Book Review: The Case of Compartment 7

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Case of Compartment 7     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Sam McCarver
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Historical   Supernatural
Series: John Darnell # 2
Signet, Feb 2000, $5.99, 256 pp.

Psychic detective John Darnell prefers to find human answers to even supernatural incidents. His first famous case involved the maiden voyage of the Titanic. On the ship, John met Penny, the woman he later marries. Two years later, John and Penny are riding on the Orient Express where a week earlier a passenger claimed to have seen an apparition of a bleeding woman. The train's Board of Directors wants to know what is the truth behind the ghost.

In 1914, Europe is a powder keg about to explode into war. Riding the Orient Express is two English couriers, a German General, Mata Hari, an industrial spy, the heir to the Romanian monarchy, and Agatha Christie. Two people are murdered and it remains up to John to insure that no one else die and the guilty party is caught.

THE CASE OF COMPARTMENT 7 is an entertaining mystery that has the bonus of having Agatha Christie riding the rails. The real persona maintains their known personalities even as they are fully blended into the story line. The action plays against a volatile continent on the verge of World War I. Though somewhat tongue in cheek, Sam McCarver provides an exciting who-done-it that will give much enjoyment to historical mystery fans.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner