First I would like to say thanks to Netgalley for giving me early access to this book prior to release.

Oh where to start on this review, I’ve been looking for a really good YA mystery book since a Good Girls Guide to Murder and I think this is the best one to come around since.

This book focuses around a group of 7 friends who travel to a remote island to celebrate graduating high school by reliving the 1920’s. Tension begins to show within the group prior to the golden boy being murdered. Suddenly everyone is at risk and everyone is a suspect.

We follow Izzy throughout this book, learning about her friendships, but there are also flashback chapters which help you to piece together parts of the narrative and create motives for the 6 suspects. I honestly thought I knew who do it but the last few pages threw me through a loop and I ended up re-reading it gasping throughout! Honestly it’s a good fast paced who done it murder mystery and I highly recommend it!

A group of seven wealthy friends jet off to a small island to celebrate a birthday at a 1920's inspired party, held at a mansion.

When they set off to this party, all the group of friends expected was a typical party, but just with a 1920's theme; there'd be drinking, there'd be dancing, there'd be a lot of fun. No one expected that one of them might not make it home.

When one of the group winds up dead, the 1920's themed party quickly turns into a game of murder mystery, except in this game, no one is safe, and no one knows who they can trust.

In this sudden real life game of cat and mouse, you can trust no one, not even yourself...trusting gets you killed, and one death for the night is more than enough. But will the remaining members of the group work out who did it, and who they can trust, before it happens all over again?

Anyone could be guilty, and they're quickly about to find out that innocence and freedom is a luxury that none of them, not even the richest of them all, can afford to buy.

Suddenly a Murder is a fabulous whodunnit story, one that was very much in the vein of The Inheritance Games only with more mystery and a whole lot more bloodshed and murder, that had me gripped from the very start.

There were several times where I was sat on the edge of my seat, eyes wide, feeling the desperate need to read on just so that I could find out what came next.

I often find that thrillers, murder mysteries and whodunnit stories can become too similar to each other, but this wasn't the case for this novel.

Every plot twist had me shaking in my boots, every reveal had my stomach roiling. There was not a single thing about Suddenly a Murder that was predictable - it felt entirely unique, a genre of its own that fulfilled all of it's promises and provided us with characters that we, the readers, could relate to, as well as ones that we just wanted to shut the hell up.

I had so much fun reading this book, finding myself getting so lost in the intrigue and the unquenchable thirst for answers that I often found myself forgetting that this was a story I was reading and not something that I was actually a part of, and I'm so happy to say that it far exceeded any expectations that I held for the story, the characters and it's plot.

As always, a huge thank you to Lauren Muñoz, NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this wonderful book ahead of its release in exchange for my honest thoughts.

4/5 stars ⭐️

Think Agatha Christie , meets Veronica Mars meets gossip girl. I wasn’t particularly in love with the characters or the story but it was a fast read which boosted its rating!

I didn’t know what to expect from this book but I was pleasantly surprised! I loved the feel of it, it made me think of Agatha Christie! I also loved the way it was set out, which some chapters being flashbacks to before the event. I enjoyed how fast paced it was, it got right into it from the get go. I really liked hearing a little of the backstories of one of the detectives, as well as the backstories of the characters. And of course the lil twists throughout leading to the big one! I honestly thought I had the plot twists figured out until I got to the end! I was shocked.
However, I do wish there had been more world building & character building, I felt like some of the characters were just plain and didn’t have a lot of backstory added to them. I loved the Spanish throughout, however for the little there was I feel like there should’ve been English translation next to it, for all us non-Spanish speakers!
Overall, I really did enjoy this book. I’m excited for everyone else to read this book when it’s released.

A group of wealthy teens celebrate their graduation by throwing a 1920's themed week at an island resort. Cut off from the outside world without modern tech such as their phones, everyone is having a good time until one of the party is found murdered.
The police are called and an investigation commences. The island's remote location means the guilty party has to be one of the guests. A classic whodunnit, most of the story is written from the perspective of Izzy, a scholarship student, but as the police interview each of the group, Izzy hides and is able to listen in and we find out everyone's secrets, motives and hidden jealousy. At first it seemed obvious who was the guilty party but then via twists, turns and revelations the timeline of events is turned on its head.
This is a great murder mystery which will keep you guessing until the end.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I really enjoyed Suddenly A Murder, it is such a page turner!

Suddenly A Murder begins by throwing us right in to the midst of the pivotal moment, with our main character, Izzy (Isadora), seemingly about to commit an act of murder…

Then it throws us right back to before the scene, with the days leading up to all these characters travelling to the manor. Muñoz used flashbacks very effectively, switching the POVs, to help us learn more about the wider cast of characters and their motivations to why they might be guilty of the murder.

I loved how Muñoz directed the reader in to believing the perpetrator was Izzy. How could it not be her? She’s guilty of something. We saw her with the knife, thinking about how she was about to commit the murder…It was obvious right? She had to be the murderer? If not, how?

I loved how Muñoz sprinkled in the doubt, particularly with the flashbacks, while Izzy’s POVs worked to frame her as guilty. I, for the first half of the book, most certainly believe it was her for the simple fact of “well how couldn’t it be?” But as the books unfolded, my suspicions grew, and I pinned a target…and I was right! I won’t spoil who it was, but I loved how this character mostly avoided suspicion…that was the big give away for me.

I enjoyed the reveal and how dramatic it all was, things began to come together. The text messages, the notes hidden. I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t guess any of that. I think more should’ve been done to set up that plot line for the audience, and we should’ve had a little more time to hear about the consequences and the impact it had on certain characters. This goes the same for other secrets that were revealed at the end, while they were subtly (very subtly, at times) hinted at throughout the book, it did seem a bit wild just throwing them out there at the end. Big ambitions that the writing didn’t always match, unfortunately.

Overall though, this was a really entertaining, gripping read, that had me speculating the whole time. The setting was interesting, the mix of characters worked well together, and the writing for the most part was pretty solid.

I enjoyed the way it was written - a nice easy read. Can't say I particularly liked any of the characters though. Was also slightly confusing switching between Izzy's present POV and several of the other characters but in the past. The ending did surprise me which is what you want from a murder mystery!

Wow - fantastic! I was gripped by this YA murder mystery, with shades of Agatha Christie, Gossip Girl, Veronica Mars...really great. Thank you for the chance to read this book, I really loved it.

The premise of this book sounded so interesting - a 1920s themed party that ends in a murder sounds like a great set up for a mystery - and it lived up to that.

I was hooked throughout and the twists kept me hooked - there were times that I couldn't put it down. Izzy was an interesting character, and the variety of personalities with her friends was a good mix to keep the drama and secrets going.

The scenes set in the past helped to understand all of the characters and their potential motives, although I did find it quite jarring going from Izzy's first person perspective in the present to the third person in the past, especially in Izzy's chapters.

The ending seemed to happen really quickly with a lot of things being revealed in quick succession, and it would have been nice if they were explored a bit more befor the book finished, but they were interesting revelations that I mostly didn't see coming.

Overall, this was a quick murder mystery with secrets and drama that kept me hooked.

1920’s themed murder mystery? Sign me up! I loved the premise of this story and there was an immediate draw to follow the drama and secrets of a bunch of graduates who may have murder on their mind…

As a graduation celebration, Kassidy arranged a 1920’s getaway to Ashwood manor. All mod cons are banned and for a whole week, the 7 of them will be forced to endure the company. And you can bet, there are many hidden secrets, years of angst, anger and resentment bubbling to the surface.

I love books like these and this one was fab. It was so entertaining and incredibly easy to settle down with. He pages dwindled incredibly fast and I seemed to finish it in a blink of an eye. There was enough mystery and intrigue to keep you invested, I loved the twists and turns and the ending was executed brilliantly. A great read!