I received a complimentary ARC copy of Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill from Net Galley and Poisoned Pen Press in order to read and give an honest review.

… I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. An action packed, cleverly crafted, unique, and unexpectedly twisted whodunit filled with brilliantly quirky characters that keep the reader flipping pages to a thrill a minute ending…

A huge fan of author, Sulari Gentill I was thrilled to recieve and opportunity to read and review her current book, Five Found Dead and I certainly wasn’t disappointed.

We begin the story by meeting Australian mystery author, Joe Penvale, and his twin sister Meredith onboard the legendary Orient Express for a celebratory trip. The journey is meant to be a fresh start for Joe, who has just finished a grueling battle with cancer and is hoping to find his lost writing muse. When they wake up the next morning only to discover that the cabin next door is a bloody crime scene, with a lot of blood but with one catch, there is no body. This dramatic opening instantly pulls you in, setting the stage for a high-stakes, suspenseful ride.


When a second person is murdered, a group of passengers with law enforcement and legal backgrounds form an ad hoc investigation team. Joe and Meredith, a lawyer herself, are thrust into the mix, but they’re not sure who to trust. They decide to find the killer on their own, a decision that puts them in the crosshairs as the body count rises. Soon, five people are dead, and the original missing person is still nowhere to be found.


What truly makes this book shine are the brilliant characters and the immersive setting. The Orient Express itself feels like a living, breathing character—from the luxurious cabins to the ghosts of mysteries past, every detail transports you onto the train. The sibling duo of Joe and Meredith is a fantastic pair to follow, and the large cast of other passengers, many with their own secrets, keeps you guessing. The way Gentill weaves together the classic “locked train” mystery with modern sensibilities is pure genius.


Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill is an absolute masterclass in a modern murder mystery that pays homage to the golden age of mystery and one of my favorite authors Agatha Christie. This book had me hooked from the very first page, and I simply could not put it down. Gentill has delivered a gripping, intense, and chilling read that easily ranks among her best work. Being an avid reader and aspiring mystery writer myself, I am captivated by stories featuring writers and I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. An action packed, cleverly crafted, unique, and unexpectedly twisted whodunit filled with brilliantly quirky characters that keep the reader flipping pages to a thrill a minute ending.

Five Found Dead is a murder mystery with several characters helping to solve the murder and one of them may be the killer. 💫💫💫💫💫

Joe Penvale (author) and his twin sister Meredith (lawyer) board the Orient Express. They are celebrating that Joe is in remission. However, the celebration is cut short when a stewart is found dead. Here begins the chaotic search for the killer. This is an example of too many cooks in the kitchen and too many murders and not one killer can be found. Lots of things happen. Some of them are silly but very entertaining. I liked the podcast guys, and the end where they discussed the murders was very enjoyable.

Thank you, Netgalley, and Poisoned Pen Press for this eArc. All opinions are entirely my own.

This was a delightful ride on a train ( think Orient Express) where there are multiple murders and an improptu band of brother investigators, a podcast duo, and two siblings all who step in to help find the criminal.

So many famous novels and their characters are hinted at within the narrative: their names, occupations and personalities resemble the travelers on the train and add so much to the story.

You can visualize all the opening and closing of compartment doors, the dining car, a conductor who easily accepts all this experienced help, the valets who go about their white gloved business in the midst of all the turmoil.

It is a vintage scene in modern times.

A fun, twisty mystery that will put a smile on your face as you read it.

When I read a Sulari Gentill book I'm always hopeful it will be another stunning read.

I liked the start of this book. The setup on the Orient Express promised atmosphere, and the premise of a Christie homage had real potential. But as the plot went on, it became an “everything and the kitchen sink” mystery, including retired detectives, current detectives, private investigators, aristocrats, inquisitive old ladies, a terrorism expert, Covid lockdowns, and more. Instead of tightening the suspense, it all felt too overstuffed and veered sharply into farce. I believe this is to play homage to many a Christie character, and even though I adored the concept, I felt less would have been more.

The two protagonists, Joe and his sister Meredith, lacked emotional depth and didn't carry the emotional weight of the book as much as I expected. I think that's because of the lighter tone in the novel. Despite the dark occurrences on the train, the novel remains light in voice. It welcomes a fast pace and a sense of fun twisted in with the mystery, but as the story progressed it felt more like hijinks than something sinister and tense. Again, that light voice was engaging in the beginning and much of my rating if because I thought those moments were amazing. I was ready to embrace the story. But I have to restate what I've said before. The novel became too forced.

But I do think the fast pace suited the book and the setting of an isolated train. It also suited the characters. I also think the narrative voice is consistent and confident. I like the idea of many potential suspects crowded in a tight space, adding to the not knowing who to trust, possibly even the two protagonists. All that is positive and enjoyable. And I think those elements will draw a lot of readers to this book.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy of this book

This was a fun modern day spin on the murder on the Orient Express. I enjoyed the cast of characters and the twists Sulari employed. I wish there would have been some podcast excerpts throughout, although that may have given too many clues. I tried not to try and figure out who the guilty was and just enjoyed the story, which I very much did.

Five Found Dead is a closed door mystery in the style of Agatha Christie. The novel is reminiscent of Murder on the Orient Express in current times. I found it to be very engaging and the characters were quirky. I was on the edge of my seat for two evenings trying to figure out who the killer was as bodies piled up.

Synopsis:
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.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced digital copy of the book which is published tomorrow, August 19, 2025.

This might be someone’s next favorite book but it’s not mine. This book felt so dry to me that it was hard to pick up. When I would pick it up I would completely forget what I had read before hand.

There was a fun twist on who the killer was and I didn’t guess the killer which is always good. Though by the end of the book I was happy for it to be over.

Genre: Thriller
APK: Physical
Pages: 310
Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Series or Standalone: Stand-alone

I received this book as an ARC for my honest review - thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher.

While the summary had me excited, I felt that it was a little longer than necessary. There were times I had to know what would happen next, it wasn’t as suspenseful as I would have hoped. Still a decent book, it may just be the writing style was not for me.

Gentill's homage to Agatha Christie and the classic Murder on the Orient Express is, quite simply, perfect in every way. It is dark and suspenseful, yet also has a few light moments to relieve the tension. Gentill is a superb crime fiction writer and richly deserves all the attention her books are receiving.

Crime writer Joe and his twin sister Meredith board the famous Orient Express for a trip from Paris to Venice. To celebrate Joe's recent recovery from cancer, they decided to take the same journey that famed detective Hercule Poirot did in Agatha Christie's classic novel. Also on board the train are a pair of mystery-loving podcasters, a Scottish duchess, two old British ladies on holiday, a dashing Frenchman with a mysterious past, and a surprising number of cops, private eyes, and other law enforcement officials. During Joe and Meredith's first night on board, their rude neighbor disappears, and train officials discover his room is filled with blood. But how could a killer get into the locked cabin, and where's the body?

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this digital e-arc.*

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.

3/5 stars. I wasn’t very impressed with this “locked room mystery”. The story just felt redundant and somewhat boring throughout. The characters were interesting, but the story line didn’t keep my attention. I also don’t see why we had to bring COVID into the story either. The last part that I really didn’t like was the ending. We finish the story with the podcast; however it was basically a summery of what happened throughout the book? Again, redundant and unnecessary. Maybe if we saw more podcast excerpts throughout the book, that would have worked better? But to just have it at the end seemed to have no point. Thank you to Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and the author for an ARC.

What do you get when you combine Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None? Gentill’s latest stand-alone mystery follows twins Joe and Meredith Penvale as they embark on a celebratory trip on the famed Orient Express. Joe, a thriller writer and recent cancer survivor, and his sister Meredith, a lawyer who quit her practice to care for her brother, are excited to experience the literarily famous train. With Covid variants still making headlines, the pair think their main danger will be staying healthy, until the passenger in the berth next to theirs goes missing, leaving large amounts of blood behind.

This locked room mystery is a slow burn, full of red herrings and a cast of characters worthy of a Christie novel. I already miss my sojourn with them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read an advance review copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poison Pen Press for providing me with an eARC of Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill.

You are going to have to suspend your belief significantly, if not completely to enjoy this book. I have always been a die-hard fan of Sulari Gentill's work, but sadly this one fell flat for me. While I appreaciated the modern day spin on the Agatha Christie classic, this story just felt like it was over done. Riley Sager just put out a similar book and countless other authors have as well. While the characters were enjoyable and well developed, the plot just didnt work for me.

While I did not enjoy this book as much as Gentill's previous work, it is still a fun read and good mysyerty. I know this book will find the right audience and will be five stars for those readers. It just didnt work as well for me as her other novels have. With all that said, I do recommend this book!

Death strikes in a locked compartment on a train!

Not just any train but the Orient Express!
Sulari Gentill has done it again. Produced a mystery novel that travels known ground and casts a different shadow.
Twins, Joe and Meredith Penvale, are brother and sister, a pair of Australians who are taking a trip on the Orient Express as a celebration. Joe is a mystery writer who’s been battling cancer. He’s on the mend. Meredith his sister has supported him through his long and arduous treatment.
Two important things happen.
A man appears to have been murdered in the compartment next door to theirs. There’s a great deal of blood, yet his body has disappeared from the locked compartment. There are no windows big enough to climb in or out of.
Passengers have contacted a new virulent strain of Covid, called the Paris strain. Two carriages have been set aside and locked down, containing the infected passengers and people they’ve come in contact with.
The Italian authorities have refused the train permission to go into Venice and insist on its return to Paris.
The body count rises. There’s an over abundance of policeman and detectives on the train and they form a group to investigate. They're twelve in number, like a jury! (Yes, my friends, I see you say Aha!)
The setting is wonderful! The Orient Express, with the ghosts of Agatha Christie and Hercule Pirot, Patricia Highsmith, Alfred Hitchcock, all silent ghosts—witnesses in the background of the tale.
A fabulously clever take on the ‘death on a train’ and the ‘locked room trope’ presented with a particularly Sulari Gentill flavor.
(I note that Gentill has been fighting cancer during the production of this novel. Hats off to her for producing this masterpiece during her travails)

A Poisoned Pen ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Five Found Dead is a marvelous cozy murder mystery set in the iconic Orient Express luxury train. Sulari Gentill weaves a high-scoring tale that resembles the original Agatha Christie story but with a totally new plot, characters, and twists.

NetGalley, this is another super ARC I got to read, all thanks to you! Joe and Meredith are just like the archetypal twins, often disagreeing, often fighting, almost opposing trains of thought (non-intended pun there, hehe), and with unique skills that the other doesn't possess.

Despite some real-life inconsistencies with procedures and protocols for crimes on transportation vehicles, one can forgive these trivialities for the sake of enjoyment and flow of the narrative.

Many interesting characters were thrown into the mix who had their own unique skills and quirks, sometimes assisting with the detective work and often hilariously distracting. The writing style is breezy, and I loved the way the author describes each opulent Orient Express experience so vividly; it was a side story that I enjoyed throughout the reading of the book, and I often looked up real images on the internet to complete the picture and be entranced with the plush ambiance.

Five found dead by Sulari Gentill is a cozy mystery story about two siblings, Joe and Meredith, who decide to ride the Orient Express to celebrate that Joe has beat his battle with cancer.

Their journey on the Orient Express was meant to be a time to relax and to inspire Joe to write his next book. They get to enjoy one night on the train but suddenly the next morning they discover that the cabin next to theirs is a crime scene, but there is no body inside and the passenger assigned to that cabin is not found anywhere. Is that passenger a victim or a suspect?

Now Joe and Meredith, along with other passengers who have a background in law-enforcement, have found themselves in the situation of having to investigate this mysterious death/disappearance. As the investigation continues, a few other people have lost their lives to this mysterious suspect, and now they must figure out who is behind all of this before there is another victim.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It was a cozy mystery which gave Clue game vibes. It makes the reader want to keep reading more to find out who is behind all of this. Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press. All opinions are my own.

The Orient Express instantly conjures up images of luxurious travel, fine dining, people dressed in their very best, quiet and attentive staff gliding unseen and unremarked through carriages, Inspector Hercule Poirot and 12. Always 12 people.

And so it is with FIVE FOUND DEAD in which one imagines author Sulari Gentill had an enormous amount of fun constructing a story that's partly a hat tip to Agatha Christie's well known novel, and the entire golden age of mystery writing.

In this outing the 12 are the "Bar Council", a group of passengers pulled together by their backgrounds - law enforcement, private investigators, spies, a lawyer and her brother the crime writer. They are called upon by the train manager when a compartment is discovered one morning, empty of its occupant but covered in blood. Of course it's a train so that compartment will be close to somebody, but it's the lawyer and her brother Meredith and Joe - the "main characters" of this outing for want of a better description, and a recently retired French policeman who have the "honour" of being in the cabins either side of the crime scene. As the "Council" convenes to try to solve the mystery of the missing man, and what the crime scene means, a dangerous new COVID variant has been discovered, and two carriages are quarantined from the rest of the train, which also finds itself stranded between France and Italy as authorities react (badly) to this biothreat.

So effectively we have a modern day locked room mystery, on a train, which is totally locked down because of the disease threat, making for an interesting problem for those on board, which rapidly becomes even more dangerous as more and more people in the non-quarantined part of the train start to die.

Add to that the 12 "Bar Council" members, any of whom could as easily be perpetrator as potential saviour and Meredith and Joe have their work, and their survival cut out for them.

Keen readers of crime fiction will pick a considerable number of homages in this novel, and there's even some blatantly spelt out for you, but all of this sounds complicated, and isn't. As always, Gentill has a way of putting together complex plots with verve and, one suspects, a sense of fun. Made all the more difficult it seems at the time of writing this novel, with a personal health battle of her own, played out in Joe's experience of surviving a bout of cancer, with the support of his sister. There's some twists and turns in that story as well as they both must now find a way of normalising life after a difficult experience, something that a lot of people experience, but few have written about in the manner that Gentill has tackled it.

Keener readers may also notice yet again a lot of playing about with a style of metafiction that Gentill is also rapidly making her own. To this reader's mind, less parody than homage, less undermining of convention and more celebration.

Regardless of how you approach FIVE FOUND DEAD - as a seasoned old crime fiction reader who instantly picks the cleverly constructed homages, or as somebody who is just flat out looking for something to while away some time, this is a hugely entertaining novel, fascinatingly clever, and wonderful to have out in the world for all to enjoy.

Fans of Murder on the Orient Express will absolutely LOVE this book! This thrilling whodunnit had me exercising my little grey cells wondering who was next to die and who the killer was — and kept me guessing til the very end!

EXCERPT: 'Murderers? On the Orient Express?' Joe regards her with mock alarm. 'Whoever heard of such a thing?'
I laugh, looking around Étoile du Nord, full of diners in their formal finery. 'It certainly looks like the set of a Christie mystery.' I lower my voice to a whisper. 'Green plaid dinner suit at the table by the door must be guilty of some sort of crime.'
Abigay twists to look at the gentleman in question - a middle-aged man whose gym-sculpted body bulges against the seams of the emerald-green checks of his probably haute couture attire. 'Against fashion, if nothing else,' she agrees. 'I'll keep a watch on him.'
Duplantier shakes his head. 'No, no . . . L'habit ne fait pas le moine. Murderers are rarely so visible . . . the perpetrator will be one you have barely noticed. He will sit a dinner being perfectly ordinary . . . or he will take his refreshments in his cabin.'
'May I direct your attention, then, to the two old ladies behind Abigay and Joe?' I lean forward and make my case. 'They arrived at the very last moment, slipped on board after everyone else had already done so, and they look like quintessential grandmothers. What's more, I'll wager that they knit. Surely that's suspicious?'
'Old ladies are poisoners,' Joe says sagely. 'Who's at their table? I don't want to alert them that we're onto them by turning around.'
'A couple. Two men.' I cock my head to pick up the conversation and the accents. 'They're American, I think. Identical tuxedos, with white silk scarves and . . .'
'Victims,' Joe concludes. 'Definitely victims!'

ABOUT 'FIVE FOUND DEAD': 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 Cabin 16G. 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.

MY THOUGHTS: I can't make up my mind whether this is a tribute to the writing of Agatha Christie, or a tongue-in-cheek parody. It may be both. No matter. It works. Rather beautifully. Hitchcock also gets a mention.

It is all very atmospheric and almost claustrophobic. Imagine being on a train where a man has gone missing, his cabin drenched in blood and locked from the inside. The steward left to guard the scene is murdered. There has been a Covid outbreak in two carriages and they have been isolated. Borders are closed, the train not allowed to progress in case this new variant is spread. And more bodies keep appearing, none of them that of the missing man, and none of them Covid related . . .

So, we have two mysteries - that of the missing man and that of the murders. Are they related, perpetrated by the same person? Or is there more going on? My lips are sealed . . .

Five Found Dead is a fun read. I loved everything from the title (vaguely reminiscent of the Famous Five) to the characters (think Cluedo) to the magnificent setting - who can't resist the chance to ride the famed Orient Express? It's on my bucket list, although I will certainly be watching my fellow passengers closely.

Engaging, entertaining and ever so slightly over-the-top, I loved every moment I spent reading Sulari Gentill's latest offering. Gentill has cleverly blended the literary thriller she is so well known for with the cosy-mystery vibes of Agatha Christie and delivered something uniquely her own. Five Found Dead brought a sparkle to my eye and a smile of satisfaction to my face.

P.S. Be prepared for the Christie-esque 'reveal' at the end.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

#fivefounddead #NetGalley

MEET THE AUTHOR: SULARI GENTILL lives with her husband and sons on a small farm in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains of Australia, where she grows truffles, keeps donkeys, and writes about murder and mayhem.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.