The book, The Woman in Carriage 3, is an entertaining read that keeps readers interested throughout it's context. There are similarities to The Woman in Cabin Ten, The Girl on the Train and references to The Great Wave which has resurfaced in the reading world after the recent release of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. The twists of this thriller are predictable but it is worthy of reading.

Whilst the description of this book sounds interesting, the story isn't what I was expecting and unfortunately, the delivery is far-fetched and sadly lacking. I really dislike criticising Author's work, but I can't in good conscience recommend this book. You would have to suspend all belief to accept the majority of what happens; from police procedure to criminal activity - nothing is remotely realistic. In addition to a plot which manages to be both absurd and predictable, the characters are stupid, the dialogue is immature and the story is explained clumsily, rather than it unfolding. This is a hard no from me, but thanks anyway to NetGallery and Bookouture Audio for allowing me to get a copy of the book.

Fans of Paula Hawkins' Girl on a Train will enjoy this book. The writing was smooth and had a good flow to it. The narrator of the audio version did an excellent job. I had a hard time connecting to the main character, Hattie, because she was such a flake, but I came to like her a little bit by the end. I also found the twists to be fairly predictable, but overall this was a fun read.

Well written, very descriptive and easy to follow. I liked it but I thought that it was dragged out a little. Enough twists to keep you intrigued to the very end.
Thank You to NetGalley, Bookouture and Alison James for the opportunity to enjoy the audio version of this ARC.

Pretty good audiobook. Well narrated and some twists and turns. Kept my interest and was interesting enough to keep my attention.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Woman in Carriage 3 by Alison James. I thought it was really well paced and kept me engaged.

Hattie is a bit of a mess. She’s trying to get over a nasty break-up where she lost her job and London flat and has been forced to move back to her parents house in suburban Surrey whilst temping in London. Each night she sees the same commuters on the same train.

One night, there’s an incident on the train and she and her fellow commuters Casper, Bridget, Julian and Lewis strike up a conversation and form that a WhatsApp group. Going forward they travel on the train together, share lifts, have drinks. Having commuted on trains, I liked this. Everyone pretends to ignore each other on trains, and then a train delay or cancellation people.

Things develop and Hattie falls for the dashing Casper who isn’t who he seems.

The e-audiobook is excellently narrated by Jan Cramer, she had fantastic range and really brought the work to life.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishes, Bookouture Audio, for making this e-audiobook available to me for a fair and honest review.

My thanks to Net Galley and Bookouture Audio for allowing me to review this audio book.

This was not what I expected based from the description. I thought murder on a train and we focus on the solving of the murder. No. Too much non linear time line back and forth info on the characters. Did not care for the main character Hattie. Very immature. Confusing with all the jumping around. Did not really get more info on the murder till almost 2 hours left in the book, then it went in a totally different direction. Can't recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC audiobook of The Woman in Carriage 3 by Alison James.

This is the first book I’ve listened to by this author and wow it did not disappoint. Fills the thriller gap! The narrator was great and easy to listen to. All round excellence.

Releases on May 22, 2023.

3.5 Stars rounded up! I was surprised by this one, in a good way. The narrator was fantastic, the characters were interesting, and I was always trying to guess what was going to go down. My only qualms are with the cover and the title--I feel like they are so generic that it's easy to pass this over.

I can see why this book has gained a heap of 5 star reviews; and have read and loved many of Alison Janes’ other novels. Therefore I hesitated for quite a while before posting a review. There was nothing wrong with the writing, the story or the characters, the plot was a slow burn, but cleverly done. It’s not an overly long novel so that was good. Unfortunately somewhere along the line it fell short for me, I’m not sure if I enjoyed the narration? Maybe that was it. Don’t be put off by that, as you’ll see from many other reviews people love it, you probably will too. Due to be released 22nd May, look out for it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookature Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

Hattie is a young woman whose life is in a bit of a mess. She has a habit of getting blind drunk and not taking responsibility for her actions. She meets a charismatic wealthy man on her train and embarks on a passionate affair with him. He persuades her to move abroad with him but from Casper's own perspective we find he's a conman taking advantage of Hattie. This book is so far fetched and I did stick with it to the end but i didn't find it hugely gripping.

An audiobook that fills that thriller gap on your device, Alison James does not disappoint with the many twists and turns

Reading Between the Wines book review #53/115 for 2023:
Rating: 3 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: The Woman in Carriage 3
Author: Alison James
RELEASES on May 22, 2023!!!

Sipping thoughts: The Woman in Carriage 3 definitely has The Girl on the Train parallels. It also had some very unlikable characters, especially the main character-Hattie. She was so naïve and made the silliest decisions. It was a slow burn that had many predictable parts. I think it was interesting enough but just not my favorite by James.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @BookoutureAudio for an advanced copy of @TheWomanInCarriage3.

#TheWomanInCarriage3 #AlisonJames #BookoutureAudio #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

What seems like a regular happenstance encounter with a stranger on a train turns into a whirlwind experience for the main character, Hattie. Harriet (Hattie) is a down-on-her luck almost 30 year old who is itching to find fun and maybe even a possible partner—as well as a new job and some other things. When she befriends a handsome stranger named Casper and a few other new people on the train one day, this takes her life in a new direction. Suddenly Hattie has most of what she has been searching for—new friends and a boyfriend, and the opportunity for her dream job. This man seems almost perfect, except for a few secrets and warning signs. But who cares? He wants to be with her!
Hattie gets swept away and taken under Casper’s spell, and this turns into quite an adventure that leads her overseas.
Will this new life work out for Hattie? Is this dream man too good to be true? Find out by reading The Woman in Carriage 3! I recommend this one for anyone who likes quick reads that keep you wanting to read to find out what’s going to happen next!
#TheWomaninCarriage3 #NetGalley

Perfectly paced Murder mystery, that kept you in suspense and eagerly awaiting the big reveal.

I’m always instantly intrigued when the book starts with an ‘unknown’ who has been murdered and throughout the book, we go back in time, meet all the characters and are kept on the edge of your seat as you wait to uncover which one will meet they’re grizzly end.

The 18:55 Paddington crew meet and bond on carriage 3; one of them will be dead, some are hiding secrets, there’s manipulation and unseen events to keep you reading. The audiobook was easy too, easy to engage with and the narrator was fab.

Little to fall out with with this book, a standardly enjoyable suspense and murder mystery story!

Hattie made a mistake that derailed her life and landed her back in her parents' house, commuting to her temp jobs on the train. As Hattie is in the middle of wholeheartedly making a mess of her life, she befriends some fellow train commuters and is drawn into their lives. While some of them encourage her to get her life back in order, some of them are drawn to her (frustrating) gullibility and want to use her for their own ends. You can see the twists coming from a mile away in this one, but it's a great ride!

This is a dark, twisted mystery with intriguing characters. Readers will not be able to put this one down until the very end.

Thank you Bookouture Audio for this alc. It was not a bad one just not for me. I am tired of people geting drunk to escape maybe. The story was nice build, a train, a group of random people becoming friends and also more. It was dinamic and I also wondered all thr time what would happen and why my country was mentioned in that bad way. The open ending made me a little angry but nothing that I can not live with. The audio was great

3.7 stars

A case of “don’t judge a book by its title”! I almost passed on this because of the vibe the title cast off. The cover and title IMHO aren’t a good fit and set the wrong expectation.

That said, I will read more by this author and found this one very hard to put down at times.

One other thing… I didn’t think I could stand one more book where the MC is a drunk/alcoholic idiot but here there was a other character (Louis) that I adored which helped keep me reading.

Nevertheless I would really like it if authors could cast other MCs. The drunk girl is so stale it’s grown mold.

SUMMARY: 30yo Hattie is hungover on the commuter rail when the train abruptly stops due to someone having a medical emergency. She and 6 (?) commuters become friendly while being held up. Afterwards they create a group chat and are lightly social. The reader is told that in 6? Weeks time, one of them will be dead. Muahahaha. The story then progresses linearly.

Booze hound Hattie has the hots for fellow commuter Casper and pursues him, even though he seems to feed her more alcohol, eventually tells her he has a wife, and does so much 🚩 you’d think there was a parade. (For example Hattie has an interview for a job and he tells her to reschedule it so she can meet up with him instead, and she does, losing her dream job while unemployed!) TBH, I kept reading to see just how much of an idiot hattie was and to watch her fall on her face. Not very charitable of me, I know.

Just as I was starting to grow bored… Julian, another commuter in their group, dies. Casper’s company also just “lost” a $14m painting and other suspiciousness is going down. This leads to a sort of who-dun-it situation.

In part 2, we meet Neal, the art thief. The story still marches on linearly, but the motives are revealed and so is the killer. Hattie also finds that perhaps she’s gotten herself into a mess. The ending is pretty happy.

Thanks netgalley for my ARC! really loved the narrator too. There was an excerpt for another book by the author at the end and I’m really looking forward to that one. “The man i married”

Where everybody knows your name 🎶

Hungover Hattie is just trying do her walk of shame in peace . She realizes that she recognizes all of the faces in the train on her daily commute. Has she really been doing this for that long? Her life used to be so much more..

Suddenly the train grinds to a halt. Passenger emergency? Hmm. Well, they have nothing to do but get to know each other. After introductions, they soon get going again but it wouldn't be the last time they met like this.

The squad decides to make a WhatsApp group and their lives start to tangle together. Soon, Hattie is in over her head in her new relationships and someone in the group isn't going to make it to their stop.

This was good but a lot different than I expected. I assumed it would be a locked-room mystery on the train but we really weren't on the train that much, which was a bit disappointing. It was instead very character-driven, which was executed very well. We really got to know them without it dragging on.

One thing I wish I'd known is that our main character is not just a lush but a full-blown alcoholic and it was really uncomfortable at times, especially the things she was doing and being put through. I'm not going to go into detail, you'll see if you read it, but.. it was messy. I understand the necessity but I still just don't like this trope.

The narration was absolutely fantastic! It really made the book and it was easy to follow, a relaxing read other than the stuff I mentioned previously.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to listen and review!