Night Train to Murder, by Simon R. Green (Severn House)
Like the murder in a
country house, a crime on a train in passage has become a staple of mystery
novels. Agatha Christie’s Murder on the
Orient Express leaps to mind. The space is confined, as is the number of
suspects, and the time in which the detective must identify the culprit is
limited.
Author Simon R.
Green brings his own inimitable twist to this classic model, beginning with his
highly unusual detective, Ishmael Jones – who not only works for a highly
secret agency but is himself not exactly human. In fact, not human at all, and
bent on keeping that a secret, too. With his charming (human) companion, Penny,
he’s been dispatched to protect one of the train passengers, the newly
appointed and much disliked Head of the British Psychic Weapons Division. Ismael’s
mission is unbeknownst to both the Head, his body guard, his agency, and of
course the other passengers. When the Head is found murdered – in the loo (aka
rest room) – a true “locked room” mystery if there was one – Ismael and Penny
spring into action, questioning everyone, reconstructing the time line, and
trying to prevent another murder. Each passenger has their own story, a bit
like the characters in Rashomon, and
their own secrets that they are desperate to keep hidden.
Green handles all
this with a seemingly effortless finesse and attention to character as he
guides the story through plot twists and revelations, always “playing fair”
with the reader, yet not giving away the surprising resolution until the very
end.
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