Christmas, 1888✦Instant download for iPad & Android✦Paperback coming soon
An Inspector Graves Casefile · Book 3

Murder on the Midnight Express

Christmas, 1888. One sleeping car. One bolted door. One killer still aboard.

A Victorian murder mystery you solve with a pencil. Find the words, crack the ciphers, test every alibi against the railway timetable, and name the killer.

40word searches40cipher clues6suspects~15hours of play
The cover of Murder on the Midnight Express on a tablet
Northern Star Railway · Down express

The train keeps its own time. So does the killer.

King’s Cross
Peterborough
Grantham
Ravensholm Tunnel
York
Edinburgh
The case
King’s Cross, Friday 21st December 1888. A quarter to midnight.

The Northern Star Railway has a new sleeping car for its Midnight Express to Edinburgh: mahogany and brass, eight compartments along a side corridor, and an attendant to bring you tea at any hour of the night. Its owner, Sir Octavius Crane, is aboard to enjoy her first Christmas run.

Snow begins at Peterborough. At Grantham the express waits on frozen points. Somewhere beneath Ravensholm Moor it runs through the long tunnel, and nobody thinks anything of it.

At York, a little after four in the morning, the attendant knocks on compartment No. 5. The door is bolted on the inside. Sir Octavius is dead in his berth, shot once, with the window let down and the snow blowing in.

Inspector Graves needs an assistant. That’s you.

A steam express at a snowy London platform
The Midnight Express, photographed for the file
How it plays

Three steps to a solved case

A blank word search page from the case file
1

Find the words

Each word search is a corner of the train. Circle every word, and the one word you can’t find is your clue word.

A blank cryptogram page from the case file
2

Crack the cipher

Slot the clue word into the cryptogram beside it, and the code starts to fall. Every cipher is a piece of evidence.

The sealed envelope holding the solution
3

Name the killer

Some clues are genuine, some are red herrings. Test every alibi against the timetable and the locks, then break the seal.

Try it now

Crack the first clue

This is cipher No. 1, straight from the case file: the Rules of the Aurora, framed in the corridor. Two letters are given. The word you couldn’t find in the first word search is VESTIBULE. Find where it fits.

Type a letter and it fills in everywhere that symbol appears.

RULES OF THE SLEEPING CAR AURORAHints: I = H · T = K
The persons of interest

Six suspects. One killer.

Everyone had a reason. Only one had a way in.

Portrait of Miss Winifred Hale
BERTH NO. 6

Miss Winifred Hale

Private secretary. Quick, loyal and underpaid.

Portrait of Mr Felix Crane
BERTH NO. 4

Mr Felix Crane

Only son. Charming, idle and in debt.

Portrait of Mr Rafe Lockhart
BERTH NO. 3

Mr Rafe Lockhart

A rival railway’s managing director, not come north to surrender.

Portrait of Colonel Hector Fairlie
BERTH NO. 7

Colonel Hector Fairlie

An old service revolver and older grievances.

Portrait of Miss Letty Lark
BERTH NO. 2

Miss Letty Lark

Music hall star, bound for the Edinburgh pantomime.

Portrait of Albert Nutley
THE PANTRY

Albert Nutley

The attendant. Keeps the only key to the dining-car door.

The sleeping car Aurora

Every door is a clue

Bolts on both sides of every connecting door, and a dining-car door locked at one o’clock. Work out who could reach compartment No. 5, and when.

What you get

Inside the case file

A cozy puzzle with about 15 hours of gameplay.

  • 40 themed word searches
  • 40 cipher clues
  • 8 railway deduction puzzles
  • Timetable & sleeping-car plan
  • Suspect tracker & clue ledger
  • A sealed solution, every clue explained
IPAD & ANDROID FILES INCLUDED

The Digital Case File

$9
  • Tabbed like a real police file, with 2,600+ working links
  • Portraits and a page for every person of interest
  • Write straight on the page in GoodNotes, Notability and more
  • Instant download
Get the Case File

The Paperback

$11.99COMING SOON
  • 6 × 9 in, made for pencil and paper
  • Every puzzle dressed as evidence from the case
  • A cozy gift to wrap for Christmas
  • Coming soon to Amazon
Coming soon to Amazon
A Christmas gift

For the mystery lover who has read everything

A snowbound Victorian case for Christmas Eve, a quiet week between the holidays, or a long winter weekend by the fire.

Get the Case File · $9
The Inspector Graves series

Every case stands on its own

CASEBOOK NO. 1Murder at the Opera

London, October 1887. A prima donna poisoned on stage.

 CASEBOOK NO. 2Murder at the Circus

January 1888. A circus proprietor dead in the snowbound winter quarters.
CASEFILE NO. 3 YOU ARE HEREMurder on the Midnight Express

Christmas 1888. A railway king shot aboard the night train north.

Questions from the platform

Do I need to play Books 1 and 2 first?

No. Every case is a complete mystery on its own.

I’ve never done a cryptogram. Can I still solve it?

Yes. The early ciphers give you two hint letters, and every cipher comes with a clue word from its word search to get you started.

How long does it take?

About 15 hours in all. Each word search and its cipher take around 20 minutes.

Which apps does the digital edition work in?

GoodNotes, Notability, Noteshelf, Xodo and other PDF apps that support links. You get both the iPad and the Android file.

What if I get stuck?

Every answer is in the back, with each clue decoded and every red herring explained. The full solution waits in a sealed envelope until you’re ready.

Is there a paperback?

Yes, it’s coming soon to Amazon. The digital case file is available now.

NORTHERN STAR RAILWAY · SLEEPING CAR AURORA

The Midnight Express departs at midnight.

Take your seat, pour the tea, and keep one eye on the clock.

Get the Case File · $9 Paperback coming soon
Get the Case File · $9