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?
About the Author:
Rachel Abbott’s debut thriller, Only the Innocent, was an international bestseller, reaching the number one position in the Amazon charts both in the UK and US. This was followed by the number one bestselling novels The Back Road, Sleep Tight, Stranger Child, Nowhere Child (a short novel based on the characters from Stranger Child), Kill Me Again, The Sixth Window, Come a Little Closer, And So It Begins and The Shape of Lies. Her most recent novel, Right Behind You, was released in January 2020.
Rachel’s novels have now been translated into over 20 languages and her books have sold over 4 million copies in the English language.
In 2015 Amazon celebrated the first five years of the Kindle in the UK, and announced that Rachel was the #1 bestselling independent author over the five-year period. She was also placed #14 in the chart of all authors. Stranger Child was the most borrowed novel for the Kindle in the first half of 2015.
Rachel splits her time between Alderney – a beautiful island off the coast of France – and the Le Marche region of Italy, where she is able to devote all her time to writing fiction.
My Review:
I am a HUGE fan of Rachel’s work, having fallen in love with Tom Douglas back in 2013 and following his career with eager anticipation over the past 8 books. When Rachel wrote her new series And So It Begins, I was a little concerned because of my love for Tom…. but WOW seriously this book blew my socks off and got the easiest 5 stars from me (see review here). So, when Anne Cater of Random Things Tours asked me if I would like to be on the blog tour for Rachel’s latest book featuring Stephanie King it was an immediate YES please from me.
What I particularly LOVE about Rachel’s books is even though they feature the same police team, the books can be read as a standalone, as the main characters, the crime, the victims, the villains are the most central part of the story and Stephanie King is sitting quietly on the sidelines trying to solve the case but not taking over the story line.
The Murder Game is a seriously dark and disturbing tale about a group of childhood friends who meet up several years later to celebrate Lucas’ wedding, however on the eve of the celebrations one of the group is murdered. One year later to the day, the remaining friends are required to attend Lucas’ home and take part in a macabre game. The story is narrated through several of the characters, taking the reader on a roller coaster of a ride, not sure who to believe or who to root for.
Full of interesting characters, some likeable and some utterly unbearable, The Murder Game looks closely at the secrets these childhood friends have kept from each other and their fears that everything they’ve carefully hidden will be exposed in the most deadly way possible.
It’s a fast moving, gripping story which kept me absolutely glued to my kindle – I had no idea where we were going and when we got “there” I was completely shocked. Another super page turner from Rachel Abbott. Highly recommended.
