mystery that, as the book’s title suggests, will lead to several deaths.

The mystery begins in earnest the next morning, when a steward breaks into the locked cabin next to the Penvales’ room after its occupant failed to respond. The Penvales hear the clamor and stick their heads in the door, only to discover the room has been completely torn apart with copious amounts of blood on the bed and walls. What they don’t discover is a body anywhere in the room. Further investigation reveals the mystery passenger had largely kept to himself since boarding the train. The conductor and stewards searched the train and found no trace of the passenger or of a victim he may have killed.

Revealing any more of the story might spoil the fun for readers trying to act as modern-day Hercule Poirots alongside the Penvales. Fortunately for them, the train has an overabundance of fellow passengers who are some type of trained investigators. They include actual police, retired police, private investigators, and even (my favorites) a pair of true-crime podcasters who wanted to use their journey as background for the podcast. In a further shout-out to Agatha Christie, a retired French policeman bears a striking resemblance to Hercule Poirot, as the Penvales note. The Penvales soon assembled the various investigators into a de facto task force, where they discussed how the crimes may have occurred and whodunit. (No spoiler to reveal that additional murders take place; the book’s title gives that away.)

I enjoyed the whodunit aspects of Five Found Dead considerably. The book doesn’t have much in the way of character development, but that’s what you would expect in this type of story. The author plays fair with the reader by revealing the clues. She also engages in some clever foreshadowing through the book’s title. Some victims aren’t murdered or found until considerably later in the book. As a result, readers will wonder if and when the next murder will occur, raising the body count to five.

As a literary novel, Five Found Dead is less successful. The author has the framework for a successful character piece involving the relationship between the Penvale twins and Joe’s efforts to resume his writing career. However, Gentill mentions these potential plot threads a few times but quickly drops them in favor of resuming the Penvales’ quest for the murderer on the train. “Five Found Dead” also brings in current events in a somewhat bizarre way. Although the author never specifies the date, the book appears to take place in 2021. Some passengers on the train may have brought a new COVID strain on board, and some carriages are being sealed off and quarantined. In Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express,” an avalanche strands the train temporarily, allowing Hercule Poirot time to solve the mystery. Here, quarantines and the refusal by Italian authorities to allow the train into that country serve the same purpose, but not nearly as well.

Five Found Dead will probably appeal most to fans of “Murder on the Orient Express” and similar whodunits. It lacks the complexity of Christie’s work, but it’s a perfectly serviceable mystery with some shoutouts for genre buffs. (The book’s final chapter, which I can’t describe further without spoiling the fun, is a hoot.) I’m a bit disappointed that the author didn’t explore the possible complexities of the Penvales further. However, mystery fans will find a lot to like in “Five Found Dead.”

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.