It has the feel of one of those books set in the 80s, that drops in as many retro products as possible for nostalgia points. Christmas Express is the great family board game for those that believe in Santa, and those that wish they still did. Roz Parker is a recently retired Detective and is heading home to the Scottish Highlands for the birth of her granddaughter. They will be able to tell him what they would like to open on Christmas morning – providing they’ve managed to keep themselves off the naughty list this year! Despite the cosy, festive cover and Christie-esque dressing, within the first twenty or so pages we've lurched from domestic abuse to light-hearted comments about food on train journeys, to inserting train-related puns all over the place, to the main character trying to suppress flashbacks to serious sexual assault.

What is presented here in the title, the cover art, and the publisher’s summary is a fun holiday mystery.

I would have loved to get to know some of the characters more, and add a few of their secrets to thicken the plot a bit more. Santa walks through the train to see the children, providing an opportunity to take photographs and to wish everyone the compliments of the season. Each child will be greeted by Santa as he makes his way through the train and presents them with a special Train to Christmas Town gift.

We get a nice locked room mystery and increasing rebellion from the (mostly unpleasant) set of train passengers to fill out the action. Our destinations will be the cathedral city of Gloucester, and Cardiff, the vibrant Capital of Wales. Christmas Express is the great family board game for those who believe in Santa, and those that wish they still did! before reading it seems like a bit of festive crime fiction, so the heavy topics would throw people off.

Watch out for Santa waving and, when the train stops, listen out for the carriage door to slam as Santa gets on board. When the train derails and a passenger is found dead, Roz must use her detective skills to work out what's happened. She has a difficult relationship with her at times, feeling she has put her career first and still having issues with coming to terms with events when she was young and about to become a young mother herself. Before we know it ,we will reach the North Pole at Christmas Town where Santa Claus himself is waiting to climb on board along with his wondrously naughty Dancing Elves. main point is that the themes of domestic abuse and sexual violence, while important to discuss, were too much for this novel.