A traditional whodunnit with a twist- the focus isn’t on some super clever detective but the perspectives of multiple characters under suspicion. The plot is fairly complex with multiple deaths over the period of a decade being linked by a murder committed during a murder mystery night with all of the suspects seemingly unable to commit the crime. There are a lot of characters so some concentration is required but the pace is fast and engaging. Like another reviewer I guessed the murderer early on and several of the plot twists but this didn’t ruins it for me - in fact if made me super smug at being right. I raced through this in a few hours so a perfect read for a long, dark autumn evening.

Trying to find ways to diversify out of season, the owner of a luxury hotel in Devon plans a murder mystery night for the residents of Hamlet Wick. But he reckoned without the the fact his guests are on opposing sides regarding the controversial development of the local lighthouse. And then the murder game turns serious, when one of the participants is found dead.

The Murder Game was a fairly solid 3 star read for me. The plotting was effective, especially the slow reveal - to both the reader and to the character of Lily - of previous deaths in Hamlet Wick, and the solution clever, but for me the characterisation was lacking. I never felt that I knew or understood the characters, and they didn't move beyond archetypes. I also found it frustrating at times how scenes repeated themselves (e.g. one character angrily accuses others of murder and loses his temper at least six different times - a number of times to the same character, and in spite of that character having an alibi).

Such an interesting premise and the book was well written with a compelling storyline and well developed characters. I really enjoyed it

Marvellously Entertaining…
What could be a more satisfying scenario than a murder mystery within a murder mystery? Add a locked room situation, a small group of suspects and motives aplenty and let the game begin. The seaside town of Harbour Wick has seen its’ fair share of tragedy and the harbour of Hamlet has suffered- that’s all in the past though, right? Not so, as the New Year’s Eve party at Hamlet Hall is about to begin and with it come the ghosts of the past. A delicious premise, well executed and with a well crafted cast of characters, a tension mounting narrative and twists aplenty. Marvellously entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m conflicted about this one. Overall I did enjoy it but I just think it could have been better.

Like a classic ‘whodunnit’ novel there were a wide array of characters introduced but some were not as well developed as others and I did find it hard to keep up. I read a lot of crime fiction and struggled with this so someone with no experience might find this hard to read.

Overall though an enjoyable read with some good twists and plot points.

I found this book engaging from the very beginning and enjoyed the style of writing. If you enjoy murder mystery dinners and games then this is for you.

The only thing I found disappointing was that Ifelt sure I'd to guessed the murderer from about half way through, although it didn't stop me wanting to read until the end just to make sure I was correct!

There has been an extraordinary proliferation of locked room mysteries à la Agatha Christie in the thriller market recently, which is great news for us thriller readers. However, it also means we are becoming more and more demanding, so any new entrants into this crowded marketplace must be very ambitious and ideally offer their readership something new. ‘The Murder Game’ certainly is ambitious, but sometimes the ambition comes at the expense of clarity and novelty. In my opinion, not only were there many extraneous characters woven into this novel, but there were also too many stereotypical tropes employed: the historic seaside hotel, the old lighthouse where an innocent child died, the unusual lone protagonist who outwits all the other guests. In my opinion, The Murder Game would have worked just as well with fewer of these devices and a tighter, faster plotline, but it nevertheless offers a comforting, satisfying read for lovers of the genre. Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for the free ARC that allowed me read Tom Hindle’s second novel and to produce this honest book review.

A fantastic Murder mystery story. Thank you so much to the publisher for the opportunity to read it.

I had high hopes for this book as a big fan of Agatha Christie style books. Sadly, it was a bit of a disappointment. I’m not sure the author handled the cast of characters as well as he could have done. I couldn’t quite keep track of them all and I didn’t care enough about them to try to figure it out. Sadly a lot of the book was taken up re-describing events we’d already seen or heard about which just made it all a bit tedious. By half way through I was skimming to get to the end.

I think any murder mystery fan worth their salt would have figured out the big twist re the killer before the reveal in the final chapters as there were quite a few big hints dropped earlier in the book. Some of the smaller twists were more surprising, though.

It’s a shame, because there’s a nugget of something good here, but it just doesn’t quite make it.

A whodunnit within a murder mystery evening, nice idea and a light, quick read. Some of the twists in the tale take some believing but there are clues and the ending is quite satisfying.

A clever Agatha Christie/Cluedo type murder mystery keeping you on your toes with fingers crossed that the pieces of the puzzle eventually fit together and they do - almost! The stage is set at The Hamlet Hall Hotel where Will is attempting a little self psychotherapy to help him recover from the horrors of discovering a body on the beach ,many years ago. He has organised a Murder Mystery night and all the guests
are connected in some way or another to a young boy who was killed at the old lighthouse which has been taken over for reconstruction by Damien White. Gwen, head of the local tourist board, had plans to make it into a memorial to the boy but Damien scuppered the plans and is persona non grata! However, he is the unexpected guest and of course within hours of his arrival a body is found and the intrigue begins! I did feel that three of the younger characters were perhaps a little too young in relation to the rest of the guests. However, the conclusive twists, turns and red herrings did manage to come together even if the picture wasn’t quite perfect!

Since through Netgalley, I was kindly allowed to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review, I persevered to the end of the story even though I would gladly have given up before halfway through. The classic mystery plot of a new years eve murder game in a remote mansion hotel with only 15 quite unlikeable people on the premises to start with dragged along, not helped by fact that the bland protagonists/possible suspects were mostly mentioned by their first names which got rather confusing and annoying.

After beginning this book it took me a chapter or two to familiarise myself with all of the characters. Once established, the story rattles along at a good pace.
The book is set in a quiet seaside hamlet where everyone knows everyone else. The owner of a local hotel is struggling financially and agrees to hold a murder mystery evening. This is where a murder takes place and happens in such a way that it can only be one of the people present who did it.
This is very entertaining and I enjoyed reading the motives of the people present and trying to work out the actual murderer.
An enjoyable locked room mystery set in the modern day.

I loved "Fatal Crossing" and can only recommend Tom Hindle's first book highly, a terrific historical murder mystery., Was really looking forward ro The Murder Game. But, disappointed, i just never took to it. Very much an Agatha Christie like mystery, but i found it too busy and too overcrowded with too many shifts and changes. I also never took to the characters. Hopefully other readers will feel differently and i hope i can write a more favourable review for his next book. Will therefore not review in social media.

The murder game is a new year’s event organised in the hotel in the seaside town of Hamlet Wick. Nine local guests will find clues laid throughout the property and one will turn out to be the murderer. It has been organised by Will, a disturbed young man haunted by the memory of a body he found on the beach as a small boy. Then everything is turned upside down when one of the party really is murdered. He is a disliked local figure and many people could have reasons to kill him. The characters in this book are well created as is the storyline. It keeps you reading as new information is gradually revealed. I recommend it.

Not a fan of this one I’m afraid. Was hoping for an Agatha Christie type story but just found it long and drawn out without very much happening. Persevered for a while but gave up about half way through as just wasn’t enjoying it.

I found this a rather mediocre book. The plot was quite clever but it’s execution was very plodding.