The Case of the Body on the Orient Express is book 2 in the Detection Club mystery series by Kelly Oliver,.
The series features real life authors Agatha Christie, and Dorothy L. Sayers as characters, but although they play significant roles, they are not the main characters in the novels which makes the series a little different from other mystery series’ I have read which feature these authors.
I have not read the first book in the series, and although I was curious about the back story, specifically between the two narrators, this book is easily read as a standalone novel.
Speaking of narrators, the story is mainly told in third person from the points of view of Eliza, Dorothy L. Sayers’ assistant, and Theo, an aspiring writer who has a bit of a history with Eliza.
I half expected the mystery in this book to reflect the mystery from the famous Agatha Christie novel, but other than being set on the Orient Express and having numerous characters who serve as suspects, there didn’t seem to be much similarity between the two stories. In fact, I found this to be less of a traditional mystery, and more a story of espionage. Personally I’m not a huge fan of stories involving spies, so I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I had hoped, but it was still an okay read.
If you like murder mysteries where the location limits the suspects, and don’t mind the espionage aspect thrown in, then you may enjoy this book.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The Case of the Body on the Orient Express will be available on July 14 2025.
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