have led her to take this journey – her father’s death & the impending divorce from her unfaithful husband. Leaving her room early the next morning to visit the toilet at the end of the corridor, Jenny discovers that her neighbour, the woman she saw earlier, is lying dead in an open doorway. When the police arrive, nobody believes her when she mentions that there was a child there – there is no evidence that a child (or a mysterious man) was ever aboard the train.
Jenny knows what she saw & will not let it lie, even when the local police declare it a resolved case of a drug overdose & close it quickly. Sergeant Mike Fletcher is the only person who believes Jenny & when he finds out that she has been doing her own research into a possible missing child, he follows her to London and what follows is a movie-worthy set of events following the stubborn, resilient, and rather impulsive Jenny and the wily former soldier Mike as they try to resolve the mystery. Whilst there are moments when you have to accept that what makes a good story might not be *quite* what would happen in reality, but overall it’s a gripping story with plenty of twists & new revelations - I also liked that it didn’t fall into the “romance between policeman & suspect” cliché.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to read this book as soon as I first read the blurb and I’m pleased to say it didn’t disappoint. Jenny boards the sleeper train and sees a young woman with a child boarding just ahead of her. During the journey the woman is found dead but there is no evidence that the child ever existed! What follows is Jenny’s mission to find out who the woman was and to locate the child. This novel does require some suspension of disbelief at times but I don’t mind that in a thriller that races along and keeps me completely engaged in what is happening and this one certainly did that. I definitely didn’t see the ending coming but it was very satisfying to see how everything turned out. I’ll definitely be reading more by this author in the future.

You may know Mason Cross for his Carter Blake series - fast-paced, US-set thrillers, but writing as M J Cross 'What She Saw Last Night' moves closer to home, opening on The Caledonian Sleeper, the action moves between the Highlands and London.

Jenny Bowen boards the sleeper in a hurry and as she heads for her 'cabin' she has a chance encounter with a woman and a young girl. When she wakes the next day the woman is dead and there is no trace of the girl. The police investigation is perfunctory and Jenny's concerns for the girl are dismissed as 'fantasy'.

Jenny is at a bit of a crossroads in her life - she's in the midst of a divorce and is returning to her family home after the death of her father. While the emotional turmoil could have caused an overactive imagination, in fact her concern for the girl gives her some purpose and direction. She starts her own 'investigation', trying to find a missing girl to match the one she saw - and in doing so she opens a whole, violent, can of worms.

The book is what I would describe as a 'police thriller' - while there is an official police involvement in the mystery the plot is more about a 'race against time' feeling to find the missing girl than finding a solution to the woman's murder. There are some fast-paced action scenes - both through the hubbub of London (hard to picture at the moment) and a more remote setting in Scotland.

I quite liked the main characters but if I have any quibbles it's that Jenny doesn't seem to suffer much emotional impact from some of the more challenging events and for a software developer she picks herself up pretty quickly from some physical encounters.

Thanks to Orion Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#WhatSheSawLastNight #NetGalley

A compelling, enigmatic mystery from the eminently talented, Mason Cross. 'What She Saw Last Night' is a tour de force of a thriller that simply oozes suspense from every page, every line, and every word of its expertly- constructed narrative. If the blurb reads like something from Agatha Christies playbook then you would be right in reaching this conclusion. Although, lets face it, most author's of this genre owe some debt of gratitude to the legendary Christie and her now classic tropes of crime fiction. What Cross does, however, is to deploy these tropes in new and innovative ways, and the result is simply stunning. This is a classic locked-room (or locked-train mystery), with our main protagonist, Jenny Bowen, embarking on what starts out as a pedestrian journey on a Caledonian sleeper. Pedestrian, that is, a dead body is found in her carriage. What concerns Jenny, after her gruesome find, is the missing child that was travelling with the dead woman. There is no record of the child, and no witness to her existence. Is Jenny imagining the child? The police certainly think so, but events begin to take an unexpected turn. The tension builds and builds, expertly ratcheted up by the gifted Cross, until it reaches a stunning crescendo. With its taut-plotting, perfectly-calibrated prose and wonderfully realised characters, this thrilling thriller ticks all the boxes for aficionados of crime fiction. Cross is a natural storyteller, and 'What She Saw Last Night' is an apt exemplar of his prodigious talent. Simply gripping from the first to last page.

Agatha Christie meets The 39 Steps with a contemporary twist. Perfect for fans of classic crime fiction.

Mason Cross writes a hugely engrossing and entertaining, gripping thriller of ruthlessness, lies, mystery, and menace.

In this standalone story, Jenny Bowen is on her way home, choosing to travel by train. After boarding the Caledonian sleeper train in London, she works her way through the train carriages to get to her compartment. She assists a harassed and dishevelled woman travelling with a young girl, presumably mother and daughter, as she passes. Waking up very early the next day, Jenny sees their door ajar, only to find the woman dead...

Sergeant Mike Fletcher and DI Greg Porter attend the incident, and Porter sees it as a straightforward death, intending to close down any investigation as quickly as possible. But when Jenny asks about the little girl, the Transport Police don't believe her, so she tells herself that everyone else is right: she must have imagined the little girl. But Jenny knows that her mind wasn't playing tricks with her...

An IT expert, Jenny starts looking for evidence of a missing girl that resembles the one she believes she saw. For his part, Mike is unwilling to automatically discount Jenny's version of events, so they team up in an attempt to find the missing child.

The novel alternates between Jenny and DS Mike Fletcher's viewpoints, and Mike is the only official to take Jenny seriously. This approach works well offering the reader a wider view and alternative takes on events. Jenny is a well fleshed out, beautifully written, multi-dimensional character who really enhanced the story for me with her tenacity and determination. The plot is exciting and brimming with action so I couldn’t stop turning the pages.

What She Saw Last Night is a compelling and cracking story that brought no disappointments and everything was beautifully finished in the fabulous and satisfying denouement. I would love to read more from this gifted story-teller and I am delighted to recommend this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Orion via NetGalley at my request and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

Thank you Net Galley and Orion Publishing for the ARC of this book.
I was drawn to this as it was very Agatha Christie ish.
Although I enjoyed the book and it kept me reading, it was very reminiscent of other novels I have read before and I was hoping for a real twist.
I enjoyed it and would recommend but had hoped for better.

This is a great modern British thriller. I loved the fact that it was set in part on a sleeper train and later in a Scottish manor house. It has the feel of a mix between an up to date Agatha Christie and Spooks. Set at a fast pace, it includes plenty of murders and a missing child. Jenny is totally unbelievable as a character... nobody would be that determined... but you can't help but will her on making it a great read. And one day this will be a fantastic film!

Mystery Aboard The Caledonian Sleeper....
Jenny Bowen could not have foreseen the catalogue of events that followed her boarding of the Caledonian Sleeper train. Boarding the train, ready for a lengthy journey home, she finds herself drawn into an inexplicable situation. Engrossing tale with well drawn characters and, whilst stretching the realms of credibility, an entertaining read.

I absolutely loved this book. It is a great story, starting in a way that would encourage anyone to start reading - the journey from London to Scotland via sleeper train. In the best Agatha Christie tradition it lures the reader in from the first page.
At times one has to suspend disbelief as Jenny gets herself into some mighty awkward situations, but somehow the plot evens out.
A great book and I look forward to more by this author.

Good fast paced read. Kept me reading the whole way through. Strong interesting characters and a good storyline. Mason Cross is definitely an author I would recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This book started really well. It caught my attention, a little bit different to what I had previously read but sadly I found it difficult to read near the end. There was often a lot of description of places (about 3 pages worth just describing a house) which I found really boring, but when it came to a murder, it was two sentences long.! I would have preferred for the atmosphere and drama to be built up for the murders and chases rather than an elaborate description of a room.

Despite this it is a good book and others may enjoy this kind of writing. I wouldn't necessarily say it had a twist and it seemed a little far fetched but if you enjoy a thriller, this may be the book for you.

Thank you for this advanced read.

If you are looking for a thriller of a book with a few twists along the way, then this is the book for you!
This book was well written and the format was great, in the sense that it kept you guessing right until the very end!
The story begins with a lady called Jenny who boards the Caledonian Sleeper from London to Scotland. Jenny is grieving for her father and going through a divorce.

While looking for her cabin once on board, Jenny helps a distressed looking woman with a young girl, who she assumes to be her daughter, soon she finds her cabin and falls straight to sleep.

Alarmingly, Jenny wakes up, only to discover the woman who she helper dead in her cabin and there's no sign of the little girl, intact the train company of no trace of a child boarding that sat and the cameras shows the lady boarding alone!

The police fail to believe Jenny saw a girl, and force her to forget the whole thing, but Jenny can’t and so off she sets to discover what really happened. Jenny uncovers all sorts of things on her mission to find out what happen to the little girl and finds herself in danger herself.

This book really ramps up in the last third of the book with an ending you don’t see coming!

It has been a difficult year for Jenny Bowen and she is returning to Fort William to settle her father’s estate. She thinks nothing of it when she stops to help a young woman and girl on the sleeper but has second thoughts when the next morning she finds the woman dead and the girl missing. The police think she imagined the girl, due to her bereavement, but she can’t let the matter rest.

I thoroughly enjoyed What She Saw Last Night which is an engrossing thriller with a few good twists and a high body count. The novel alternates its point of view between Jenny and DS Mike Fletcher of the Transport Police, who is the only official to take Jenny seriously. As they are both working towards the same end, finding a child, this approach works well giving the reader a wider view and alternative takes on events.

What to say about the plot? It is exciting and action packed so I couldn’t stop turning the pages but it is full of serendipity - easily acquired information, lucky coincidences and situations that match their skill sets. It doesn’t actually bother me as the thrill is in the situation and non stop action, rather than realism and likelihood. It does, however, make the novel seem a little glib.

There’s not much to say about the characters, the good guys are smart and resourceful although not so smart as to stop digging when it gets dangerous and the bad guys are uniformly nasty.

What She Saw Last Night is a good, undemanding read which I have no hesitation in recommending.