Murder on the Night Sleeper

Sleeper Trains in Popular Culture
David Meara explores the enduring popularity of sleeper trains in film and fiction. Illustrated with many film stills, book covers and contemporary material.

Of all the environments most conducive to a little murder and intrigue, the overnight sleeper train is the best. The combination of a private sleeping compartment, a journey through the hours of darkness to a far-flung destination and a closed environment isolated from the outside world offers an ideal opportunity for committing a crime and unravelling a mystery. This book explores the enduring popularity of night trains as the setting for murder and mayhem in fiction over the past 150 years.

Beginning with a brief overview of trains in detective fiction to set the scene, David Meara traces the story of sleeper trains in stories from the United States of America, Great Britain and Europe. The reader is taken on a journey through this fictional world of sleeper train travel, examining some of the stories that have been woven around these trains, and copiously illustrated to bring both the stories and trains to life.

In his short story Murder on the 7.16, one of Michael Innes’ characters says, ‘I’ve no use for trains, if they are not in a thriller – or for thrillers, if there isn’t a train.’ In this intriguing book there are plenty of both.

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