Murder On The Switzerland Trail

by Mike Befeler

After a man is murdered during a trip on the Switzerland Trail of America railroad, police officer Harry McBride sorts through the suspects among the passengers in the hope of finding the killer before the train returns to Boulder.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction

263 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2015

About the author

Mike Befeler writes the humorous Paul Jacobson "Geezer Lit" mystery series featuring an ocotgenarian protagonist with short-term memory loss. The series includes: Retirement Homes Are Murder, Living With Your Kids Is Murder, Senior Moments Are Murder, Cruising in Your Eighties Is Murder, Care Homes Are Murder and Nursing Homes Are Murder. His other books include Unstuff Your Stuff, Death of a Scam Artist, The Tesla Legacy, The Best Chicken Thief in All of Europe, Court Trouble, Murder on the Switzerland Trail, Mystery of the Dinner Playhouse, The V V Agency, The Back Wing, The Front Wing, Paradise Cort, Coronavirus Daze, and Old Detectives Home. Mike retired from the computer data storage industry to write full time. He's past president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America.

Reviews

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Mike Befeler's Murder on the Switzerland Trail, he gave us a classic mystery with an intriguing tale. It's July 1919 after the Depression era, Officer Harry McBride and his wife Susan went on a train ride from Boulder to Eldora, Colorado. Along the ride, they were joined by a couple of passengers to took the same trip. At first, it sounded like a fascinated trip to see the scenery, but there was a lot of tension in the area and a lot of gripes for one person named Frederick Hammond, a war veteran who recovered from influenza. There was a lot of swipes at each other and jobs to set him off. At the stop of Eldora, before they returned to Boulder, Frederick was murdered on his way to board the train. Now it was up to Harry to uncover whodunit before they stopped at Boulder. As the only fellow police officer on the job, he made a shocking discovery before the culprit would stop at nothing in the end with a bittersweet ending.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a Boulder policeman takes his wife for a Sunday trail ride into the Rockies, he doesn't expect the small party traveling with them to include a murderer. But one of the travelers is killed, and circumstances indicate that the small group on the Pullman car is guilty. It will be a lot easier for Harry to find the murderer by questioning the suspects on the train, than by tracking them to their homes in Boulder. With the help of his wife, and advice phoned from the police chief (who is recovering from influenza) Harry finds the missing pieces to his puzzle.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Murder on the Orient Express, Colorado style. Befeler weaves Colorado history into a murder mystery on board a narrow gauge railroad trip to the mountains. He gives the clues needed for his Boulder police officer to solve the murder. The fun is trying to figure it out before reaching the end of the trip.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seemed more like a textbook on Colorado railroad and mining history than a novel. A few facts would have been plenty for background information. The constant bickering between the passengers was tiresome and the murder did not occur until more than halfway through the book. It was a drudge to finish.

[Doreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow beginning but setting everything up. Not humorous as his "old geezer" series but a good historical history of the railroad line in Colorado. Learned a lot. Kind of Agatha Christie as you know murderer is one of six in car, from the beginning.