Lots of characters and storylines to wrap yourself around and it made me hold my breath at times. Claustrophobic and creepy but downright excellent!

Loved it! I'm a huge fan of claustrophobic thrillers and this was just the perfect setting for a murder mystery. Intense, compelling and super intriguing. Will definitely recommend it to people

The grand opening of Hotel Artemis is going to be amazing. Ten lucky people have been chosen to win a space on the most exclusive launch event the world has ever seen - the first hotel on the moon. The ten lucky prizewinners get onboard the transport shuttle and take off for the moon, ready for a few days of utter luxury on the moon, the first guests to step foot into the hotel.

However, they get a pretty underwhelming greeting. Their luggage is in a pile in the corner. Champagne and food is laid out, but no staff to serve it. No staff are in sight to help with the promised luxuries such as moonwalks and lunar spa treatments. At first, the intrepid party make the best of it and help themselves to the fantastic food, and find their assigned rooms. Each room is themed and seemingly chosen and tailored to the individual. Meeting back down in the dining room for dinner, the lack of staff becomes even more apparent. No fresh food has been prepared. Eating the leftovers from their welcome meal, the group ponders what is next. Is it a mix-up? Is it a reality show and they are being pranked?

What they don’t expect is a body in the lounge. The trip suddenly takes an ominous turn. The group is in a locked hotel, with seemingly no other people around bar themselves. So who is the murderer? They quickly discover there is no way to contact Earth, and soon find quite how distant the moon is from Earth (3 days by transport shuttle to be precise), and how fast fear and suspicion travel. Luckily one of their party is a detective. Penelope (not Penny!) soon finds herself working to solve the most challenging case of her career, but with no partner, no forensics support and no backup to help.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a locked-room murder mystery set in a hotel on the moon, with an eclectic cast of characters. The story jumped from person to person, giving you tantalising glimpses of who may be involved, with everyone seemingly having something to hide at some point. We did have the main character of Penelope to start to bring all of the threads back together. Overall the story was really enjoyable, a break from the usual locked room mystery, trapped by a storm/puncture/zombies etc. Definitely one to add to your reading list, a quirky, intriguing, plot-twisting who dunnit!

*I received this book from NetGalley for review but all opinions are my own.

A fantastic setting for the ultimate locked room mystery- a luxury hotel on the room with 10 randomly selected guests.

Police officer Penelope has won the one of the most coveted tickets of a lifetime, a seat on the first passenger rocket to the first space hotel. There have been 1000s of applicants but 10 winners have been selected from across the globe, all with their own reasons for wanting to be amongst the first to ever experience life on the moon.,

Although they were promised a luxury above all others, private waiters, chefs and beauticians amongst others - when they arrive at the hotel, there doesn't appear to be anyone else there. Is it all a set up for maximum publicity or is there something more unpleasant on the way? The mood is quickly set when one of the guests is found dead after the first night, with a flagpole planted in their torso. The group decide they know who is guilty of the crime and lock them up, but not everyone is convinced they have the right suspect.

The claustrophobia of the lunar setting kicks in, adding to the tension as well as suspicion of everyone else on board; accusations fly around and loyalties are forged and lost. My head was spinning as revelations were unveiled and truths revealed- as in any good locked room mystery I suspected everyone including the victim as I powered through the book.

I did get a bit lost in the character list at times, but I enjoyed reading it and looked forward to picking it up each time, always the sign of a good book!

The Launch Party is a murder mystery set on the moon. Hotel Artemis is the first of its kind, and its launch sees ten lucky competition winners being flown into space to sample the hospitality. Things very quickly start going wrong, and when one guest is found murdered, it becomes a question of whether the rest will make it back to Earth alive?

An interesting idea, which I didn't feel made the most of the location. I appreciate the moon was probably chosen to make sure the hotel was isolated and remote, but a random island in the middle of nowhere would have worked just as well. The moon didn't seem to add an awful lot to the story. That said, I did like the mystery of the book, I found myself second guessing characters as I tried to figure out whodunnit. A readable murder mystery.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I loved this book. Murder mystery with a space twist!

3.5 stars rounded up
Hotel Artemis - first hotel on the moon - is opening soon and 10 lucky people have won an all expenses paid, exclusive trip to the grand opening. But their expectations are shattered when, upon arrival, they find themselves completely alone... no staff to serve them the opulent food they were promised. No staff to wait on them hand and foot. No staff to assist with the fabulous schedule of fun they were expecting. No Staff At All...
And then, one of their number is murdered... did you see that coming ? And so begins the ultimate locked room - well, locked planet - mystery... As we get to know the players better. secrets start to come to light. Strangers might not be strangers at all...
This was a bit juicy, if at times a tad eye-rolly. There were the 10 main characters, the guests, but their definition was a bit on the light side and so I had to write me a list of the salient points to keep them all square in my head which did rather distract me from the narrative on occasion. Therefore it wasn't as fluid a read as it should have been. It was also a wee bit far fetched and belief did have to be suspended a couple of times along the way.
But, that said, it was delicious fun trying to work it all out ahead of the game and, despite my reservations, I was up for that and it did irk me a tad when I found out something that, well, was a bait and switch and I was a bit miffed... but, on the flip side, well done to the author for throwing in something wholly unexpected. Hence the rounding up!
All in all, it's a decent enough read if you don' take it too seriously. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Murder mystery set in an exclusive hotel on the Moon? Yes please! With endless twists, this sci fi mystery had me gripped from start to finish. One for any whodunnit lovers to pick up!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Locked room mystery? Agatha Christie adjacent? ON THE MOON!? I mean, you’ve got me, hook line and sinker you’ve got me!
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This one kept me guessing till the final reveal and had me flabbergasted! The moon setting was inventive and adventurous, do I think the book read the same as if it was set anywhere else? Yes, did that matter? No, because it wasn’t set anywhere else, it was set on the MOON!
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Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC

I really enjoyed this book with its great concept and magnificently awful characters. Didn’t have any idea who the murderer was so it totally kept me guessing. There could have been a couple of loose ends tied up tighter, but that’s just me being picky. A great read.

3.5 stars
I am a sucker for a locked room mystery and am also a big fan of Agatha Christie. So having read the blurb for this, I was very intrigued. And it's set on the moon? Even more intrigued!
When this starts we are rapidly introduced to 10 characters and the plot starts right away, something I do like. However, I was worried that with 10 characters it would get confusing, but it didn't. At least to start with.
This whole book is VERY heavily inspired by Agatha Christie and despite it being set on the moon, that unfortunately didn't really play much part. This had no sci fi elements. It could have been set anywhere (eg: an island, a house in the middle of nowhere) and the story would play out the same, which was a bit of a let down.
I did enjoy the writing style and I did fly through it as it was such an easy read.
As it went on, I have to admit I did start to get a bit muddled as to who was who as none of them had much personality.
Another thing that I found slightly annoying was that you have no idea when this is set. Obviously sometime in the future, but when?
The reveal also felt a bit anti climatic.
I did enjoy this but there were a couple of things that stopped me loving it.

Ten lucky strangers have been invited on the trip of a lifetime. They're about to be the first people to get to experience the first ever hotel on the moon. But almost as soon as they arrive, something seems off. There are no staff anywhere to be found in the massive hotel. And then the first body turns up. Trapped in space with no way home, waiting for help to arrive, they must decide who they can trust before the killer strikes again.

The concept of this book was intriguing to me, but it never really followed through on that promise. The characters felt like tropes rather than real people and the central mystery was convoluted and overcomplicated. The one thing I did feel like was done right was the pacing. It definitely drew me in and made me eager to finish, I just wasn't particularly satisfied with where it ended up.

Ten people have won a trip to stay at a new hotel, but not just any hotel - this one is on the moon. When the lucky guests arrive they find it bizarre that there are no staff and they are completely alone. Things take a drastic turn for the worst when one of the group is found dead and no one can explain why.

The Launch Party is the ultimate locked room mystery.

I loved that the characters were strangers because it created tension and meant that no one knew who to trust. It really does take your classic murder mystery to the extreme because the characters are so isolated that they have to figure out the truth themselves. The variety in the characters was fascinating as everyone had different opinions and ideas.

I found the setting incredibly eerie, it felt like anything could happen and I couldn't predict where the story was going. I adore sci-fi movies that are set in space so this was the perfect match for me.

If you enjoy mysteries with a twist then this is definitely for you!

Thank you NetGalley and Zaffre for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

An OK read. The premise sounded good but it didn't achieve it's potential. The story jumped between the characters and did not flow even though Penelope should have held the plot together. Although based on the moon, the plot would have been unbelievable wherever it was set.
Having been a bit negative about this book I would certainly read another Forry book.

A locked room mystery in space!

This book follows many characters, but was a thrilling and fast-paced read. I did think the characters weren't developed well as there were so many of them, but I felt like the writing was easy to follow, and I liked how the mystery unfolded.

It is set in a hotel on the moon which was strange but intriguing. It didn't keep me on the edge of my seat, but I felt like it held my attention enough to make me question who the perpetrator was, and to get to the bottom of the mystery!

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for the e-arc!!

I wanted to read this book as the premise sounded very original, a locked room murder mystery set in a hotel on the moon. I did like the fusion of sci fi and crime and always appreciate authors who try and do something a little different.

Although this is a fun read with some humour added in, I found I was unable to connect with the story and characters. It was probably down to how I was feeling at the time of reading this, but I found that the story was missing something and the pacing was a bit off. Although I found this a bit slow going and not a personal favourite, I am sure a lot of readers will love this unique mystery. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this early copy in return for an honest review.

A great read. I had many theories of 'whodunit' but got it wrong. I suspected pretty much everybody at some stage as their backgrounds were revealed,, but alas did not see the twist. Well put together novel.

Very original idea, but somehow it didn't resonate with me .I found it quite a slow read, and didn't really like it ,I am sorry to say.

A very unique premise and one that is compelling and gripping. It's certainly a different setting and to say it's claustrophobic is an understatement given the location of the plot. Looking forward to reading more from the author.

Ten strangers apparently win a trip to the moon to be the first guests in a luxury hotel.. Unlikable and hard to distinguish characters, a murder soon takes place, complicated by a complete lack of hotel staff. Of course one guest is a detective - but how does she ever do her job with so many phobias? Too many coincidences, and not enough explanation, especially regarding the lack of staff. As a SF fan I was a bit disappointed- the narrative kept reminding us they were on the moon, and help was at least 3 days away, but not enough of the future/ science bit for me - they could easily have been on a train, an island or the Nile but of course Agatha has already done those so much better.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of this e-book.