Death Rides the Zephyr

A COLD-BLOODED KILLER. A COLD, REMOTE CANYON.

THE COLD BODY OF A MURDERED PASSENGER, SLUMPED IN A SEAT ABOARD A TRAIN MOVING ON TRACKS NEXT TO AN ICE-BOUND RIVER.

Zephyrette Jill McLeod rides the California Zephyr on its runs between the Bay Area and Chicago. As a crew member, she spends her long working days seeing to the passengers’ needs, answering questions, taking dinner reservations, or providing first aid. She makes announcements about the spectacular scenery visible from the train’s Vista Dome, with its 360-degree views.

The train is a small city on tracks, with passengers from all walks of life and a large, efficient crew. Jill is armed with good instincts, powers of observation, and her keen knowledge of human nature. She can usually solve any problem. But she wasn’t counting on a missing passenger—and a body in a sleeper car.

THE KILLER IS ONBOARD—AND WILL KILL AGAIN, UNLESS STOPPED.

“Death Rides the Zephyr brings the golden age of rail travel back to thrilling life while providing more twists and turns than an express ride through the Sierra Nevadas. If you have a taste for mysteries or history, it’s a trip you won’t want to miss!”
—Steve Hockensmith, author of Holmes on the Range

“Through a trip onboard the California Zephyr Janet Dawson takes the reader back to the 1950s and does an admirable job of capturing the spirit of a time when World War II was a recent memory and the Korean War was an all-too-vivid reality… Dawson has a fine eye for the details of life aboard the Zephyr and creates an intriguing cast of characters whose interactions mirror the surprising twists and turns the train takes as it crosses the Colorado Rockies. Death Rides the Zephyr is an engrossing and suspenseful adventure. Readers will be thrilled to take the ride.”
—Judith Van Gieson, author of the Neil Hamel and Claire Reynier mystery series

“Death Rides the Zephyr is an entertaining tale… [that] captures nuances of a transcontinental train trip in the early ’50s.”
—Railfan & Railroad

“With a nod to Agatha Christie, Dawson has created a historical that’s perfect for Western Collections with its detailed descriptions of the mid-century train routes through the Sierras and the Rockies. Her stately pacing and elaborate attention to clues make this a must-purchase for any library with historic-train aficionados.”
—Library Journal

“Fascinating… Dawson writes so convincingly, she could have been a Zephyrette.”
—Mysterious Women

“This historical mystery is really a love song to a bygone way of life, when the luxury train known as the California Zephyr was in its heyday… the real star is the train, which is lovingly described, from its layout to its ingenious bedrooms to its cuisine. That’s worth the price of admission.”
—Roberta Alexander, Oakland Tribune