A book I really enjoyed. It’s an antidote to the serial killer and more gruesome crime novels and a worthy of comparison to Agatha Christie. I will look forward to reading more from thi author.

#TheMurderGame by #TomHindle is the kind of locked room mystery I love. He sprinkles clues all the way through the story and if you're paying attention, you'll figure it out. The Murder Game has so many perfectly interwoven elements, from the story to the characters. In my mind I was seeing part Poirot, part modern police thriller. If you want an honest, English murder mystery, this is for you.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily and it reflects my personal opinion.
I read 13% of this book and stopped there. I believe the author might have been trying to build suspense by referring to some mysterious event in Will's past but I found it to be muddled and uninteresting, and I couldn't engage with any of the characters or the storyline.

I really enjoyed this murder mystery. It had a good set of characters - not too many so you could focus on each of them - and I liked the setting of the rural manor house. There were many twists and red herrings but this was a really good cosy crime, locked room, murder mystery and I am excited to read more from this author

This book honestly gave me all the good feels ! It’s a fantastic mystery and will have you gripped from the first page until the last !
If you’re looking to completely get lost in a story then look no further!
Would highly recommend

This was fairly slow going in the first half of the book, which made me struggle to push through but eventually the pace picked up. Unfortunately, for me by that point I had already worked out the plot and whodunnit so it felt more about just confirming my suspicions.
There is nothing too complicated or gory about this Agatha Christie style whodunnit and so makes for a cosy crime mystery.

I received this book as an ARC for free. I have provided an honest review in exchange.

3.5 stars

All the elements of a classic whodunnit, the locked room trope and the victim having enough enemies to confuse. I gradually got my suspicions on the who and at 50% through it clicked into place. I had the why, but there was still another sub plot that I didn’t understand and had to be led through that.
I liked the pacing and tension, which seemed perfect. The only thing that let this down slightly was that I felt too many clues were given early on. Still enjoyable and I think I will pick up the author’s previous novel.
Thanks to the writer, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this authors debut novel, so I was very excited when I was approved for this! I think this second one was even better than the first. Highly recommend

New Years Eve.

A select few guests are gathered at Hamlet Hall for a Murder Mystery Evening. The guests are assembled, the food is cooked and the actors are in place. The clues are all ready.

Then there is a murder.

Not part of the evening at all, but a real one. The last guest to arrive and one the other guests all know is found dead, with an injury to their head.

Suddenly a game because reality.

The house is isolated, the murderer must still be among them. We need to know about these people and see if we can solve it before any more bodies turn up.

There are a number of characters to get your head around. Not just the ‘real’ ones but also those that are there to play someone else. The dislike of most of them comes across from the author. In fact I wouldn’t have said whether I could warm to any of them. It makes for an interesting read from this point of view.

On top of this the plot requires concentration as we are referred t previous suspect deaths which may or may not have an impact on one or two of the characters. It all weaves together with a red herring or two and an overly ambitious police constable. As time ticks on it seems, that tensions are running high and accusations are all over the place. Surely the culprit will make a fatal mistake and reveal themselves?

A homage to all crime novels that aim for that locked room mystery and abundance of characters. But for me trying to be And Then There Were None but not quite reaching the spot. However I will be interested in where the author goes next.

I loved a close community isolated setting murder story and this one did not disappoint. I really enjoyed the author's first book so was really excited to get to the next novel released, though they are both stand alones.

This book is set during a 1920s themed new year's eve, murder mystery dinner and when the murder happens it is quickly established that one of the people present must have been involved.

With another murder and a suspicious death stretching back decades it was easy to get caught up in the book immediately. Another hit from this author and I'm excited to read the next book due out early next year.

3.5 stars rounded up. Having enjoyed the blending of Golden Age ‘locked room’ tropes with contemporary thriller stylings in Tom Hindle’s debut novel, A Fatal Crossing, I was excited to see what he would do with the ‘classic country house’ murder mystery formula promised by The Murder Game.

When Damien White and his daughter arrive at Hamlet Hall for a 1920s-style murder mystery evening, they aren’t exactly welcomed with open arms by the assembled guests. Despite going from local lad to international property magnate, Damien isn’t exactly popular in Hamlet Wick. His plans to turn the lighthouse – the site of a local tragedy – into a private home haven’t gone down well with the residents.

When Damien is found dead, apparently murdered in a dark echo of the mystery that the guests were tasked with solving, it becomes apparent that several of the assembled guests have personal axes to grind with Mr White. And when it is revealed that the ‘murder game’ has links to a second tragic death in Hamlet Wick, it looks as if someone amongst the group might be intent on playing a much more serious game…

As with A Fatal Crossing, The Murder Game isn’t quite the ‘classic’ crime novel that the stylings and the blurb might initially lead you to expect. Whilst several Golden Age tropes – a small cast of characters, a ‘locked room’ scenario, and some 1920s stylings – are all present and correct, the contemporary setting and the focus upon the politics of close-knit communities provide a modern twist on the classic formula. The plotting felt tighter than in Hindle’s debut whilst still providing plenty of red herrings and unexpected twists to keep the pages turning.

Characterisation was also, for me, much stronger in this novel. My main critique of A Fatal Crossing was that I struggled to connect with any of the characters, including the main protagonist. Whilst The Murder Game still has its fair share of unlikeable characters (and Hindle really does write them so well!), the use of multiple narrative perspectives meant that I never felt stuck with the more disagreeable types for too long. Whilst the head-hopping does mean that it takes a little longer to figure out who’s who, the shifting-perspectives gave good insight into the motivations of the various characters and added to the tension as the various secrets and lies hidden within the small community were bought to the surface.

The ending was a little less revelatory than in Hindle’s debut (I guessed several of the key plot points before they were fully revealed) there’s still a satisfying – and thrilling – reveal of whodunnit, and a rather sweet epilogue that wraps up the various threads nicely. That said, I did feel there were a few too many of those plot threads. Every single character has a secret to hide and some plot strands – such as that of the policewoman sent to secure the crime scene – felt superfluous to the action. I also thought that the depiction of one character’s mental health problems (content warnings for depictions of PTSD and anxiety) was somewhat clumsy.

These are, however, minor niggles in what was otherwise a quick and enjoyable read. Hindle’s writing has definitely got stronger and his plotting tighter, making The Murder Game a punchier and more impactful read than its predecessor. For anyone looking for an entertaining way to while away a rainy weekend, The Murder Game offers an intriguing contemporary twist on a classic formula.

NB: This review also appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpress.com. My thanks go to the publisher and to NetGalley UK for providing an ecopy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.

Perfect for fans of cosy crime like Richard Osman and Rev Coles, Tom Hindle’s The Murder Game was a great murder mystery to delve into as we approach the autumn months

A good read, and one that kept me gripped. Lots of mystery, intrigue and tension to keep things moving along nicely.

A murder mystery evening in a country hall on New Year’s Eve. The guests mostly born or still living in the town of Hamlet Wick all have history and are rocked when one guest is found dead before the meal is even finished.

Should have been my cup of tea, but sadly I never warmed to it and it felt a complete slog. But you can’t win them all and although it wasn’t for me it does get some great reviews.

Massive thanks to netgalley for my advanced copy.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed A Fatal Crossing by the same author so was looking forward to reading this.

Hamlet House, although not as grand as it was once was, is now the setting for a murder mystery weekend to be attended by nine guests. Each will play their part in the show along with some actors brought in to help them along. The trouble is all of the guests have a connection to the village and a secret from the past they are trying to hide. Just who has turned this into a true murder story?

As the bodies start to pile up who has the most to lose and what lengths will they go to?

I found all the characters relatable and each had their good and bad points. For once I was kept guessing but when the penny dropped it didn't spoil the ending.

I gave this book until half way through for the story to develop but sadly I found it too slow to set up and abandoned.

When Will plans a murder mystery New Year’s Eve party, he hopes it will help remove the ghosts of his past, but instead a real murder threatens to make his life even worse. With so many guests all hiding secrets, and motives galore, can Will prove his innocence before more deaths occur?

The Murder Game is an enjoyable story, with plenty of suspects and red herrings thrown in to muddy the waters. I did work out who the murderer must be at a very early stage of the book, which slightly spoiled the continuing enjoyment, but felt that the ending helped make up for it.

Entertaining enough read.

A very clever novel - a murder mystery set inside a murder mystery. At first it seems that a harmless murder mystery party will be full of fun and games, that is until we realise that a real murder has occurred and it links to two other murders. The tragic events unfold as more people get hurt- it really was hard to tell who had actually orchestrated the whole thing.
Very well done Tom Hindle!

A classic style, small-cast mystery, this story sees a group of locals all assembled for a game, each with their own secrets and strong reasons to hate the surprise guest, Damien White, who is inevitable found brutally murdered during the course of the evening.

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.

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.

In fact, there is far too much drama and intrigue to be the least bit realistic, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable read anyway and an ideal, entertaining read for those who enjoy old-school mystery writers like Dame Agatha Christie or Ngaio Marsh.

Good fun, although a little bit far-fetched. Some of the characters felt a little flat, but I enjoyed the Agatha Christie riffs.