An Agatha Christie worthy whodunnit for the Midsomer Murders generation (me then!). Murders and hatred abound but there’s an overall cosy, Sunday night feel. This isn’t about hardened psychopaths, it’s all very middle class. I loved everything about this. The setting, the history and the characters - the perfect mix. The way the history of the area and the characters blended with the evening was cleverly done - little snippets of conversation adding to the mystery but never revealing too much. This was a great follow-up to A Fatal Crossing, which might have been the better of the two, but The Murder Game is a strong story that sweeps you right up. Of course, the inevitable happens, and one of the guests ends up dead, and it seems impossible for anyone to have left the hotel. So the murderer is among them, and it’s left to the guests, along with local PC Natalie Fay, to get to the bottom of the group’s hidden secrets and possible motives, and uncover the killer.

The Murder Game by Tom Hindle - Penguin Books Australia

The Murder Hame by Tom Hindle is published today by Cornerstone (an imprint of Penguin Random House) and you can now buy a copy from your favourite local book shop! There is some authentic-feeling portrayal of PTSD in the story and it was a clever idea to focus the narrative mostly on the viewpoint s of the four younger (early 20s) – all very different – characters: Lily, heiress to and daughter of the murdered man; Will, organiser of the event but struggling with long-term trauma; Theo, actor in the game and aspiring actor outside it; and Justin, local journalist, desperate for a big story to break him out into the big papers. It’s New years eve and a murder mystery party is being held at Hamlet Hall hotel. A hotel that has seen better days. In a secluded area of North Devon and there is no phone signal. There are eight guests, all with secrets of their own. Which had something to do with a body that is found on a beach over twenty years ago.The pace of the book was okay, it was neither super fast nor agonizingly slow, just perfect. I loved that we get different perspectives throughout the night, to get inside scopes to the different guests' mind and their anxiety through the night. The owner of Hamlet Hall has organised a murder mystery evening with a 1920s twist, and everyone has their own part to play. I was looking forward to reading The Murder game after reading the authors first novel The fatal crossing and enjoyed it.

The Murder Game by Tom Hindle - Fantastic Fiction

Tom Hindle hails from Leeds and lives in Oxfordshire with his wife, a cat and two surprisingly cunning tortoises. He is the author of A Fatal Crossing and now The Murder Game - which have both been inspired by masters of the crime genre such as Agatha Christie and Anthony Horowitz. There are multiple layers of mystery that overlap as the story unfolds, including the earlier deaths of a young boy in a tragic fall and a previous murder, the discovery of which is the cause of Will’s PTSD.

Most of the characters are unlikable but that did not spoil the story at all if anything it only added more suspects to my list. From the despised to the pitied they are not only well-developed but realistic.