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Fremont Jones #5
Death Train to Boston
Autumn 1908 finds Caroline Fremont Jones and her partner in love and work, Michael Kossoff, traveling incognito, riding the rails from San Francisco to Boston. The railroad hired the sleuthing couple to investigate a series of accidents. But before they can solve the mystery, they become victims of the worst mishap yet when their train blows up near Salt Lake City. Was it a callous act of vandalism-or something even more sinister? Michael isn't about to let his injuries slow down his search for answers...or for Fremont, who has not been seen since the accident-dead or alive.
Fortunately, the badly injured Fremont was rescued from the train's wreckage. But her unlikely savior, the leader of a breakaway Mormon sect, has hidden her away in his remote wilderness community. It seems that Melancthon Pratt has big plans for Fremont...not the least of which is for her to become his sixth wife. Now Fremont's only hope is that her genius for artifice will help her devise an escape. That is, unless Michael, shadowed by an old nemesis and a mysterious stranger, can find her before a heartless killer claims both their lives.
Fortunately, the badly injured Fremont was rescued from the train's wreckage. But her unlikely savior, the leader of a breakaway Mormon sect, has hidden her away in his remote wilderness community. It seems that Melancthon Pratt has big plans for Fremont...not the least of which is for her to become his sixth wife. Now Fremont's only hope is that her genius for artifice will help her devise an escape. That is, unless Michael, shadowed by an old nemesis and a mysterious stranger, can find her before a heartless killer claims both their lives.
272 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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182 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
September 11, 2007
First of all: did she have to make the wierdo a Mormon? Are they just too trendy? I am a Mormon, and I was bothered by that whole angle. What purpose did it serve, really? Just to show that some Mormons are wierd religious fanatics. Well, so are some Catholics, some Baptists, some Adventists. But you knew if Fremont was crossing the country on a train, it would have to run into trouble in Utah, and rather than get rescued by a normal, average Mormon family it had to be the fundamentalist self-styled prophet who claimed she had been sent by an angel to be his fifth wife.
OK, got that out of my system. All that aside, I was still disappointed by the book. Like another reviewer said, the bad guy was sort of tacked on at the end. There was no hint that he was even around. Where did he come from? I liked bringing Mei Ling back. That whole spiritual angle could have been played up a little better.
Overall, a disappointment. I read the next one, Beacon Street Mourning, and it was better, although still not as good as the first two in the series, which were really outstanding.
OK, got that out of my system. All that aside, I was still disappointed by the book. Like another reviewer said, the bad guy was sort of tacked on at the end. There was no hint that he was even around. Where did he come from? I liked bringing Mei Ling back. That whole spiritual angle could have been played up a little better.
Overall, a disappointment. I read the next one, Beacon Street Mourning, and it was better, although still not as good as the first two in the series, which were really outstanding.
December 13, 2011
Dianne Day is masterful in creating romance around mystery.
What Michael doesn’t know is that Freemont has been kidnapped by a Mormon fundamentalist who has decided to make her one of his many wives.
Michael enlists the help of Freemont’s best friend, Maylene, to help him find her. While Michael and Maylene search for Freemont, she focuses on the one wife, a fourteen year old who doesn’t look pleased to be there, to help her escape.
Death Train To Boston is a great read.
Annie Fields tells this story with passion making readers identify with and care about each character.
June 16, 2023
I liked being able to see into Michaelʻs mind as well has Fremontʻs in this book. It strengthened the narrative and made the overall mystery more suspenseful. I liked learning about an early polygamist Mormon community and how the non-Mormon town Fremont escapes to, is not on the map! The constant thread through the whole series is Fremont having to navigate in a world where men are in charge and feel they have every right to control everything that women do. Itʻs a reason Fremont has never wanted to marry. In the Mormon community this domination of women was extreme.
Having Meiling back in the story was great. I wish there was another book where it switched back and forth between Fremont and Meilingʻs perspectives. Plus there is a significant amount of this book set on a train. I love train travel! My daughter and I are taking a long train trip this summer and I will be thinking about what it was like to travel by train 100 years ago.
It has just occurred to me that perhaps a reason I see these books as so comforting is because of Fremontʻs feminism. She didnʻt follow the normal roles for women in her time. In a sense I havenʻt either. I had my daughter by myself. I first read these books a decade before I made that decision.
Having Meiling back in the story was great. I wish there was another book where it switched back and forth between Fremont and Meilingʻs perspectives. Plus there is a significant amount of this book set on a train. I love train travel! My daughter and I are taking a long train trip this summer and I will be thinking about what it was like to travel by train 100 years ago.
It has just occurred to me that perhaps a reason I see these books as so comforting is because of Fremontʻs feminism. She didnʻt follow the normal roles for women in her time. In a sense I havenʻt either. I had my daughter by myself. I first read these books a decade before I made that decision.
August 7, 2020
A mysterious explosion, blowing up the train they are travelling on separates our two protagonists. Injured, Fremont is saved by the leader of a breakaway Mormon sect, who thinks she has been set by an angel to join him and his five wives in the Utah backwoods. Michael, also injured sets about looking for Fremont aided by Meiling a young Chinese woman skilled in jujitsu. This is the fifth book in a series, I hadn't read the others so I was a little ignorant of past events. Reading some reviews, it seems the interest of the series is in the two protagonists playing off each other, but this time they are separated for almost the entire book. There was an interesting town called Hiram with its saloon and whorehouse that had been left off the map of Utah , "On account of this is a Mormon state, and we're right smack dab in the middle of the most conservative Mormon country you can possibly imagine." Hiram sounds like one of John Green's "paper towns".
July 24, 2024
The story has two intertwining plots that share the root of a train explosion. Fremont survives but is badly ailing with two broken legs. Her rescuer is a Mormon in a reclusive sect who believes that an angel had sent Fremont to him and is meant to be his sixth wife. Meanwhile, Michael and Fremont's friends are trying to find her and they also have to contend with finding out who caused the train to wreck.
The book had all the right ingredients, but it didn't really bake into a proper mystery, though it did have its share of suspense and adventure. The problems pretty much resolve themselves with little regard into the efforts the characters put in. The characters' interactions, however, are lively and it's worth reading if you want to keep up with what's going on in the overall series.
The book had all the right ingredients, but it didn't really bake into a proper mystery, though it did have its share of suspense and adventure. The problems pretty much resolve themselves with little regard into the efforts the characters put in. The characters' interactions, however, are lively and it's worth reading if you want to keep up with what's going on in the overall series.
April 14, 2019
Wow. Huge misfire in this series. First, Fremont and Michael are kept apart the whole time, which is the main part of the story,but the two of them interacting is part of the usual fun. Then take Fremont who is a wonderful character and break both of her legs. Really? Sure it's fun to see Fremont use her brain to think through things but when her legs are broken, did you really need to have her kidnapped by a Mormon who wants to use her as a brood mare. UGH! Maybe to some readers that's an ok plot point but to me it seems unsavory and kind of lazy 1908 plotting. I already have the next book in this series. If it's as bad as this one it will be the last one I read.
November 27, 2020
Another installment of the Fremont Jones series brings us a bit east and to Mormon Country. Midway through the book, I did tend to think the rest of the novel was obvious. Then the last quarter, the plot got interesting again. The relationship with Meiling and Michael could have taken a different twist. The author also introduces us to the international spy world. As always, I judge a book by how it encourages me to further research information presented. I found myself wanting to learn more about the culture of Utah and how the Mormon people shaped its politics and history.
September 11, 2017
SO far this was the worst book in the series. So they are on a train that gets blown up Freemont and Michael separated. Ok. What I did not understand was where the whole Mormon thing came in at. She was held captive for a few months as a potential sister wife and all of a sudden the other wives decide to set her free? I thought this was the whole makeup of the story? So she sits in another town for a few weeks gets rescued, captures the guy who blew up the train and that's it.
July 10, 2018
Fremont and Michael are separated by a train wreck that turns out to be sabotage. Short sections of story alternate viewpoints as Fremont copes with her injuries and her Mormon rescuer, and Michael launches a search to find both her and the person that caused the wreck.
May 6, 2021
Enjoying this series. I liked the shifting points of view in this one...
November 6, 2022
Enjoying the series - entertaining if a bit implausible in places!
January 11, 2024
This addition to Fremont's adventures had me pulling my hair out in frustration over her confinement with the Mormon family and their overbearing, rotten to the core, ridiculous "Father". Her solution to the problem is clever and yet underrated. Can't wait to see how this series ends.
August 10, 2011
I have enjoyed all of the other books in this series but this one had too many things I didn't like. The first was the authors portrayal of Mormons. A main part of the book is about an offshoot sect known as the "True Angels" but the overall tone towards Mormonism in general was not complimentary at all and at times bordered on the absurd. My next issue was the amount of profanity - for the most part the profanity has been pretty minimal in previous books but it felt like 10 times more in this one. Lastly, one of the best things about this series is the interaction between Michael and Fremont and there was only like 5 pages of interaction in this book. Made me just skim through whole pages and sections. Overall not a great read.
October 21, 2012
This is one of those books that you need to read at least 50 pages before you are hooked. It is a most interesting situation for Freemont. She is stationary while trying to solve the latest mystery in her life. If you will remember, there are two mysteries in each book...one involving her life and one involving her business. In this book there is always a nagging thought that the two may be connected. I will not spoil it for you. In the meanwhile, Michael, her life and business partner, is busy with her best friend trying to solve the business mystery. The solution to these mysteries just eases in. Before you know it the mysteries are solved and the book has ended. I liked it and think you will, too.
June 14, 2015
PROTAGONIST: Fremont Jones and Michael Kossoff
SETTING: Utah
SERIES: #5 of 6
RATING: 3.75
WHY: Fremont Jones and Michael Archer Kossoff are traveling undercover on a train when it explodes. In the aftermath, Michael is unable to find Fremont. Driven by an angel in a dream, Mormon Melancthon Pratt has abducted Fremont and taken her to his home where he has 5 wives and plans to make Fremont his sixth in order to provide children to the group. She is basically a prisoner, as she has broken both legs. Michael is aided by their friend Meiling Li in finding Fremont. The book was interesting, but I didn't find the conclusion satisfying.
SETTING: Utah
SERIES: #5 of 6
RATING: 3.75
WHY: Fremont Jones and Michael Archer Kossoff are traveling undercover on a train when it explodes. In the aftermath, Michael is unable to find Fremont. Driven by an angel in a dream, Mormon Melancthon Pratt has abducted Fremont and taken her to his home where he has 5 wives and plans to make Fremont his sixth in order to provide children to the group. She is basically a prisoner, as she has broken both legs. Michael is aided by their friend Meiling Li in finding Fremont. The book was interesting, but I didn't find the conclusion satisfying.
July 20, 2014
Freemont and Michael are undercover. Posing as strangers on a cross-country train, their flirting turns to fear when the train trestle is blown up and Freemont's car goes crashing into the canyon. Michael is left to determine if she is alive or dead. With the aid of their friend Meing Li, Michael rescues a badly damaged Freemont, but only after she escapes being held captive by a religious extremist who wants to force her to marry and bear children.
December 17, 2013
First, this was the first Fremont Jones I have read and I had no trouble figuring out what was happening. It is an intriguing mystery, that involves odd but believable people if you understand the history of the west. In all, it was a good snowy day read that kept me interested and ready to read more. I consider it a lucky find at the bookstore.
December 7, 2008
Fremont and her lover/business partner Michael are traveling by train cross country when an explosion at a railroad bridge in Utah causes many injuries,and Fremont goes missing. Mystery series set in early 1900s.
July 13, 2009
Another fun read by Dianne Day. This one takes us from the familiar setting of San Francisco into the wilds of Utah. A little less action in this book and hoping the final in the series will return to a bit quicker pace.
January 10, 2010
Not nearly as interesting or captivating a yarn as The Strange Files of Fremont Jones which I read a short while ago.... I'll try another, but if it is also in this less interesting vein vs the former, I'll probably look for another author!
June 24, 2011
I wish that I had realized this was the middle book in a series before I started reading it. It took a while for me to get into the plotline, and was confused a bit when past events were mentioned.
This didn't grab my attention very well at all.
This didn't grab my attention very well at all.
January 22, 2015
Oh those evil Mormons
Delightful private investigator fiction in the pattern of Agatha Christie. A great little popcorn read that may send the reader on more Fremont Jones adventures.
Delightful private investigator fiction in the pattern of Agatha Christie. A great little popcorn read that may send the reader on more Fremont Jones adventures.
September 7, 2007
Ugh. SO my least favorite in the series. Held captive by crazy Mormons? Really? Blerghhhhh.
July 28, 2015
5th in series.
July 26, 2009
Train explosions! Fundamentalist Mormons in the middle of nowhere Utah! A city that Utah refused to put on the map! And -- NO BAD ROMANCE NOVEL SEX! Yay!
April 19, 2014
Dragged a little, Held captive by crazy Mormons? Really? I hated this book don't bother to read this book a waste of time.
May 9, 2013
Dragged a little. A little anti-climatic. I expected a big showdown, but the end was kind of rushed.
March 6, 2012
I enjoyed the writing and I like Fremont, but I was deeply troubled by the stock stereotypes of crazy polygynous Mormons, and the mystery construction was less than I could desire.
May 23, 2012
Interesting series, pretty entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews