Death on the Caldera

It's Murder on the Orient Express - with witches! Fantasy Hive's Debut of the Year 2025, this thrilling blend of fantasy and classic murder mystery is a rollicking adventure with a wide cast of suspects is ideal for those who love both Agatha Christie and V. E. Schwab, and are drawn to stories that take place in a vivid fantasy world. The Linde siblings-Kellen, Davina, and Morel-are anxious to return to the kingdom of Halgyr before their father dies, leaving Kellen to assume the throne as king. They book tickets on a luxury express train, expecting a swift journey home-but disaster strikes when the train engine explodes, stranding the siblings atop a caldera bubbling with volcanic magic. The crash triggers Davina's latent witch powers, but her magic disrupts her ability to remember what she was doing when the explosion took place. While a witch would be the prime suspect for the catastrophe, the only ones who knew Davina might become one are her brothers-who never warned her. And, to add insult to injury, somebody is bumping off the surviving train crew and passengers. But it can't be Davina, can it? While the remaining passengers try to determine who sabotaged the engine and catch the killer, the fractured siblings attempt to stay one step ahead, concealing not only Davina's powers but their own secrets. Luckily, they aren't the only shifty characters on the train... A thrilling blend of classic murder mystery and fantasy for those who love Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile every bit as much as Fourth Wing and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Emily Paxman, who lives in British Columbia, Canada, is a recent graduate of Chatham University's Master of Fine Arts in creative writing program. Her writing - including extracts from Death on the Caldera - has been placed numerous times in the Storymakers Conference First Chapter Contest. In her daily life, she works as a writer and story developer for Wizard Games, an indie video game studio in British Columbia, Canada. She is the author/illustrator of the Neptune Bay cartoon series on Web Toon; Death on the Caldera is her debut novel.