Detective · mystery · suspense · thriller · Young adult

Let’s Play Murder – Kesia Lupo ★★★★★

Blurb; Video games have never been more murderous.

Veronica wakes up trapped with four strangers in a sprawling manor house in a snow storm with a dead body, a mystery right out of an Agatha Christie novel. It feels so real – but it isn’t. This is VR and this is THE Game; a rumoured Easter Egg hidden in other VR games that draws you into a competition for a prize beyond your wildest dreams. And there’s no escaping the VR world until the Game is won.

But while Veronica and her fellow players are trying to figure out the puzzle, something is not right in the VR world. Blackouts, glitches, NPCs acting strange, and a mysterious figure haunting their footsteps. Then when a player dies, and also dies in real life, all hell breaks loose.

Without warning, the game Veronica thought she was playing gets overshadowed by a much darker, and much more real, mystery: who is killing us?’

It may not be a game Veronica wanted to play, but it’s one that she has to win – or die trying.

My Review; I devoured this book, gripping and thrilling. A must-read for young adult, gamer readers. Enter the world of this new virtual reality game where you can not escape until the game has finished or you die. Very similar to cluedo, it’s a murder mystery that needs solving, but with the game malfunctioning, real lives could be at stake here. Fellow players could be the enemy. Would you risk it all for a huge cash prize? A well thought of story and plot with a HUGE twist you will not expect. Jaw dropping. I enjoyed every page. This is a story that will be hard to forget. Has a map layout in the front of the game setting/house. A well-deserved five stars from me. Highly recommend.

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Detective · mystery · suspense · thriller

The Ninth Month – James Patterson & Richard DiLallo ★★★★

Blurb; In this action-packed thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Midwife Murders, a mother-to-be sees the women in her social circle start to disappear—and she could be next . . . Emily Atkinson leads a complicated life in New York City. She’s a successful marketing executive who lives in a luxury apartment and enjoys a glamorous existence until she lands in the hospital with a double diagnosis: she parties too much—and she’s pregnant. Her nurse and new best friend, Betsey, helps Emily rediscover how much she loves morning runs in the park and quiet nights at home. But as a series of women in her wealthy social circles go missing, Emily’s pregnancy becomes decidedly high-risk.

My Review; As we all should know by now, I’m a huge James Patterson fan. Again, this did not disappoint me. A thrilling, fast-paced, suspense filled story. A who is it story? Why are women going missing? Who is it? Who is stalking our main character who also happens to be pregnant? I can tell you now it is a judge every character story it doesn’t matter who you are, everyone was a suspect in my eyes and yet I still didn’t guess that outcome. An explosive ending I did not see coming. Kept me hooked. Short chapters. The story follows two friends who are both pregnant over their nine months of pregnancy. Highly recommend. A well-deserved four stars from me.

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crime · Detective · mystery · suspense · thriller · Young adult

As Good As Dead – Holly Jackson ★★★★★

Blurb; The finale to A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series. By the end of this mystery series, you’ll never think of good girls the same way again…

Pip is about to head to college, but she is still haunted by the way her last investigation ended. She’s used to online death threats in the wake of her viral true-crime podcast, but she can’t help noticing an anonymous person who keeps asking her: Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears?

Soon the threats escalate and Pip realizes that someone is following her in real life. When she starts to find connections between her stalker and a local serial killer caught six years ago, she wonders if maybe the wrong man is behind bars.

Police refuse to act, so Pip has only one choice: find the suspect herself—or be the next victim. As the deadly game plays out, Pip discovers that everything in her small town is coming full circle… and if she doesn’t find the answers, this time she will be the one who disappears…

My Review; I have loved every book in this trilogy, but this has to be the best book out of the lot. Oh. My. God. This was such a fast-paced, suspense filled read. The fact that our main character faces death herself in this book just shocked me and made this book as good as it was. A story that will be hard to forget. It’s a jaw-dropping, heart-pounding read that finished this trilogy perfectly. It shows just how clever our main character is and determined until the end. Highly recommend. Brilliant author. Brilliant story. A well-deserved five stars from me.

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