TL;DR Review: Murder on the Orient Express meets Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and A Discovery of Witches.
Synopsis:
It’s Murder on the Orient Express – with witches!
A thrilling blend of fantasy and classic murder mystery, this rollicking adventure with a wide cast of suspects is ideal for those who love both Agatha Christie and V. E. Schwab, and are drawn to stories that take place in a vivid fantasy world.
The Linde siblings—Kellen, Davina, and Morel—are anxious to return to the kingdom of Halgyr before their father dies, leaving Kellen to assume the throne as king. They book tickets on a luxury express train, expecting a swift journey home—but disaster strikes when the train engine explodes, stranding the siblings atop a caldera bubbling with volcanic magic.
The crash triggers Davina’s latent witch powers, but her magic disrupts her ability to remember what she was doing when the explosion took place. While a witch would be the prime suspect for the catastrophe, the only ones who knew Davina might become one are her brothers—who never warned her. And, to add insult to injury, somebody is bumping off the surviving train crew and passengers. But it can’t be Davina, can it?
While the remaining passengers try to determine who sabotaged the engine and catch the killer, the fractured siblings attempt to stay one step ahead, concealing not only Davina’s powers but their own secrets. Luckily, they aren’t the only shifty characters on the train…
A thrilling blend of classic murder mystery and fantasy for those who love Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile every bit as much as Fourth Wing and A Court of Thorns and Roses.
Full Review:
What a wild ride!
Death on the Caldera introduces us to a world of witches and magic, where dust can kill as easily as it can power express trains. We’re dropped right into the story with fascinating characters and given a mystery that just keeps getting bigger, more complex, and more puzzling with every chapter.
The story is centered around two primary casts of figures:
- The Linde family: eldest brother and secret Crown Prince Kellen, middle brother and protector Morel, and only daughter Davina. Davina wants nothing more than to go to college to prove her worth to herself and her family, to gain greater insight into the world, but the old ways of her people and the secretiveness of the royal family means she’s going to have to fight hard just to get her brothers to accept it.
- Rae, an adorable seven-year old who finds herself whisked away on a strange adventure with her mother, though it feels like they’re running away from something scary.
Both of these casts wind up on the same train—coincidence? I think not!—and they wind up being thrown together (quite literally) when the engine explodes, the trail derails, and the way home is cut off.
Already, odds of survival in the wild are small, and the people around them, including members of the uppity Lords’ Council, are far from useful. To make matters worse, someone has begun murdering members of their little band of survivors one by one.
It’s a murder mystery that feels like a direct descendent of Agatha Christie, something like Murder on the Orient Express but with a really fun flavor of witches and magic and fantasy. As you come to understand the truth of the witches and how they operate, it’ll put you in mind of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which only adds to the mystery of “whodunit”.
While answers are given and the murderer is outed to satisfaction, it’s the emotional resolution that makes this book feel so satisfying. The romance that is so central to the plot (surprisingly) ends up being a really well-crafted and nuanced one, with all the messes and complications that make for a wonderful happily-ever-after.
With the element of “found family” and “embracing your power”, it’s a story that will satisfy and delight you as much as it did me!
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