I really liked What She Saw Last Night but I’m torn on how to review this. The first half of the book is definitely the better half since a lot of the plot became undone later in the story. I didn’t like Jenny as a character but she was well written and I could picture her perfectly.

I was reminded of Ruth Ware’s writing but Mason Cross needs to work on being able to pull an ending together without boring the reader.

I’ll give this a middle of the road rating since I’m still not sure.

Jenny boards a sleeper train in London headed for Scotland. On the way to her compartment she sees a woman with a small girl who has dropped her toy rabbit. Jenny picks it up and hands it back to her. Early in the morning a call of nature wakes Jenny and she heads out to find the ladies. She sees a hand wedged in the door of the compartment where the woman was and finds that she is dead. When reported to both the police and train staff no-one has any knowledge of the girl or a man that Jenny saw go into the compartment between her and the woman and girl. The sergeant who arrived on the train when the incident first happened-DS Mike Fletcher has an inclination to believe Jenny but there is nothing either on ticket bookings or CCTV from the station to support that the girl was on the train. His DI Porter insists that its case closed- the woman was an addict and a needle was found at her side, the post mortem confirming the cause of death. Jenny (for some reason unknown) can’t let this go and take it on herself to investigate with Mike’s help. OMG. One of those reads where I wanted to turn faster and faster- come on brain keep up! I took to both Jenny and Mike. Short chapters keep the pace flowing, each ending with a tantaliser that kept me turning. I devoured this needless to say in 24 hours - always the sign of a good book very well written in my humble opinion. Loved this. One to enjoy and envelop you.
(links as part of blog tour)

Mason Cross, the author of the brilliant Carter Blake series gives us a standalone crime thriller that has echoes of the old style crime classics. The central protagonist is an IT geek, Jenny Bowden, worn out by life's traumas, her father has recently died in Scotland and having discovered her husband, Eric's infidelity, she is now in the process of getting divorced. She only just manages by the skin of her teeth to board the Caledonian sleeper train service in London, travelling through the night to Scotland, planning to clear out her father's home and prepare it for being sold. As she works her way through the train carriages with her luggage to get to her reserved 'room', she sees a woman with a young girl, presumably mother and daughter, she picks up a fallen stuffed grey rabbit and hands it to the mother. Waking up rather early, Jenny sees their door ajar, only to find the woman dead in what looks like a drugs overdose.

Sergeant Mike Fletcher and DI Greg Porter make their way to the incident, Porter sees it as a straightforward death and moves to close down any investigation as soon as possible. However, there is a fly in the ointment when Jenny asks where the young girl is. There is no such girl on the train, with Porter suggesting that Jenny had made a mistake. A baffled Jenny lets it go, but on reflection is absolutely certain of what she had seen. She just cannot let it go, worrying what on earth had happened to the girl and where she might be now. Using her IT expertise, she begins to look for evidence of a missing girl that resembles the one she saw. Mike learns there was no such girl with the woman boarding the train on CCTV at the London station, but he cannot discount Jenny's account. However, his boss, Porter, has no intention of allowing any investigation, forcing Mike to act below the radar. Matters become even more confusing when a man Jenny had seen going into the room next to the now dead woman cannot be found on CCTV either. Mike and Jenny join forces to find the missing child, but have no idea about the deadly danger they are to find themselves in.

Mason Cross writes a gripping and twisted thriller located in London and Scotland where the body count just keeps rising. His central character of Jenny is a fiercely determined woman who just will not let go, her worries for the missing girl propel her into a situation where she naively goes against advice that is to make her the target of a ruthless and professional killer, and put those close to her in danger. This is a compulsive and intensely engaging read, with characters I came to care for. Those who have read Mason Cross will be aware that he writes great nail biting thrillers, and this standalone is no different. However, I do think the title of this novel could have been better. A great read. Many thanks to Orion for an ARC.