JOURNEY TO MERVEILLEUX CITY

When a passenger seems to disappear during a surreal train journey to Quebec, a group of strangers comes together to work out what happened in Barbé Hammer’s mystery.

Worlds collide in this novel set aboard a train headed across the United States to Quebec, bound for the titular city. Mack, a teacher-in-training and bagpipe musician of mixed Scottish/Salvadoran heritage, is on his way to a piping convention when he meets Allison, a no-nonsense goth girl who has twisted her ankle while on the train. While the two seem immediately at odds (Allison’s brusque personality rubs Mack the wrong way; he asks Allison if she fell “out of [her] black leather post-punk stroller” as a child), when Allison reports that the elderly man she befriended on board has vanished, Mack agrees to help her find him. They encounter a sweep of eclectic characters, including Jimmy, an Evangelical rodeo star; Joe, a former congressman and actor / Afghanistan vet / Princeton graduate; and a Chinese social media influencer documenting her trip across the United States. “We have not seen any guns” comically notes the culture-shocked influencer, who goes by May-Bel, in one of her vlogs. Despite Allison’s and Mack’s efforts, which include enlisting the help of the congressman and May-Bel, no one seems to be able to confirm that the old man even exists. Heavily referencing classic films and novels like Murder on the Orient Express and The Lady Vanishes, Barbé Hammer crafts a sly, satiric story that takes the tropes of a train-set whodunit and brings them into the 21st century, exploring themes of race and discrimination (one of the narrators is a Black female writer, who reflects on her position in society and in the narrative), psychology, and spirituality. While the characters’ introductions feel heavy-handed, and the author’s depictions of characters can be cliched—particularly in the case of the eye-liner-bedecked Allison—the author succeeds in delivering a fast-paced and deceptively complicated novel that balances suspense and social commentary. Some readers may find the novel’s quirks off-putting, but those who climb aboard will enjoy the winding journey.

Satire meets mystery in this entertaining update of Hitchcock and Agatha Christie.