The Man from the Train

The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery

By: Bill James, Rachel McCarthy James

Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd

An Edgar Award finalist for Best Fact Crime, The Man from the Train is an “impressive…open-eyed investigative inquiry wrapped within a cultural history of rural America” (The Wall Street Journal). In this groundbreaking work of historical true crime, legendary statistician and baseball writer Bill James applies his analytical genius to crack an unsolved century-old mystery surrounding one of the deadliest serial killers in American history.

Between 1898 and 1912, families across the United States were brutally murdered in their sleep with the blunt side of an axe. Valuables were left untouched, bodies were staged, and faces covered. Some cases, like the infamous Villisca Axe Murders in Iowa, gained national attention—but few believed the crimes were connected. Fewer still noticed that every family lived within walking distance of a train line.

Digging through thousands of newspapers, court transcripts, and public records, James and his daughter Rachel uncovered a chilling truth: these murders were the work of one man, traveling by rail, who would go on to become one of America’s most prolific yet largely forgotten serial killers.

Riveting and immersive, The Man from the Train offers a vivid portrait of turn-of-the-century America, exposing how cultural blind spots, flawed investigations, and opportunistic detectives allowed this killer to operate undetected. Blending meticulous research with narrative drive, this modern classic of true crime nonfiction will fascinate readers of Devil in the White City, My Favorite Murder, and fans of unsolved mysteries and historical crime investigations.

Historical true-crime investigation at it’s best.

I enjoyed this audio book, I believe more than I would have if I had read it. There is so much information and historical data, that the authors were compelled to give summaries and go back to re-visit previously relayed information. It was helpful and compelling, I walked a lot of miles in a short span of days to find out if the mystery had been solved. I will now read a couple of the books mentioned by the authors, including “A Game Called Salisbury” by Susan Barringer Wells, due to interest in the part that racism played in the hampering of solving the crimes and preventing more killings. (And causing innocent deaths and incarceration.).

Interesting but hard to recommend

I read it based on Karen Kilgarif's recommendation on MFM. I liked it but rolled my eyes more than a few times.

+ It's detailed and thorough and one of the only true crime books that's piqued my interest to finsih.

- The sentences were repetitive enough I checked my phone more than once to see if there was some sort of playback glitch.

- I enjoyed the material but found the overly familiar writing style cringy; like a professor who thinks he can relate to 'the kids'. I didn't get his dated pop culture references or relate to his jokes or personal flair. It is more off-putting than the gruesome murders.

Loved it

So well read and interesting. Loved it and highly recommended. It was not monotonous. Well done .

Very interesting, but a bit dense

I understood and appreciated the authors intent (particularly in his desire to pay homage to those accused of the killers crimes), but the depth he pursues this often caused me to tune out and got in the way of the story.

Simply Captivating

Baseball and true crime are two of my favorite things on this Earth so the fact that I like Bill James is not a surprise. Popular Crime was a fun dive into well known cases, this was an immersion into a world that has mostly been forgotten to history. James is obsessed with this topic. Because of this I have no reason to doubt his conclusion in discovering the single most viscous serial killer in American history. He certainly meanders at times and the final crime, which I won't spoil, might cause some to roll their eyes. However, the level of detail of crimes that are over 100 years old is mind bending. The conclusions drawn are mostly rooted in overwhelming fact with James signature mathematics to drive them home. This was an 18 hour listen which I completed in three days. When I wasn't listening, I was thinking of how I could extricate myself from whatever I was doing faster to listen some more. It's a brilliant work.