Patricia Highsmith’s 1950 novel Strangers on a Train begins, as you might expect, with two strangers meeting on a train. One is Guy Haines, an aspiring architect who is on his way home to Metcalf, Texas to see his wife, Miriam, from whom he’s been separated for the last three years. Guy is hoping to secure a divorce from Miriam so that he can start a new life with Anne, the woman he loves. Although Miriam has so far been reluctant to agree to a divorce, she is now pregnant with another man’s child and Guy is optimistic that this will be a chance for both of them to move on.
The other stranger is Charles Bruno, a young man from a wealthy Long Island family. After falling into conversation on the train, Bruno invites Guy to come and eat with him in his private dining compartment. Guy doesn’t particularly like his new companion, but soon finds himself telling Bruno about his troubles with Miriam. In turn, Bruno confesses that he hates his father – and then makes a shocking suggestion. If Bruno were to kill Miriam on Guy’s behalf, there would be nothing to link him to the crime. Guy could then kill Bruno’s father and again there would be no motive and no connection. Two perfect murders! Horrified, Guy refuses to have anything to do with the plan and when the train reaches his destination he leaves Bruno behind, hoping he’ll never see him again. However, when Miriam is later found dead, Guy quickly begins to suspect the truth. Has Bruno gone ahead with the plan – and is he waiting for Guy to uphold his side of the bargain?
This is the first book I’ve read by Patricia Highsmith; I thought it would be a good idea to start with one of her most famous novels and this one proved to be a great choice. It reminded me very much of In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes, another classic psychological thriller I read recently. Although I didn’t love this one quite as much, I did still enjoy it very much and found it a real page-turner, despite the fact that Highsmith often slows down the pace to concentrate on exploring the thought processes of Bruno and Guy as they each try to deal with the situation in their own way.
The novel is written from the perspectives of both men and although they are both interesting characters, Highsmith doesn’t make it easy for us to like either of them, particular the spoiled, immature and constantly drunk Bruno. We can have some sympathy for Guy at first, as he tries to resist getting involved in Bruno’s schemes, but he has his resolve gradually worn away as he comes under more and more pressure to carry out the murder and in turn becomes less likeable as the story progresses. The secondary characters are less well drawn – Anne and Miriam never fully come to life and we don’t get to know the other potential murder victim, Bruno’s father, at all, which lessens the emotional impact of the book. From a psychological point of view, however, I found this a fascinating novel.
If you’ve read any other Patricia Highsmith books, please tell me which one you think I should read next!
This is book 11/20 of my 20 Books of Summer 2023
It’s also book 41/50 from my second Classics Club list.
She Reads Novels 
So glad you enjoyed this novel, one of my favourites (and the film is good as well)! The Talented Mr Ripley is her most celebrated book though all are interesting. The Price of Salt, with two interesting female characters, is also highly recommended.
Yes, I considered starting with Mr Ripley but decided on this one instead. I don’t know anything about The Price of Salt, so thanks for recommending it.
I was looking forward to your review and will be adding this to my ‘To Read’ pile as soon as I can. The only Highsmith I own (typically unread!) is ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’. I haven’t seen the movie but it sounds like it’d be a good read.
In other book news I’ve just finished my first book from the Imperial War Museum Wartime Classics series – ‘Sword of Bone’ by Anthony Rhodes which was very good. There’s 13 in the set and I’ve elected to read them in historical event order starting with the evacuation of Dunkirk. Review on Monday.
I haven’t seen The Talented Mr Ripley either but I do want to read the book – it will probably be the next Highsmith novel I read, unless I get tempted by a different one in the meantime!
I’ll look forward to your review of Sword of Bone.
I have been meaning to read this one for a long time now, and really should bump it up on my TBR.
I definitely think it’s worth moving up the TBR. I hope you enjoy it!
I put this book on my Classics Club list and started it in June. I just couldn’t get into it. Partly because I’d seen the classic movie many times and I guess just knowing how it all ended made me kind of bored with it. I may have to read another of her books. The Talented Mr. Ripley is fantastic, but I read it years ago.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen it (or if I have I can’t remember it), so I didn’t know how the book was going to end, which definitely helped! I’m glad you liked The Talented Mr Ripley.
I read this one because it’s one of my most favorite Hitchcock movies, and I thought the book was equally well done. Bruno was a very creepy character, I thought. Highsmith knows how to write a compelling psychological thriller.
Yes, I thought Bruno was very disturbing!
Oh, gosh, you have to read The Talented Mr. Ripley. The movie with Matt Damon and Jude Law is also good.
The Talented Mr Ripley is probably the one I’ll read next.
It’s got an anti-hero. She specializes in those.
I enjoyed the Highsmiths I’d previously read so I started this with high hopes. But I didn’t get very far – I was either in the wrong mood or found the opening too slow – so I left it for a future revisit. Perhaps because I’d just read Amanda Craig’s The Golden Rule, which rifts on the same premise but with two women plotting murder on a train, had something to do with one of my rare DNFs.
A Highsmith title I’d recommend? I looked back at the few of her books I’d read and think I quite liked Those Who Walk Away set in Venice; but there’s also Tremor of Forgery (Tunisia) or The Two Faces of January (Athens and Crete this time) which worked for me. Anyway, judge from my reviews if that helps!
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Oh, I didn’t forget Ripley, but I read that some time before I started reviewing or blogging.
Yes, I think reading two books with similar plots too close together can often be a problem. I hope you’ll enjoy this one more if you revisit it in the future.
I’m tempted by all of the other Highsmiths you mention – thanks for the suggestions!
I haven’t read anything by Highsmith but I was so impressed by Dorothy Hughes’ writing in The Expendable Man!
I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Hughes so far. The Expendable Man is a great one!
Have you seen the Hitchcock film? In my opinion it’s one of those cases where the film is far better than the book. It was probably because I already loved the film so much that I found the book rather disappointing, in fact.
No, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it, which is probably why I enjoyed the book as I had nothing to compare it with!
It’s sounds positively awful for me anyway. Thanks for the gist of it.
Sorry to hear this doesn’t appeal to you. I know not everyone enjoys noir thrillers!