I was drawn up read this book as it reminded me of one of the Agatha Christie novels. And was expecting a different, twister version.

I enjoyed it but couldn’t help but feel I’d read it before.

Four years ago I was lucky enough to meet MJ Cross at Harrogate Crime Writing Festival for an author Blogger since then I have had all of his books on my never ending mountain which unfortualty are still still waiting to be read. How bad am I! So I jumped at the chance to read this one.

The author is known for his Carter Blake Series even though I haven’t read any yet. This is a standalone and at a guess a totally different read. When Jenny Bowen is traveling home on the train to discover a lady that is dead in her cabin and a child missing that Jenny assumes is her daughter.

We are taken on a rollercoaster ride has we follow Jenny and unravel the mystery of both instances. I was gripped from start to finish and couldn’t read this fast enough wanting to know what was going to happen next.

This is a very clever and well written story. I love the authors style of writing.

If you’re looking for a fast paced, action packed thriller then this is the book for you which I highly recommend.

I will definitely be reading those books I have every soon…..I loved It

Thank you to Tracy Fenton for inviting me to take part on the tour.

#WhatSheSawLastNight #NetGalley
A brilliant story.
Jenny Bowen is going home, she boarded on the Caledonian Sleeper. In the search of her room, she found a tensed woman in her mid twenties and a young girl whose toy wss on the floor. Entering into her room, she fell asleep and when she woke up in midnight, she found that the woman is dead and there's no trace of that little girl. She remembered seeing a tall man in a black coat stepping into a room beside hers. Defectives are called to investigate the scene but they found nothing of their interest and therefore declaring the case as a simple open and shut one. Everyone on the train denied of seeing any tall man in black coat and a small girl which Jenny told them were there when she was boarded on the train. But when DS Mike found an evidence of a needle cap in the room beside Jenny's, he started his own investigation without the permission of his boss. And then he and Jenny together started searching for the little girl and to know what happened on that night in the train.
The plot of the story is good but it was dragging, sometimes i felt that i lost my grip but due to its plot i kept reading but the ending didn't surprise me much. Although twists and turns came in the story from time to time but then it felt dragging. But overall ita a good read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for giving me an advance copy of this suspense thriller.
Characters of Mike, Jenny and Klenmore were very strong and leave an impression in your mind while others are just ok.
Narration of the story is simple but it felt a bit boring in the ending.
A good read.

I loved the premise of this book. The setting on the overnight sleeper train was great. Atmospheric and cleverly written so you could imagine and feel the rundown carriages. I did feel parts were somewhat unrealistic but completed a fast paced, action filled story. Great characters.

It was a very insightful novel, with a strong cast of characters. I enjoyed the story line very much and would definitely recommend this book.

This was a right caper of a book with a chilling villain and a gung-ho hero! I enjoyed the characters of Jenny and Mike, but then I always love a rebel (albeit with morals) policeman in a story.
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The narrative in the beginning does harp back to the time of the great crime classics of Agatha Christie with the opening scenes being set on the sleeper train and something only one person sees. However, by the end of the novel it has strayed into the territory of a Lee Child book where the levels of death and destruction strain the grips of reality. It is due to this I have given it four stars as it feels like two different books and I would have preferred the first part to have continued with the nuanced clues etc.
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BUT, this is was good book! It's escapism at it's best - you just can't stop reading as you want to know what happened to the little girl on the train!

My thanks to Netgalley and Orion for a copy of “ What she saw last night “ for an honest review.

I was drawn to read this from the description of a mystery taking place on a train travelling through Scotland, and the book didn’t disappoint. Very reminiscent of a Hitchcock film or a Christie novel, I could imagine this being made into a film or tv series.
Will be recommending

Creepy, sinister and unsettling, What She Saw Last Night has terrifying echoes of Ethel Lina White and Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece of suspense, The Lady Vanishes and this fantastic thriller is guaranteed to send shiver after shiver racing down your spine.

Jenny Bowen just wants to shut the world away and forget about everything – especially her upcoming divorce. Travelling on the Caledonian Sleeper, Jenny is looking forward to a peaceful ten hour journey where she can rest and try not to ponder about what might lie ahead of her. While searching for her cabin, Jenny meets a panicked woman with a young child whom she assumes to be her daughter. Jenny finds her cabin and does not give the woman or her child a second thought, but proceeds to put her feet up and drift off to sleep – only to wake up to complete and utter chaos.

The woman is discovered dead in her cabin, however, there is no sign of the little girl anywhere. The train company has absolutely no record of the child and the CCTV footage shows the woman boarding alone. What happened during the night? Was Jenny so tired that she misunderstood the situation? Did Jenny actually see a child? Or was she so tired and emotionally exhausted that she made the whole thing up?

The police do not believe Jenny and although she tries to put the whole incident out of her head by telling herself that she must have imagined the little girl, deep down she knows that that is not the case. Jenny is convinced that there was a little girl on board and that she holds the key to uncovering what happened to the young woman who was found murdered in her cabin.

MJ Cross knows how to ramp up the tension and have readers chewing their nails to their shoulders. What She Saw Light redefines compulsively readable thrillers and this is one nerve-twisting and heart-pounding page-turner that is impossible to put down and difficult to forget. The shocks, the twists and the jaw-dropping revelations come thick and fast leaving readers on the edge of their seats absolutely desperate to find out what is going to happen next.

MJ Cross has written a first class thriller that has got winner written all over it and I cannot wait to see what else this fabulous writer comes up with in the not too distant future.

Heading to Scotland on the Caledonian Sleeper, Jenny Bowen encounters a stressed woman and a girl she assumes is her daughter. Not giving them a second thought, she locates her compartment only to wake during the night and find the body of the woman, seemingly the victim of an overdose. After speaking to the police, Jenny realises that there is a bigger mystery – where is the young girl? With no CCTV footage of her entering the train, she finds the authorities reluctant to believe her story. Jenny knows, though, what she saw and she will not rest until she knows exactly what happened on the train.

What She Saw Last Night has been on my radar ever since hearing the author mention it on the Two Crimewriters and a Microphone podcast. As a huge fan of Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes, which tells the story of a woman who seemingly goes missing on a train, my interest was definitely piqued and I could not wait to read it.

The book starts off with a great mystery that really gets you thinking. We know that Jenny has seen the woman and the child on the train, but why is there no CCTV footage showing them either entering or exiting the train? I really felt for Jenny as she knows exactly what she saw, but with no one to believe her, you could forgive her for beginning to doubt herself. I was pleased that she found an ally in Mike, one of the detectives on the case, who realised that there may be something to her story, despite his superiors being keen to draw a line under it.

Once Jenny starts her own investigation, we see the story take a dramatic turn as she finds herself in grave danger due to what she uncovers. There were times when I wanted to shake her due to the reckless nature of some of her actions, but, conversely, times when I applauded her bravery and determination to find out what had happened to the little girl. We find the plot becoming like a cat and mouse chase as Jenny soon finds herself fleeing from someone she has met previously. There were several heart in mouth moments as we see her racing through the streets and Underground of London, desperately trying to evade a particularly nasty killer.

One event in particular made me gasp, and I had to put the book down for a while while I came to terms with what I had just read. Although shocking, this was a great twist, and something that I definitely did not see coming.

What She Saw Last Night is a fast-paced, exciting read with numerous twists and turns to keep the reader on the edge of their seat. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Personally, I loved the description of the sleeper train at the beginning because I've never been on one! Not entirely sure I want to now, right enough. "What She Saw Last Night" is a first-rate, fast-paced, action-packed thriller. An engaging, exciting read from Mason Cross. Great stuff!

Even though I had heard of MJ Cross before (he has written novels under the name Mason Cross), I never read any of his novels, so, when I was invited to join the blog tour, I accepted right away because I was really curious about this author and I was intrigued by the plot and I wasn’t disappointed.

Jenny Bowen hasn’t had an easy year. Her father died, her husband had an affair and they are now divorcing, and now she is running to catch the night-train to travel to Scotland to take care of the house that her father left her. On the train, she crosses path with a woman and young girl. Next morning, when Jenny wakes up, she finds the lifeless body of the woman, but there is no trace of the young girl. Except for detective Mike Fletcher, no one else believes Jenny. There is no trace of the young girl on the train, on the passenger list, or the CCTV at the train station. For the police, it’s a simple case of overdose and they are ready to close the case. However, detective Mike Fletcher believes Jenny’s story and they start their own investigation that brings them back to London and on the path of a dangerous man.

Thanks to Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, when I read “train” and “murder” together I am quickly intrigued. I find mysteries set on trains very suspenseful and captivating. With echoes of Agatha Christie’s novels and Alfred Hitchcock’s movies, MJ Cross created a gripping plot set on the Caledonian Sleeper, a night train that travels from London to Scotland every night. Trains are not an easy place where to set a murder because you can find yourself in the middle of nowhere with no escape route and you can be easily caught. In What She Saw Last Night, MJ Cross presents us a woman found dead in her cabin, a witness swearing she was accompanied from a child, and no trace of said child. Did Jenny’s last months finally caught up with her and she imagined the young girl? Or is she right and that young girl is now in danger? And why has no one else seen her?

I loved the plot, I loved the protagonist and her determination in finding out the truth, no matter the cost, I loved the setting and the dark atmosphere. What She Saw Last Night is a compulsive and thrilling story full of twists and shocking surprises and kept me glued to the pages until the very end.

If you are searching for a mystery with some Agatha Christie plot and a little girl missing, this is the book you’ll have to read right now!
I was totally glued to this story since the first page, the mystery and characters make me finish this book with just one stand. Because, who can not be interested in a mysterious girl that only Jenny Bowen seems to have seen… An after all her personal problems no one seems to trust her, neither the police! But she is a perseverant and she trusts what she has seen, so she will start investigating by herself and possibly risking her life with it! But you’ll have to read the book if you want to know more, of course.
I liked how the author has made Jenny, the main character, she is not scared to fight for what she believes, even possibly in her personal worst moments, she is an intelligent woman that will not stop until she will discover the truth.
I liked the story per se too, you suspect that there’s a big secret behind all the mystery, but you’ll only discover the truth when the author wants it, not a minute before! And that’s one of the motives you can stop reading, discovering the truth and why someone could make a little kid disappear without anyone noticing their existence. I didn’t doubt of Jenny for one moment, but I could understand that without proves there’s no way to demonstrate anything!
What She Saw Last Night totally surprised me, I was expecting a mystery book, not a nail bitting story that I was totally invested in! Really, if you are looking for your next read, it should be this one! Ready?

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I really like this author and this did not disappoint. Fast paced, great characters and storyline thriller. Would recommend.

What a book. I was so hooked on this! I felt that the start had just the perfect pacing – it was both slow enough to make me want to carry on but fast enough to keep my attention.

This is the kind of book where you never know what’s going to happen. Every chapter held something unexpected, and there were points where I was genuinely shocked that certain things actually happened. There are lots of twists and turns, but I liked that there are different character perspectives for the same events, so the reader gets a glimpse into both sides of the story. It’s genuinely sinister at times, sometimes scary and the writing is superb. The descriptions are so vivid that I felt really engaged throughout, I could really imagine and feel what was happening in the story, which is partly why I was so gripped by it throughout.

Jenny was a great main character. Clearly inexperienced, but ultimately super determined, I was always confident that she was going to get what she wanted eventually. It was a very rocky journey, and perhaps didn’t turn out the way I expected, but it was so so good. It wasn’t always realistic, but I find the most gripping thrillers and crime novels never are, so it worked really really well I felt. The plot was always unpredictable, helping to keep the reader engaged throughout.

After such a highly charged book, the ending was really emotionally satisfying and gave me exactly what I wanted. It’s not often a book hooks me as much as this one did, so I would highly recommend it.

Lots of twists and turns in this book. It would make a great film similar to Agatha Christie /Alfred Hitchcock work. Well worth a read

A stellar mystery novel that just kept on going and going. At a certain point I questioned the protagonist's mental state because of how good this book was. It is incredibly well paced, at times maybe too theatrical but very well done as a mystery. And the ending was fantastic! One thing I was very sad about *spoiler alert* was meeting a character I truly liked and them ending up dead. It made me laugh that they put up a fight. I will be recommending this book to everyone!

This is such a good read. Jenny is travelling overnight on the Caledonian sleeper train from Euston station in London to Scotland when she witnesses a strange event and the disappearance of a young girl. I don’t want to give too much away, but, what follows had me hooked as Jenny (with the help of Mike, from the British Transport Police) tríes to establish who she saw and what happened to her.

It’s an action packed book and I loved the very different settings of the train, Scotland and London. It’s told so well and had me guessing throughout. The characters are strong and the narrative flows.

All in all, a cracking read! Many thanks and congratulations to Mason Cross, the publishers, Orion Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview.

Jenny thinks she may be losing her mind. She sees a young girl with a woman on the sleeper train to Fort William. The next day the woman is dead and the girl is nowhere to be seen. Was she seeing things? But she knows what she saw. She picked up the girl’s toy rabbit and handed it back to her.

With the help of Mike Fletcher on leave from the police force she tries to piece together the final moments of the woman’s life and the whereabouts of the girl.

I like to read things are potentially true to life, now I know anything can be written in creative writing but there was one aspect of the book about halfway through that troubled me. Jenny abandoned a situation to further pursue her goal. I felt that this wasn’t true to life. Or more certainly that I seriously doubt many women would have left in these circumstances.

However, some books make me late for work but not only did this make me late for work but because I was running late my son got a detention for being late to school. Sorry Jack! Mum will make it up to you, promise!

Rating: 3.5/5

A good old fashioned style thriller with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing to the end. The story is involving and fast paced with likeable main characters. It references Hitchcock movies several tones and I can well imagine it made into a film in that classic style. This is the first book I have read by this author and I look forward to reading others.

Newly single Jenny Bowen has booked the sleeper train, she’s never been on it before and fancied it for a change. Maybe she should have listened to her work colleague Hannah who had said it was like sleeping in a cupboard.

She’s heading back to Scotland, her marriage has failed after Eric – Jenny’s soon to be ex-husband cheated on her, letting her know accidentally by sending her an intimate text he clearly meant for his new love interest.

Jenny’s dad died a few weeks before and she’s grieving him, now the added weight of singledom is on her shoulders too. She’s on her way to tidy up and prepare the guest house that her parents ran ready for sale.

What should have been a straight forward journey, was, until She awoke the next morning only to find the arm of a dead woman sticking out of a doorway from a room near hers and this begins the questions, from Police, and where’s the girl that was with her gone. The night before Jenny had picked up a soft rabbit from the floor and handed it to the woman and seen it belonged to perhaps a 6-year-old girl, with long brown hair & brown eyes that was traveling with her.

But Police, CCTV, and train checks show that no child boarding the train with Emma Dawson – shes known to the Police, circumstances seem to show that her death was self-induced, so why continue to hunt for further information. Jenny begins to doubt if she even saw the girl. But Sgt Mike Fletcher believes her and persists behind the scenes too.

Jenny finds further information when she hunts on Missing persons and speaks to a Woman’s Aid Charity. Em as she was known to them, was indeed traveling with Alice and shes now missing.

This is a quite tense and thrilling (train) ride, the main characters – Jenny and Mike work well together and the change in scenery is mixed up well, moving from the busy streets of London, back to near-isolation in Scotland at her parent’s house. The lack of a phone signal always intensifies any story and this one has that tenfold.

There’s a lot of questions that need answers here and MJ Cross ties them up well and throws in the murderous dark figure to add the scare factor. This is a great read and even greater the twists that crop up throughout.