Strangeness on a Train

In 2012, Julia Crouch became East Coast Rail's first ever Writer in Residence on the London to Harrogate line, writing a gripping short story over the course of her return train journey. And what better place for Julia to exercise her dark imagination and explore the deadly intents of her characters; after all, as Agatha Christie and Patricia Highsmith would attest, trains have long been the ideal setting for the perfect murder...

Turning fifty has not filled Sally with joy. She's sitting on the Kings Cross to Harrogate train the morning after her disastrous birthday meal, feeling fed up and hungover to hell. And then a stranger climbs on board and sits down opposite her. You know those passengers who really, really annoy you on trains? The ones who invade your personal space, and worse? Well, he's one of those. And he's about to push Sally to breaking point.