More of a mystery than a thriller, this is the second in a series featuring DS Stephanie King and her boyfriend, DI Angus Brodie. Though they normally do not work cases together, the circumstances of this unusual situation take them to Polskirrin, Cornwall.
Wealthy Lucas Jarrett is set to marry Nina Belanger on the grounds of his massive estate and they've invited all of Lucas's best friends from his teenage years. The guests arrive at Polskirrin, a lovely manor house near the crashing waves of the nearby ocean. Matt and Jemma Hudson are themselves newly married -- he's a plastic surgeon now. Other attendees/friends include Andrew Marshall and his fiancée, Chandra Tran, and twins Nick and Isabel Wallace. Over dinner and drinks, they all relax and are looking forward to the festivities. The only "off" note is the occasional appearance of Lucas's half-sister, Alex. When she was 14, something dreadful had happened to Alex, and she's never quite been the same but she lives in an apartment above the boathouse on the property. The friends reconnect and are looking forward to the wedding -- alas, it's completely ruined for all when the body of Alex is discovered on the beach of the cove on the morning of the ceremony and everything is canceled. Flash forward one year. All of the friends have received another invitation to return to Polskirrin to play The Murder Game even though Alex's death was ruled a suicide. In a bizarre set up, Lucas tries to figure out which of his special guests killed his sister. NO SPOILERS.
As you'd expect, this is rather convoluted with various narrators and a lot of twists and turns leading to what might be a surprising conclusion. You will need a serious ability to suspend disbelief as events unfold. I think my main issue was that I really didn't like any of the characters. Their relationships with each other were also quite odd and way too many secrets and lies. Quite a nasty bunch of folks. This was the first book I've read by this author and not sure if I liked this well enough to continue on with the next installment in the series. Can you solve the mystery before the big reveals?
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.
This is the second book in the series and it works fine as a standalone. I've only read this one.
Genre -- Mystery not crime thriller per se or police procedural
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