SFF

Death on the Caldera

by Emily Paxman
Titan. May 2025. 448p. ISBN 9781835411582. pap. $18.99. FANTASY
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DEBUT On a luxury train trapped in a remote valley between rival nations, Halgyrian nobles Kellen, Morel, and Davina Linde take charge of a murder investigation that none of them is remotely qualified to conduct. Kellen hopes to keep his family’s secrets buried by directing suspicion at everyone else, even as he fears that his sister Davina might be responsible for the murder. The situation becomes more desperate, as supplies begin to run low, tempers get more fractious, and the true danger of the situation sets in. The train may have been halted by a malign force of nature, but someone very human is killing survivors in the aftermath, even as Kellen attempts to keep the passengers together and away from secrets he can’t afford to reveal.
VERDICT This debut novel takes Agatha Christie’s classic Murder on the Orient Express, sets it in a gas-lamp fantasy world of magic versus alchemical chemistry, and layers on desperate secrets and literal earthshaking lies into a breakneck fantasy/mystery thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
Reviewed by Marlene Harris , Apr 01, 2025
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