The Girl on the Train
Slow Train to Guantanamo
Murder on the Flying Scotsman 
Night Train to Lisbon
Overnight to Innsbruck
This Train
The Continental Affair Thriller set on the Osa Peninsula, COSTA RICA
10 Great Books set on Trains
14th February 2025
10 Great Books set on trains.
Books set on trains offer a unique and captivating reading experience. The rhythmic clatter of the wheels, the changing scenery outside the window, and the sense of journey all contribute to a sense of immersion.
These novels often explore themes of travel, escape, and the unexpected encounters that occur when strangers are thrown together in confined spaces. From Agatha Christie’s classic murder mysteries to more contemporary tales of romance and adventure, train journeys provide a dynamic setting for storytelling.
Here are ten of our favourite books, of many genres, that are set on trains.
Violet by SJI Holliday – Trans Siberian Express
Carrie’s best friend has an accident and can no longer make the round-the-world trip they’d planned together, so Carrie decides to go it alone.
Violet is also travelling alone, after splitting up with her boyfriend in Thailand. She is also desperate for a ticket on the Trans-Siberian Express, but there is nothing available.
When the two women meet in a Beijing Hotel, Carrie makes the impulsive decision to invite Violet to take her best friend’s place.
Thrown together in a strange country, and the cramped cabin of the train, the women soon form a bond. But as the journey continues, through Mongolia and into Russia, things start to unravel – because one of these women is not who she claims to be.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins – London
Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough.
Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar.
Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train…
Slow Train to Guantanamo by Peter Millar – Cuba
It is an island more than 1000 kilometres long and was the sixth in the world (before its colonial master Spain) to have a national rail network. Cuba today feels like a nation at the end of a long, hard war. Peter Millar jumps aboard a railway system that was once the pride of Latin America and is now a crippled casualty case to undertake a railway odyssey the length of Cuba in the dying days of the Castro regime. Starting in the ramshackle but romantic capital of Havana, he travels with ordinary Cubans, sharing anecdotes, life stories and political opinions, to the far end of the island where he meets a more modern blot of American history, the Guantanamo naval base and detention centre.
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie – Europe
Agatha Christie’s most famous murder mystery, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers. Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule Poirot must identify the murderer — in case he or she decides to strike again.
Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux – China
Paul Theroux left Victoria Station on a rainy Saturday in April thinking that taking eight trains across Europe, Eastern Europe, the USSR and Mongolia would be the easy way to get to the Chinese border – the relaxing way, even. He would read a little, take notes, eat regular meals and gaze contentedly out of windows. The reality, of course, was very different.
In fact, Theroux experienced a decidedly odd and unexpected trip to China that set the challenging tone for his epic year-long rail journey around that vast, inscrutable land – a journey which involved riding nearly every train in the country.
Murder on the Flying Scotsman by Carola Dunn – London to Edinburgh
Daisy’s in danger of heading off the rails! Daisy’s embarking on a journey to Edinburgh and her biggest worry is that she has forgotten her book, so how will she pass the time? Her concern proves to be pointless, however, as once the journey begins Daisy finds a pint-sized stowaway on board – Belinda, the daughter of dreamy Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher, Daisy’s beau. No sooner has this problem revealed itself than Daisy and Belinda run into a bickering Scottish clan en route to the deathbed of the head of the family. But before the express reaches its first stop, one of the greedy McGowans has turned up dead. Is it murder? Daisy’s willing to bet her first-class ticket it is – after all, the victim was the heir-in-waiting and she’s sharing the carriage with an entire family of suspects who have everything to gain by his death…
Night Train to Lisbon by Emily Grayson – Paris to Lisbon
Night Train to Lisbon is a sensuous tale of the pursuit of love and passion against all odds, set in the 1930s when the world was on the brink of war and suspicion of loyalty, motivation, and intent — to both country and lover — was at flood tide.
Carson Weatherell is a privileged young American woman travelling in Europe in 1936, courtesy of her aunt and uncle who live abroad and have kindly offered to show her the sights. A bout of illness and self-pity almost send her back to her sheltered Connecticut life, but on an overnight train to Lisbon, she suddenly can’t imagine returning home. On that train she meets Alec Breve, a young British scientist travelling with a group of colleagues — and in his company, Carson finds that she’s enjoying herself, certainly for the first time since she left New York Harbour, and quite possibly for the first time in her life.
A riveting page-turner, Night Train to Lisbon travels back to the days when war loomed, the Mitford sisters dazzled, and night trains brimmed with romance and intrigue, delivering a mesmerising novel of a love that must truly conquer all in order to survive.
Overnight to Innsbruck by Denyse Woods – Florence to Innsbruck
On an overnight train to Innsbruck, ex-lovers Richard and Frances meet each other by chance many years after their mysterious separation on a train journey through the blistering heat and vast empty expanses of the Sudanese desert. As they each tell their separate stories of fear, confusion and loss, they try to unravel the truth of what happened – and confront the bitter possibility that one of them may be lying. As their train hurtles through a long sleepless night, a third passenger eavesdrops on their conversation, mesmerized by a complex dialogue that probes into the very nature of truth and personal identity. A story of love and doubt, Overnight to Innsbruck is charged throughout with tantalizing puzzles and all the tension of a first-class psychological thriller – and marks the debut of a remarkably fresh and original voice in Irish literature.
This Train by James Grady – United States
This Train races us through America’s heartland, carrying secrets. There is treasure in the cargo car, along with an invisible puppeteer. There is a coder named Nora, Mugzy, the yippy dog, and Ross, the too-curious poet. On board, it’s a countdown to murder…
On this train there is a silver madman, a targeted banker, and crises of conscience. This train harbors the “perfect” couple’s conspiracies, the chaos of being a teenager, and parenthood alongside the wows of being nine. There is a widow and a wannabe, and the sleaziest billionaire.
On this train, there is the suicide ticket, the bomb, sex, love, and loneliness. The heist. Revenge. Redemption.
This Train is a ticking clock, roaring through forty-seven fictional hours of non-stop suspense and action, through the challenges of now: Racism. Sexism. Global warming. What it means to be alive.
This train carries all of us. All aboard!
The Continental Affair by Christine Mangan – Belgrade to Istanbul
Meet Henri and Louise.
Two strangers, travelling alone, on the train from Belgrade to Istanbul.
Except this isn’t the first time they have met.
It’s the 1960s, and Louise is running.
From her past in England, from the owners of the money she has stolen―and from Henri, the person who has been sent to collect it.
Across the Continent―from Granada to Paris, from Belgrade to Istanbul―Henri follows.
He’s desperate to leave behind his own troubles and the memories of his past life as a gendarme in Algeria.
But Henri soon realises that Louise is no ordinary traveller.
As the train hurtles toward its final destination, Henri and Louise must decide what the future will hold―and whether it involves one another.
Stylish and atmospheric, The Continental Affair takes you on an unforgettable journey through the twisty, glamorous world of 1960s Europe.
If we’ve missed any of your favourites, please add them in the Comments below!
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