Title:- Five Found Dead
Author:- Sulari Gentill
Date published:- will be published on 19th August 2025
Genre:- Thriller
Rating:-
Plot:- 3/5 Writing:- 3/5
Overall rating:- 3/5
On a train, there are only so many places to hide…
Crime fiction author Joe Penvale has won the most brutal battle of his life. Now that he has finished his intense medical treatment, he and his twin sister, Meredith, are boarding the glorious Orient Express in Paris, hoping for some much-needed rest and rejuvenation. Meredith also hopes that the literary ghosts on the train will nudge Joe’s muse awake, and he’ll be inspired to write again. And he is; after their first evening spent getting to know some of their fellow travelers, Joe pulls out his laptop and opens a new document. Seems like this trip is just what the doctor ordered…
And then some. The next morning, Joe and Meredith are shocked to witness that the cabin next door has become a crime scene, bathed in blood but with no body in sight. The pair soon find themselves caught up in an Agatha Christie-esque murder investigation. Without any help from the authorities, and with the victim still not found, Joe and Meredith are asked to join a group of fellow passengers with law enforcement backgrounds to look into the mysterious disappearance of the man in Cabin16G. But when the steward guarding the crime scene is murdered, it marks the beginning of a killing spree which leaves five found dead—and one still missing. Now Joe and Meredith must fight once again to preserve their newfound future and to catch a cunning killer before they reach the end of the line.
USA Today bestselling author Sulari Gentill brings readers on a heart-pounding ride filled with intrigue, suspense, and literary charm in Five Found Dead, perfect for fans of twisty mysteries and books about books.
The crime fiction author Joe Penvale and his twin sister Meredith are travelling on Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul. Joe had been undergoing health conditions which prompted him to halt his writing and now since he recovered, he and his sister are looking forward to rejuvenate and enjoy their holidays. But then their holidays kind of turned into a sort of nightmare when someone gets murdered on the train. As the bodies are piling up, someone in the train is a murderer and Joe and Meredith must survive and find the murderer before they become his or her victim.
This gave the vibes of Agatha Christie’s Murder at the Orient Express. The story is eerily similar but there are so many characters that it was kind of hard to keep track of those characters. This is the third book I have read from this author–while I enjoyed reading The Woman in the Library, this book didn’t seem to have the same vibe I had with her previous books. The writing style was somewhat choppy and kind of not very easy to follow–I don’t know if it was just me. The pacing was somewhat slow in my opinion. Nonetheless I actually like the duo. However, the ending was unpredictable and twisty and was also quiet unexpected.
Overall I give this book three stars.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.
Once upon a time, Sulari Gentill was a corporate lawyer serving as a director on public boards, with only a vague disquiet that there was something else she was meant to do. That feeling did not go away until she began to write. And so Sulari became the author of the Rowland Sinclair Mysteries: thus far, ten historical crime novels chronicling the life and adventures of her 1930s Australian gentleman artist, the Hero Trilogy, based on the myths and epics of the ancient world, and the Ned Kelly Award winning Crossing the Lines (published in the US as After She Wrote Hime). In 2014 she collaborated with National Gallery of Victoria to write a short story which was produced in audio to feature in the Fashion Detective Exhibition, and thereafter published by the NGV. IN 2019 Sulari was part of a 4-member delegation of Australian crime writers sponsored by the Australia Council to tour the US as ambassadors of Australian Crime Writing.
Sulari lives with her husband, Michael, and their boys, Edmund and Atticus, on a small farm in Batlow where she grows French Black Truffles and refers to her writing as “work” so that no one will suggest she get a real job.
THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY, Sulari’s latest novel will be released on 7 June 2022.
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