Five Found Dead

I received an advance readers copy of Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill from the publisher (Poisoned Pen). Five Found Dead is scheduled for release on August 19, 2025.

Five Found Dead follows a crime writer (Joe) and his sister (Meredith) as they take a trip on the Orient Express to celebrate his successful battle with cancer. Inspired by the train and all of its embedded mysteries, Joe begins work on a new story. The next morning, the cabin next door is found full of blood, but missing a body. With no easy access to authorities, Joe and Meredith are asked to join a task force of travelers with backgrounds connected to law enforcement with the mission of solving the mysterious disappearance. It soon becomes clear that the missing man is only the beginning of a spree that will end with five found dead.

This novel, like Joe’s, is heavily inspired by Murder on the Orient Express. Outside of Joe and Meredith, we meet a cast of characters who fall into types. I would have liked a bit more background and development of the characters, including our main pair of siblings. While they did not feel flat, I also didn’t get to know them well enough to get attached to them and root for them through the story.

The plot in this novel is very classic murder mystery. I did figure out who dun it well before the characters did, but still had fun watching them figure it out. There was a bit of wrap up where characters explained parts of the plot that the reader could not possibly have deduced, which I wish would have been worked in more smoothly.

Overall, Five Found Dead is a fun homage to a classic tale.