Five Found Dead

Edgar winner Gentill (The Mystery Writer) pays homage to Murder on the Orient Express in this uneven whodunit. Mystery novelist Joe Penvale and his sister, Meredith—both superfans of classic detective fiction—celebrate the remission of Joe’s cancer by booking a cabin aboard the Orient Express. Secretly, Meredith hopes the setting will alleviate Joe’s writer’s block so he can begin his delayed second novel. Their fellow passengers include a handful of current and former police officers and two elderly women on the trail of a thief who’s made off with funds belonging to their community group. Before long, a passenger disappears from a locked compartment that’s drenched in blood—a puzzle that proves to be the first of five Joe and Meredith tackle as their train barrels from France to Italy. Gentill’s setup is intriguing, but the solution is underbaked, and the tone veers inconsistently from wry to sincere. Golden age mystery fans intrigued by the concept would be better off with Benjamin Stevenson’s Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect. Agent: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Aug.)