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Sunday 29 December 2019

The Murder Game (Stephanie King #2) by Rachel Abbott





Due to be published in April 2020



    


Description from Goodreads:

"A year ago today, we all gathered for Lucas's wedding at his glorious Cornish home overlooking the sea.

But no one was married that day.

Now Lucas has invited us back to celebrate the anniversary. But the anniversary of what? The wedding that never happened, or the tragedy that occurred just hours before the ceremony was due to begin?

He's told us that tonight he has planned a game. We have our costumes, we have our parts, and everyone must play. The game, he tells us, is about to begin.

What does Lucas want from us? What are we not being told? And what's going to happen when this terrible game is over?"


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What a great read this is!  I haven't read any of Rachel's books before but I certainly will in the future if this book is anything to go by.  This is the second in the series featuring Stephanie King but I don't think it essential to have read the first ... I haven't and it didn't detract from my experience at all so I feel this can be read as a standalone but will definitely think about reading the first to get some additional background.

In this book, a group of friends gather for a "celebration" but this is not going to be a normal get-together because a year ago someone died when there should have been a wedding but was it suicide, a tragic accident or something altogether more sinister?  Lucas, the host, has devised a "murder game" where everyone has their part to play and if they don't go along, secrets will be revealed.

With excellent characters, a fast pace and interesting story line, this book kept my interest until the end.  The book drip-fed information and clues in such a way that you were but a passenger going along for the ride - one minute you think one way and then something happens and you think another.  This was very well done and kept me guessing until about two thirds through the book when I had an "aha" moment.

There were a couple of niggles that prevents me from giving this a five star rating; for the first couple of chapters, it wasn't made clear whose perspective the chapters were from and you had to work it out yourself as the chapter progressed.  I did find this confusing but, thankfully, it didn't continue throughout the book.  The second thing that irked me somewhat was the end ... it just didn't have the impact that I was hoping for and seemed to be a bit rushed and quickly wrapped up which was a bit disappointing given the complexities of the story line.

Overall though, I thoroughly enjoyed this book despite the niggles.

Thank you to the "Secret Readers Project" for the opportunity to read this book prior to its release.


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