Mystery in White: A Christmas Crime Story by J. Jefferson Farjeon

It was Christmas eve and a few people were in the coach of the 11:37 train from Euston to Manchester. There was an elderly bore, Mr. Hopkins, who had his eye on a young chorus girl, Jessie Noyes,  who was on her way to audition. There were a brother and sister, David and Lydia Carrington, and a young clerk, Mr. Robert Thomson, who didn't feel well because he might be getting a cold. There was also an elderly gentleman, Mr. Edward Maltby, who was a member of the Royal Psychical Society. Mr. Maltby was on his way to interview Charles I at Naseby.

The train had been making its way slowly through a dreadful snowstorm, and then the train stopped. It could not go any farther. The occupants debated what to do and whether it might be a good idea to leave the train and strike out through the snow. Mr. Maltby thought that he saw someone go by outside the coach, and he jumped up and left the train.  David, Lydia, Jessica, and Mr Thomson then decided to strike out cross country through the drifts. Jessica fell and sprained her ankle and David had to carry her. When this group had almost given up hope of finding anything, they encountered a house. The door was unlocked, the house was comfortable and warm, and the kettle was on the stove, but there was nobody home. There was, however, a bread knife on the kitchen floor.

While they were preparing to have tea, there was a knock on the door. It was Mr. Maltby and a stranger. The stranger was a rather rough looking fellow with a cockney accent. He gave his name as Smith. Maltby had encountered him just before he reached the door of the house. Smith was very reluctant to tell anything about himself. While they were talking, they heard a cry for help from outside of the house. David and Mr. Thomson rushed out and found the elderly bore floundering in the snow. The bore said that he had left the train when it was found that some one had been murdered in the compartment next to the one in which he was sitting; he did not know the name of the murder victim.

The snow continued to come down, and the complications to the situation in the house increased. A dead body was found buried by snow outside the house. Mr. Thomson became quite ill with his cold. Jessica remained in bed with her sprained ankle. Lydia Carrington tried to make plans to celebrate Christmas with what she could find in the house. I will not introduce  spoilers here, but will say that everything was resolved by Mr. Maltby who used a mixture of logic and his psychic sense.

I found this book to be an interesting read even though I was reading it in July. The author allows the reader to look at the inner thoughts of Mr. Thomson, Mr. Hopkins, and Jessica which make them very sympathetic characters. David and Lydia remain positive, attractive people, and their thoughts are not explored. Mr Maltby may supply the reader with a bit too much information on psychic phenomenon.

J. Jefferson Farjeon was a prolific writer of mystery fiction, but his works sank into obscurity as time passed. This book, which was originally published in 1937,  has recently been reissued as part of the British Library Crime Classic series. It has an introduction by Martin Edwards.