Murder, She Wrote: Destination Murder

by Donald Bain and Jessica Fletcher

Book Overview

Mystery writer Jessica Fletcher takes a three-night train trip with her friend and his railroad association through scenic British Columbia. But when a member of the entourage takes a sip of a Bloody Mary and dies, police begin investigating. The suspects gather in the Starlight Express dinner car, and it's up to Jessica to do some unplanned sleuthing before everyone's plans are derailed by death.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451212843
• ISBN13: 9780451212849
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.5" x 6.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

interesting all the way

it was a fast read and a page turner. I love her books always explains the surroundings etc. I just started reading Murder She Wrote books recently and will keep reading them they are better than the tv show!

Another Excellent Book by Mr. Bain

I truly enjoyed this book. The train murder mystery was a real cliff hanger. Thanks

Hercule Poirot Eat Your Heart Out

There are very few things that have a stronger romantic hold on people than do trains. The "Iron Horse" has captivated people for far longer than any living person can remember and trains are a mainstay of the entertainment industry. Just think about how many songs, movies, TV shows and books feature trains, the list is just too long to remember. There are also numerous clubs for those who take the fascination with trains just a little farther than the rest of us do. It is a railroad excursion held by one of these clubs that provides the setting for this very entertaining book. Cabot Cove insurance agent Reggie Weems is vice president of one of these clubs and invites Jessica to be his guest on one of the club's excursions in British Columbia. On the first day of the trip, club president Alvin Blevin goes into convulsions and dies very unselfishly setting up a mystery to be solved. Blevin, despite his selfless act that creates our mystery, is very unpopular with most of the club members so the suspect list is very long. At first though, Jessica is the only one who suspects foul play but she, being a mystery writer, has done a lot of research on poisons and immediately recognizes Blevin's symptoms. To add even more romance to this story, the agency that is charged with investigating the murder is the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Mounties. Once RCMP Detective Christian Marshall gets the autopsy report and learns that Jessica was absolutely right about the poison he begins to take her sleuthing seriously and ends up relying on her for many of his clues. As for Jessica, her curiosity is running at full throttle and she ends up in quite a bit of danger before she finds the path that leads to the guilty party. This is one of the better books in this series, but with trains and Mounties it couldn't possibly fail. The scenery along the train's route is beautifully described and there is even a lady on the train who carries a book about wildflowers so she can point out the different species of flora that the train passes by. The characters, and some of them are indeed characters, are believable and well thought out and this mystery really draws the reader into the story, much more so than in some of the other books in this series. Best of all though, despite numerous red herrings the reader actually has enough information to solve the mystery before Jessica does so. There are some sub-plots that information is withheld on, but the Blevin murder is solvable. Mr. Bain has a tendency to withhold information but he does a splendid job with this book. If you only read one "Murder She Wrote" mystery, this might well be the one that you should choose.

Murder She Wrote continues it's greatness.

As a member of a train group, this mystery hit close to home. I enjoyed it greatly as I have with all the other Murder She Wrote mysteries. The best thing about the book is the way the author wrote it in Jessica Fletcher's authentic voice. If you've ever watched Murder She Wrote, Jessica has a very distinct way of putting things, and the way she acts. This is all continued in the books. This was probably one of the better MSW books, as I had a difficult time figuring out who done it. There was a MSW special on TV about 10 years ago with many of the same plot twists and turns about a train murder (only this one was set on an Amtrak train). Pick this up for a good mystery read which may on the surface look like an easy simple mystery, but is much deeper.

All Aboard!

This new mystery will have all Murder She Wrote fans up reading until the wee hours of the morning. I enjoyed this book immensely and was sad when the story ended. The characters in this tale will have everyone guessing on who the perpetrator really is. I was wrong every time, if that says anything. As Jessica Fletcher gets older, her knack for solving crime is still in tact. There is a scene on the train that Jessica will never forget. It's a life and death situation as she stumbles upon different clues to unravel who is behind the ghastly murder. As the series chugs forward, the plots get stronger and unforgettable. "Destination Murder" is no exception. Don't let this mystery pass by.

strong series entry

Cabot Cove, Maine murder mystery writer Jessica Fletcher agrees to accompany her friend Reggie Weems, a train hobbyist, to the Track and Rail Club's annual meeting in Vancouver. Members of the group are going on a three day journey on the Whistler Northwind train run by B.C. Rails. The chairman of the club is Alvin Blevin, a high-power Vancouver lawyer who is very unpopular with certain members of the group.On the first day of the train ride, Alvin goes into convulsions and dies. Jessica is certain that he was murdered and she doesn't hesitate to tell RCMP Detective Christain Marshal that she believes he was the victim of strychnine poisoning. When a toxicology report proves her right, the detective asks Jessica to determine which passengers had the best motive for wanting him dead. The problem with that task is that almost everyone had a motive, which makes ferreting out the real killer next to impossible.Most mystery novels have more than one suspect but in MURDER SHE WROTE: DESTINATION MURDER, the count is more than the fingers on two hands. All the suspects have very credible motives which is why the RCMP detective enlisted the help of the amateur sleuth who has had a successful track record in finding killers on previous cases. Amateur sleuth lovers, especially series fans, will definitely enjoy this exciting who done it.Harriet Klausner