A Death on the Way to Portsmouth: A Lady of Ashes Short Story

by Christine Trent

Violet Harper might be fearless when it comes to caring for the dead, but she trembles at the thought of boarding trains-those behemoths of belching smoke and screeching brakes. Nevertheless, she must travel via one of these beasts from Southampton to Portsmouth. The undertaker's anxiety turns into horror when a fellow passenger is murdered as the train carriage enters a tunnel. Can Violet discover who the murderer is before the train reaches its next stop? this is a short story, not a full-length novel.

Genres: Mystery, Historical

21 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 30, 2018

About the author

Christine Trent is the author of the Heart of St. Mary's County series set in her beloved Maryland hometown. Book 3, THE CEDAR POINT AFFAIR, releases in July 2025 and Book 4, THE MADNESS OF MOLL DYER, will release in February 2026.

She is also the author of the ROYAL TRADES series about women in unusual professions, including THE QUEEN'S DOLLMAKER (a dollmaker to Marie Antoinette), A ROYAL LIKENESS (an apprentice to the great waxworker, Madame Tussaud), and BY THE KING'S DESIGN (a cloth merchant to the Prince Regent). These books were re-released in 2023.

Christine is best known for her LADY OF ASHES series featuring Violet Harper, a Victorian undertaker with a passion for her macabre work. Christine's latest entry in this historical mystery series is THE DEADLY HOURS, an anthology written with Susanna Kearsley, C.S. Harris, and Anna Lee Huber, which follows the travels of a cursed pocket watch through time.

Can't get enough historical mystery? Christine has also written two novels (NO CURE FOR THE DEAD and A MURDEROUS MALADY) featuring Florence Nightingale as an intrepid sleuth.

Learn more about Christine at www.christinetrent.com.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

1870 Travelling to Portsmouth from Southampton after meeting her husband Sam who had arrived from the States. Violet Harper solves the mystery of the death of one of the passengers.
Enjoyable short story

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an engaging mystery as always!

[Daniele · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
DEATH ON THE WAY TO PORTSMOUTH is a nice introduction to undertaker Violet Harper and her husband Sam and provides a little reprieve to readers anxiously awaiting the next Lady of Ashes book. We find Violet facing her fear of trains and is comfortable chatting with Mr. Peck, whom Sam met during his travels. All is well until one of the other passengers dies, and Violet must examine the suspects, the handful of passengers in the second class train car.

Though DEATH ON THE WAY TO PORTSMOUTH is obviously a quick read, Trent gives readers a satisfying puzzle. I enjoyed figuring it out along side Violet.

[Liette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice short story that makes me want to read the series.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick short story; read if you like mysteries or historical fiction.

[Kamie Ball · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good short story

[Paola Layer · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting... but can i have more?

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my introduction to the Lady Ashes mystery series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It gave me enough background/context to understand the characters of Violet and Sam, without taking away from the present action, which is a murder on a moving train. I can't wait to read more in this series!