A clever homage to classic locked-room mysteries.
Fraternal twins Joe (a fiction writer) and Meredith (a lawyer) board the infamous Orient Express after he's finally cleared by his medical team after treatment for cancer. Almost immediately, things go awry and a bloody, body-less crime scene appears in the cabin next door. An interesting group of passengers form an alliance to search for the missing person who is presumed dead. The cohort just happens to included former police, detectives, spies and other investigators that make the effort seem more like an ensemble event taking place in the bar car.
There are lots of red herrings and so many characters to keep track of that make the pacing a bit convoluted. It was an entertaining and cozy type read despite the number of dead bodies (five) and the twists did require suspension of disbelief. I had to read the ending a couple of times to make sure I actually understood what had happened.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because the audio book was just that good. I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. The narrators, Katherine Littrell and Eden Gabay, did an amazing job voicing the characters with great dramatic effect and all the right accents. Their performance definitely enhanced the book and provided a fun immersive reading experience.
This is a standalone that might actually make a good series if further developed.
Tags and genre - cozy crime thriller, mystery, setting is Orient Express, murder, con man
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