David Martin is a young college professor when, on a train trip to Chicago, he realizes he is the only one able to see Rosalind La Page, a resident apparition who makes a ghostly appearance every year on the anniversary of her 1940s murder. After he arrives in Chicago, David reveals his experience to his mother, Kathleen, who tells him he is a Sensitive with a special gift. As David continues to feel Rosalind's presence, he immerses himself in learning as much as he can about her, apparitions, and other paranormal phenomena. Through dreams and ghostly trickery, it takes Rosalind a year to prod David into investigating the unsolved murder that is keeping her earthbound. When he finally relents, David turns to his mother for help. As the amateur sleuths take on the cold case, Rosalind leads them from the mobster-land Chicago of her past to the culturally rich Austin, Texas, rampant with promises of the future. But as time ticks away, David and Kathleen soon realize that the case may be more difficult to solve than they ever imagined. The Mysterious Woman on the Train shares the intriguing story of a college professor's quest to solve a cold case murder, with help from a ghostly victim and a cast of colorful characters.