CBR Bingo: Red
I recently picked up Death on the Caldera, the debut novel by Emily Paxman, because the author is local to me and my bookstore had signed copies. I didn’t know much about it going in, but the cover was intriguing (don’t judge me, trains are cool, okay).
Set in a world where the landscape is dominated by a volcano, and the ground around the eruption has certain magical properties, this is essentially a murder mystery after a train crash. The primary characters are a trio of royal siblings trying to return to their home country after their father has fallen ill, and, by virtue of initially being the least suspicious passengers, are spearheading the investigation into the source of the crash and the ongoing murders of the surviving passengers and crew. They’re also keeping their own secrets, including the fact that the sister is a (very illegal) witch.
This was a lot of fun! The writing was great, and the worldbuilding was interesting without being overwhelming. Two of the siblings were definitely more interesting than the other one – the middle brother isn’t given much of a backstory or a personality and is just sort of…there. The other characters on the train are also mostly distinctive people, with interesting potential motives and secrets revealed over the course of the novel. The mystery aspect was good – there’s enough hints as to the culprits that the reveals felt natural, but not enough that it was immediately obvious.
My only real complaint is that the ending doesn’t feel so much an ending as it does a setup for a sequel. If there will be a sequel, that’s great, but by all indication this is supposed to be a standalone novel.