I enjoyed this book, it took me a little while to get into as I struggled to keep up with the different characters, but overall a good read!

This is a good character driven plot which develops slowly in the initial sections. This was an easy and quick read. You can easily read it within a day. For the most part, it was a pretty standard mystery/thriller. If the MC wasn't so weak and the relationship wasn't rushed, this would have been an easy 4-star read.

With thanks to the author, publishers Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley for providing my with an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

I have some mixed feelings about this book. The storyline was a little slow in parts, but overall the plot was well thought out and engaging. That being said, I didn’t really find myself invested in any of the characters, with the main protagonist Hattie probably being the most frustrating of all, with her seemingly endless sequence of bad choices relating to men and drinking. She is quite a weak lead character at times, and too easily led by Casper among others.

The narrator Jan Cramer was excellent though, and portrayed the range of characters really well.

This book was not what I expected at all and far outreached my expectations. Hattie is a London commuter and after an incident on her regular train, becomes friends with several other passengers. She is particularly interested in the charismatic Casper, but not everyone is who they claim to be and Hattie’s reckless nature may just land her in trouble.
I would highly recommend this book and will seek out other novels by the author. It is really funny at times with a twisty plot that kept me engaged. The narrator also added another level of enjoyment to the story.

The Woman in Carriage 3 is the first book I’ve read/listened to by Alison James. Sadly, it was a miss for me. It was quite SLOW. I believe I went in with the wrong persecution of what this book was to be. This book was more of a mystery vs a thriller. It was rather predictable for me and I just didn’t care about the characters at all. Definitely a me problem.

I think if you’re just getting into mysteries and thrillers this is a great book for you. I will say since this was my first reading experience with the author, I would give her another try in the future before deciding this author’s writing style isn’t for me. Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for an audiobook copy in exchange for my honest review. 2.5 Stars rounded up to 3.

A wonderful tale that disturbs and excites in equal measures, following the life of a lonely lady wanting to fit in. She discovers that she is set into a macabre scenario that brings all her worst nightmares to the fore!

I really enjoyed this story, although I did see the majority of the "twists" coming. That didn't detract to the enjoyment in the least though and I listened to it in one go!
Thanks to NetGalley, the editor and the author for the opportunity to access this ARC.

Five strangers meet when their train is stopped for a medical emergency, and a fast friendship is formed and even a romance, but is everything as it seems? The Woman In Carriage 3 by Alison James kept me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't put it down!

Absolutely adored this read.
The Girl On The Train meets The Serpent!
Utterly compelling, gripping and brilliantly written with an almost unbearable sense of foreboding this is indeed a thrilling read.
A great cast of character’s add to the enjoyment and the finale is guaranteed to linger in your thoughts as it all slots cleverly into place.
5 Stars.

Great read. I was hooked from the very start. Really good storyline. I did guess a few things towards the middle, not sure if that was intentional by the author or if I’m just a good amateur detective. LOL.
Definitely recommended.

Loved this book so much I have read it and listened to the audiobook. A brilliant read and will read the authors back catalogue- great.

4/5 stars

Thank you Bookouture for the gifted advanced listening copy!

Hattie takes the 18:53 train home from her temp job every day, enjoying the quiet in carriage 3. One day, when a medical emergency on another car delays the train, she and her fellow passengers strike up a conversation and an unlikely friendship. While the group gets closer and Hattie becomes drawn to certain members more and more, their sense of safety is shattered when one of their own is killed on their very own 18:53 train. Hattie suddenly realizes that everything is not what it seemed and that her fellow passengers may not be as friendly as they appeared.

This book immediately had classic, British thriller vibes, which I love. Hattie's character was frustratingly incompetent, but I still wished for her success at every turn. The story had a pretty unique plotline, where the mysterious whodunnit portion was solved pretty early on and the rest became almost police procedural. I had a lot of fun listening to this one and was surprised a few of the twists and turns along the way. While some of the bigger surprises I did predict, I enjoyed this story for it's overall vibes, fun supporting characters and clever build up throughout the ride.

The saga begins on a busy commuter train when a passenger becomes sick, forcing the train to stop to allow for medical treatment. With only time to kill, Hattie finds herself unexpectedly in contact with some of her fellow commuters. Alcohol is had, names are exchanged, and half a dozen mis-matched commuters form an unexpected friendship group. The impromptu group arrange it so they can sit together and become a small part of each others lives. At this point the reader is informed that one of this group will end up dead at some undetermined time. Okay I’m hooked!

Hattie is our main character. She has recently experienced a broken relationship forcing her to move back home to live in the suburbs with her parents. Not a good situation. Hattie goes from dead end job to dead end job. Bored and lonely, she spends time on Tinder matching with potential partners and finds solace in regularly getting drunk in pubs. Hangovers are a constant thing as is her parents disapproval of the lifestyle choices she is making. Hattie is drowning.

During this dark period, Hattie gets to know the handsome Casper with movie star good looks and endless charm. Could this be the beginning of a real relationship?

Hattie is drinking far too much for her own good, is easily influenced, and prone to making terrible choices. Hattie is a most frustrating character.

This story offers many unexpected twists and turns throughout, not to mention the little shocking revelation near the end.

The narrator was great. She unveiled the story superbly! She nailed the characters voices, especially that of Hattie, and gives each character their own unique touch.
I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to listen to a book where she is the narrator again.

Writer and narrator are perfectly matched.

This is a good book, don’t miss it fellow readers!!!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house, the author and the narrator for the opportunity to listen to a complimentary copy of this audiobook in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

First of all, I really enjoyed the narrator, I found her voice good to listen to, and se had good definition of the different characters. The storyline wasn't edge of your seat but the pace was pretty good and there were a few twists just to keep it interesting. I found overall that the book was slow in parts.

Hattie is reeling from indecision, she has lost a partner, a job and her residence, she is 30 and living with her parents again, working through a temp agency. Hattie is also drinking a lot. One day on her commute, there is an emergency on the train and her and her carriage mates, get to talking and strike up a friendship of sorts as they all take the same train every day. It is an eclectic group, consisting of Julian, a solicitor; quiet, shy, Bridget; Louis, a single Dad; Caspar, a handsome man that works at an auctioneer's and Carmen, who works at a nearby university. Hattie is instantly taken with Caspar, and sudenly it appears that he is secretly interested in her. They become involved, but the closer they get, the more you suspect that all is not right with the group. and then suddenely, one of the group dies on the train. Hattie begins to suspect that the death may not have been what it seemed and perhaps those she shared a train carriage with, aren't what they all seem to be. The pace picks up from here and I found the ending satisfying.

The Woman in Carriage 3
by Alison James
Narrated by Jan Cramer

Rating: 3.4/5.0 Stars

Let's start with the positive. Jan Cramer did a fantastic job narrating! She was easy to listen to and follow and I enjoyed that part of the audiobook. Now onto the story itself. It wasn't very good. It wasn't the worst thing I've listened to, but Hattie is just a hot mess of a lead character. She's pretty promiscuous in the beginning, she's an alcoholic, and she makes the very worst decisions. All of these things don't automatically make a book terrible. The story itself is not anywhere near what I thought it would be about from the cover and summary. I can't even get all of my thoughts on this book down because I have so may things to say.

Here's what it boils down to. It's not the worst and it's definitely not the greatest book ever written. Main character is a hot mess. After a medical emergency on the train that she always takes to work, she gets to know a small group of her fellow passengers. It's an eclectic group. She continues to make many bad choices. Not everyone in her new group is who they seem. More people will die. I don't want to give everything away, as you may want to take a chance and listen to or read this book. Just be prepared to be stepping onto the 18:53 train-or the Hot Mess Express, as I kile to call it!

Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio, and the author for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook!

I really struggled with this book. The synopsis had intrigued me and I was excited to get started with it, but I soon discovered that I didn't really like any of the characters. One of the main characters Hattie is 29 and makes some real bad choices when it comes to men and booze and I simply could not relate to her or even enjoy hearing what she got up to.

The narration was good and the writing was also good. The combination of a slow burn story, with unlikeable characters put me off finishing this book. I listened to the first 40%, but could not make myself finish it, so it simply wasn't for me and I will not be sharing my review on my blog nor social media, only here and on Goodreads.

Having read the blurb for this book, I was getting ready to settle in for a tense, edge of my seat thriller however I was unfortunately disappointed with what I got. There was a distinct lack of tension build and I think that a lot of focus was placed on things that didn't matter.

I'm not sure why there was so much emphasis on alcohol in this story. It had a small amount of relevance for Hattie, but the whole plot would have worked if you removed all of the drinking and I think it would have allowed me to empathise with Hattie more. I would have preferred it if the individual characters are there personality traits were highlighted more.

I listend to this on audiobook and I didn't get on great with the narrator which didn't help with my lack of engagement with the story. The narrator was quite jolly and upbeat and I don't think the story called for that.

I'm chalking this one up to personal preference and I'm happy to accept that this book just wasn't for me. I'm sure plenty of others will get on fine with it and I have a suspicion that I would have liked it more if I had read as opposed to listened.

One evening on a busy commuter train a passenger takes ill. The train is forced to stop to allow medical treatment to be delivered and Hattie finds herself unexpectedly in dicussion with some of her fellow commuters. Drinks are bought, names exchanged and half a dozen mis-matched commuters form an unexpected friendship group. Over the following weeks some of them will travel together, they arrange to sit together and become a small part of each others lives. Except the reader is told one of their number is going to die – how can you not keep reading when you know someone’s days are numbered?

Hattie is the focus of the story. After her relationship broke down a year earlier she has been forced to move home to live in the suburbs with her parents. Hattie finds herself engaged in a number of temporary jobs which hold little appeal. She spends time on Tinder matching with potential partners and seems to enjoy many evenings in pubs with her latest date. Her focus on her jobs will wane, hangovers become more frequent and her parents disapproval at the lifestyle choices she is making are wearing her down.

One bonus of the unexpected new friendship group is that Hattie get to know the handsome Casper, movie star good looks and more than a little charming. Even better is that he seems to welcome Hattie’s attentions. A romance could flourish. The two start exchanging more and more messages and Hattie finds her days are increasingly distracted as she waits to hear from Casper.

Unfortunately Hattie drinks far too much for her own good. She doesn’t come across as a particularly likeable character and she is far too easily influenced and prone to making terrible choices. This makes following her story a frustraing experience at times – I found myself frustrated with Hattie and I just wanted her to grasp some of the good opportunities which were clearly within her reach. But she didn’t.

I did have some frustrations with The Woman in Carriage 3 – a total lack of concern around drink driving being the main one. After their initial meeting on the train the travelling companions will often share drinks on their journey home. One of their party will have join in the drinking and then drive home, often offering others a lift home. Maybe its down to Scotland having stricter drink driving regulations than are in place in the South of England but that made me really uncomfortable. When we find out a bit more of each character’s back story the drink driving seems even more unlikely but that’s spoiler territory.

There were points in the story where I thought about stopping the audiobook and moving on to a new story. It took longer than I had anticipated for the threads which the author was sewing into the story to start to come together. Once the pace started to pick up I was curious enough to stick with the book to see how things panned out. There were some unexpected developments and the narrative definately ended up in places I had not anticipated, however, a couple of the big “reveals” were fairly easy to spot well ahead of the revelation and the story felt more pedestrian than express train.

While some of my concerns make it sound like I didn’t enjoy the book that’s not true. I liked it just fine, didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. It felt like the perfect book for a commute, I could pick it up and put it down in short reading bursts (my 30 min train journey to work) and feel it helped pass the journey. Sometimes that is all I need from a book and The Woman in Carriage 3 did keep me reading to the end, just to find out what would happen to Hattie.

The narrator of The Woman in Carriage 3 deserves a special mention. This was the first time I have heard Jan Cramer on audiobook duties but I thought her performance was excellent. Jan Cramer gave this small cast a great voice and I was more than happy – no niggles, no awkward attempts at accents (sadly something that crops up all too often in audiobooks) and a pleasant narrative voice which I felt fitted perfectly to the setting and tone of the book.

Narrated by Jan Cramer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Story by Alison James ⭐⭐⭐

An interesting mystery/drama about double crossing.

I found it really hard to get into for most of the book because Hatty was beyond stupid! I absolutely could not stand her.

So while I didn't love this book it's still worth a go.

The Woman in Carriage 3 tells the story of 30-year-old Hattie, who has had to move back in with her parents after her long-term relationship ended and she lost her job. She's working for a temporary job agency to get by, just barely, because Hattie has a problematic relationship with both alcohol and men.

One day, on her commute home, the train stops because a passenger has taken ill. Hattie finds herself talking with some of her travel companions, including one very enigmatic and attractive young man, with whom she becomes infatuated and obsessed. This infatuation, coupled with little control over her alcohol consumption, will lead to the unraveling of her already precarious life.

While the book contains suspenseful elements, I would not classify it as a typical mystery or thriller. The plot twists are predictable, but don't detract from the overall enjoyment of the story. I really enjoyed this book!
The narrator did an excellent job reading this story in an engaging tone.

I received a complimentary audio ARC from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.