Other editions of book The Rome Express: By Arthur Griffiths - Illustrated

How is this book unique? Font adjustments & biography included Unabridged (100% Original content) Illustrated About The Rome Express by Arthur Griffiths A mysterious murder on a flying express train, a wily Italian, a charming woman caught in the meshes of circumstantial evidence, a chivalrous Englishman, and a police force with a keen nose for the wrong clue, are the ingredients from which Major Griffiths has concocted a clever, up-to-date detective story. First published in 1896, this is a fictional account of nine people aboard an express train sleeping car most of whom awake near the end of their journey from Rome to Paris to learn that one of their number has suffered death by a stab wound to the heart. Two are French businessmen, two are English brothers- a General and a clergyman, two are women- an attractive widow and her maid.The conductor, a Dutchman named Groote, has made trouble for the widow and her maid by insisting that the maid not be in the sleeping car too much as she has no sleeping car ticket. Two other men are aboard, one of whom is the dead man. The police inspectors arrive at the Paris train station, the Gare de Lyon, and present the reader with a delicious comedy of errors as they apply their rigid methods in an unavailing attempt to find out what happened. In the midst of this the General and the lovely widow, already friends for some months(having met in Rome) discover that they love each other. An artful blend of narration, misdirection and well-timed revelations maintain interest in this diverting story all the way to the end.

Before "The Orient Express" there was...The Rome Express. The very words conjure up a romantic time when travel, at least for those who could afford a compartment in a first class car, was elegant and refined. One could board the night train in Rome, dine along the way, sleep in comfortable accommodations and wake up at the station in Paris refreshed and ready to go. This is the picture that Major Arthur Griffiths paints in "The Rome Express." Of course, not everything can be expected to run smoothly, especially when a body is discovered in one of the compartments. Who was he? Who was his murderer? The Countess? The English General? His brother the clergy man? The maid who has disappeared? Is the French justice system up to solving the crime? This classic book was edited and published by Resurrected Press. Resurrected Press is dedicated to bringing high quality classic books back to the readers who enjoy them. These are not scanned versions of the originals, but, rather, quality checked and edited books meant to be enjoyed! Please search Amazon for "Resurrected Press" to find both print and Kindle editions of all of our books, or visit ResurrectedPress.com!

Set in an era when train travel was a privilege of the wealthy few, Arthur Griffiths' The Rome Express features the exciting story of a murder on a luxury train and the ensuing investigation with most of the characters coming from higher classes. The murder that the story revolves around takes place very early on in the book - after only a few pages, the reader is presented with the mysterious death of one of the passengers on the express train bound from Rome to Paris - the victim is a gentleman who seems to have been beaten and stabbed to death in his sleeping compartment sometime during the journey.The case is investigated by professionals of the French police and by a self-proclaimed investigator called General Collingham who distinguishes himself by his extraordinary, sharp spirit of observation and his ability to take action when he deems it necessary. The investigation is made even more complicated by the involvement of a beautiful countess, a passenger of the train who is also engaged in a budding love affair with the General, but the mystery becomes solved eventually, as can be expected, after numerous detours and misinterpreted clues. Driven by the wish to clear the name of his sweetheart, it is the General who actually solves the case and practically hands over the solution to the official French investigators, teaching them a lesson in a very elegant way.The Rome Express might remind readers of another mystery plot that takes place on a train: Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. There is no evidence that Christie read Griffiths' book, but she might have, given that The Rome Express was first published in 1890, more than forty years before Christie's masterpiece and it enjoyed huge popularity when it came out. Anyway, one thing is sure: The Rome Express is a great and well-written murder mystery that makes a quick and entertaining read.

The Rome Express, the direttissimo, or most direct, was approaching Paris one morning in March, when it became known to the occupants of the sleeping-car that there was something amiss, very much amiss, in the car. The train was travelling the last stage, between Laroche and Paris, a run of a hundred miles without a stop. It had halted at Laroche for early breakfast, and many, if not all the passengers, had turned out. Of those in the sleeping-car, seven in number, six had been seen in the restaurant, or about the platform; the seventh, a lady, had not stirred. All had reentered their berths to sleep or doze when the train went on, but several were on the move as it neared Paris, taking their turn at the lavatory, calling for water, towels, making the usual stir of preparation as the end of a journey was at hand.

Arthur George Frederick Griffiths was an English author. His works include: The Chronicles of Newgate (1884), In Tight Places: Some Experiences of an Amateur Detective (1900), The Thin Red Line, and Blue Blood (1900), Tales of a Government Official (1902), A Bid for Empire (1902), The Silver Spoon (1903), The Passenger from Calais (1905), Agony Terrace: Some Secrets of the Cynosure Club (1907), The Rome Express (1907) and Thrice Captive (1908).