I love a locked room mystery and this has three of them! Such a good concept. I do think that the sisters playing off each other was good but the rest of the family angle - especially the implications for Tess - was underused. I really liked both Tess and Sarah, and wanted more of their wider interactions too, with their family or colleagues.

The mysteries were really well handled - nice nods to “not how it looks on tv” and good suspense with a decent amount to help you feel like you have a chance of figuring something out (though I definitely didn’t!).

I was a little confused by the ending as it seems a little sudden but hoping it means there’s something more coming in this universe?

I listened to this, and the narrator did a great job especially as there was multiple POVs.

All in all a really great mystery. 4 stars.

This was an excellently produced and narrated book,which really made the individual characters come to life. I could easily see this being an effective TV series. I thoroughly enjoyed the plot line, especially the linking between police and a network of grifters. I'm looking forward very much to reading more in this series.

Actual rating 3.5.

As soon as I heard about this one at the HQ showcase, I knew I’d enjoy it and that was before I even realised it was set in Brighton!! We love a local read 🥳

This is a great crime caper, made all the more interesting by two sisters on either side of the law - let’s face it, the criminal element is always more fun to read! It’s a clever plot full of misdirection and surprises, but also packs an emotional punch as the sisters face up to their history and the fact that they’re both rather lonely. And yes, I really did love recognising so many of the locations, although hopefully there’ll never be such a high body count that nearby…

Three Card Murder by J L Blackhurst is a locked room murder mystery thriller that I listened to and really enjoyed the narration. It was a most enjoyable book to read, telling the story of two sisters, Tess who is in the police force and Sarah who is a con artist and how they are both connected to the three murders that have happened in mysterious circumstances.
Whilst they do both find out who the killer is, they were allowed to leave and there will no doubt be another follow on book in the series,which I will enjoy reading or listening to in the future.
Highly recommended

A good cheeky listen. The narrator does a good job of the story which is 3 murders whete it seems imposdible for the killer to have got out unseen.. They are being investigated by Tess and seem to be linked to her half duster Tess whi is on the overside of the law. Sarah is still family but they haven't seen each other since Tess protected Sarah and made her choice to be a police officer.
The essence of this story is the relationships between the two sisters and how its effects both their lives andorger telationships i did lkke the way Sarah quickly worked out tge elaborate clues. The twists were good i didnt like the ending a set up for a series with a unresolved cliffhanger.
I did enjoy the bizarre murders and clues and i would recommended this to anyone who like cozy mysterys . It was a quick listen lots of chapters . Thanks to netgallery publisher and narrator for a solid 4 star listen.. i highly recommended this

A really great premise and the book kept me hooked until the 90% mark and then I became incredibly frustrated. Definitely a cliff hanger for a second book in the series but it made the entire first book feel like an introduction which was a little disappointing.

Wow what a book! From the first sentence to the end I was hooked. A brilliantly crafted and cleverly twisted with a macabre back drop entwining lives wrenched apart. One of my favourite books this year. Thank you

I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a locked-room mystery which became more locked-room mysteries, especially as Acting DI Tess Fox's first foray into heading a murder investigation goes horribly wrong as signs seem to point inexorably towards her estranged half-sister and criminal mastermind Sarah Jacobs. Part police procedural, part magician's expose, and fully concentrating on the tangled and complex relationship between the estranged sisters, Three Card Murder is complex and detailed, with tricks and cons in every chapter, and even the explanations sometimes being cons. I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook, and found myself trying to find reasons to put in my headphones and squeeze out another chapter. At one point, I sat in my car on the driveway because I was so enthralled that I didn't want to stop listening by going inside and saying hello to my family!

It's not clear from the marketing materials that this is a very definite first part of (at least) a duology. While the original mystery is solved by the end of the book, we're left with more and new questions which urgently need to be answered. Including: when is the sequel coming out? and Can I have a copy of it yet?

The narrator of this book, Candida Gubbins, was lovely to listen to, and made the whole experience very enjoyable. My only reservation would be that at times it was very difficult to tell which sister was narrating - there was no discernible difference between the voices of Sarah and Tess as POV characters, which made it occasionally a little harder to keep track of whose head I was in. That was only a minor critique, though, and overall the narration was well timed and well pitched, adding to the feeling of suspense, mystery, and magic.

This book was so much fun!

After my big binge of (adult) murder mysteries last year, I haven't read any this year (though I've been accumulating them) and this book reminded me exactly why I'd been gathering murder mysteries. The hook of the puzzle and the certainty that I'd get the answer at the end is such a compulsive set up.

It's a twisty tale of not one, not two, but three locked-room murders! The doors are locked from the inside, no sign of forced entry, and yet someone has been murdered. They're puzzlingly impossible - or so it seemed. I loved watching the two sisters solve the puzzle across the book and pin down who the murderer was.

At it's heart, this is a book about estranged sisters trying to overcome their differences enough to solve the three murders in this book. There's clever, con artist Sarah and by-the-book officer Tess. It's such a roller coaster of emotions, of wanting them to team up and trust each other, but knowing there's so much in their way.

The narrator,  Candida Gubbins, did such a good job. I could quite easily work out which sister was talking even with only one person supplying the narration. Tess' ever present frustration (at life, at her awful colleague, at her sister) was particularly clear and really helped bring her to life.

This is, I believe, the start of a series of mysteries set in Brighton around these two women. I very very much hope I've read the deal announcement right because I want to return to these sisters and see where they go next. They certainly have some hard decisions to make about what to do with their lives next.

A fun 'locked room', puzzle of a crime mystery.

SYNOPSIS:

"One sister is a cop.
The other a con artist.
Both are suspects.

When DI Tess Fox arrives at her first murder scene there are already two big problems. First, the victim was thrown from the balcony of an apartment locked from the inside. Second, Tess knows the victim, and a clue left at the scene means the killer knows that too.

Only one person knows about Tess’s link to the victim and has the skills and criminal background to mastermind a locked-room murder. But Tess’s half-sister Sarah is a con-artist, not a killer. And Tess is going to need her expertise if she’s ever going to crack the case."

MY THOUGHTS:

🃏 I read this on audio and the narration/story telling was wonderful. I would highly recommend to read as an audiobook if you are able to.

🃏 I loved the two main characters (sisters Tess and Sarah) on either side of the law, like chalk and cheese but come closer together as the story unfolds.

🃏 It was such a quirky perspective and spin on the murder mystery genre.

🃏 I can imagine this book being a fun read for fans of locked room/puzzle crime mysteries that the reader is encouraged to solve - I'm not one of them BUT it didn't spoil my enjoyment, I just went with the flow and the twists as they came.

🃏 Cleverly done, with a unique plot that felt perfectly planned out by the author but not easily guessed by the reader - I certainly had not clue of the culprit.

🃏 I really enjoyed it and would recommend, just be prepared for a sudden ending / cliffhanger!

This one sounded interesting from the blurb (also, excellent cover!) But sadly didn't work for me. A bit too unbelievable and slightly predictable.

This was an interesting read. Fast paced in some places and a bit slow in others. I enjoyed the relationship between the sisters, though found some of the plot a little unrealistic. I would be interested in reading more by the author as I did, on the whole, enjoy this one. The narration was also good. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers.

I loved the premise of this novel and was also drawn to it by the amazing cover. Tess and Sarah are estranged half sisters, Tess is a police officer and Sarah is a con artist working for the family business. They are brought together again in the wake of current murders which bring up secrets from their past.
This was a mixed listen for me. I thought that Candida Gubbins did a fairly good job of narrating, however her voices for the characters did become rather irritating and began to grate on me. The sisters are interesting characters and I liked the Brighton setting. I usually enjoy a locked room mystery but I found that Three Card Murder ended up being too much of an unbelievable caper for me. The writing didn’t draw me in and I feel it needed editing to tighten up the plot. A disappointing and unsatisfying listen.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to and review this digital audiobook.
2.5 stars.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Three Card Murder by J.L. Blackhurst. It was excellently narrated by Candida Gubbins who really made each of the sisters, Tess and Sarah, have their own voice.

Tess is a police officer in Brighton. She’s playing a dangerous game and hiding the fact that her sister Sarah is a con-artist and their father is a notorious local criminal.

Tess is keen to get ahead in the police force and she hopes to make her name in her fist murder case. The victim appears to have been thrown from a balcony in an appartment that has been locked from the inside. Complicating matters is that she knows the victim. Then more murders take place in in locked rooms. No-one wants it to be a serial killer.

Reluctantly, Tess reaches out to her estranged sister for help. But, how much longer will she be able to keep the identity of her sister secret?

I really enjoyed the way the sisters, both on different sides of the law, came together to solve the murders. I also enjoyed the way in which the sisters had to address their complicated loyalties, family history and relationships.

I think this could be successfully adapted for a TV series and Brighton would make a lovely backdrop.

I’ll keep an eye out to see what comes next from J.L. Blackhurst.

Huge thanks to the publishers, HarperCollins UK Audio, and NetGalley for making this available to me in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Acting DI Tess Fox is keen to impress her boss on her first murder investigation as investigating officer. Initially thought to be a suicide, it quickly becomes apparent that there is more to the case as the man has his hands tied behind his back and his throat has been cut. To make things even more complicated the door to the flat he fell from was locked and boarded from the inside, with no other means of entry or exit. To help her figure out how the murder was committed Tess needs to enlist the help of her con-artist half-sister who she hasn't seen for years.

Three Card Murder by J. L. Blackhurst is a locked-room murder mystery that will have thriller lovers puzzling throughout as to exactly how the crimes were carried out. Not only is there the initial baffling murder but another two equally bewildering murders take place. Each crime, and the explanations, reminded me of the Jonathan Creek TV series.

Lead character, Tess Fox, comes across as very real. She's keen to make progress in her job but isn't over-confident, we see her vulnerable side. We also learn early on that her background could cause quite a few problems for her as a police officer. Her father is a notorious criminal, even worse, fifteen years earlier Tess killed a man in order to save her half-sister, Sarah.

Sarah is the stand-out character in the story. She's highly intelligent but uses her intelligence for nefarious means. She works for her father, specialising in long cons, but is happy keeping her skills honed with less intense con tricks such as fortune telling, card tricks, etc. The relationship between the two sisters is prickly, Tess feels that Sarah could do better for herself. Sarah feels that Tess has deserted the family, made even worse by her joining the police force.

Throughout you feel the turmoil Sarah feels. She wants to be loyal to her father, but she remembers that Tess saved her life fifteen years ago. Both sisters are uneasy that the murder victims and small clues left at each scene indicate that someone knows exactly what happened in the past. Only by joining forces and bending (or even breaking) a few rules will they track down the murderer.

The audiobook is narrated well and kept me hooked, however, this may work better in print, allowing the reader to flip back to check details. The revelations were ingenious and I enjoyed the way in which the conclusion was left open-ended.

Three Card Murder by J. L. Blackhurst will be published on 31st August 2023 in paperback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a review copy.

I was keen to read this purely based on the book description and didn't realise the author was the same person who wrote The Hiking Trip which I loved. This is a really clever thriller that keeps you guessing right to the end and I love that there seems to be more to the story still to come. There is definitely more to know about Tess and Sarah. A complicated relationship between two sisters with very different lives. I did guess some of the twists but there were a few that left me shocked. Really entertaining to listen to as an audiobook and the narrator is easy to listen to.

This kept me happily entertained on my commute for a few days.
I enjoyed the magic/illusion/con side to the story.
The sisters banter was amusing, though their relationship felt slightly unbelievable.
The ending felt abrupt, but it just leaves you pondering book 2.

This book was not I was expecting at all from the cover and synopsis I was thinking deep police drama cat and mouse style with complex characters . From the reviews I read after requesting I wasn’t sure if it was going be very dark or a cosy time crime. It was very much a mixture. It didn’t work. While I liked some of the sister banter between Tess and Sarah the full plot was ridiculous and the subplots even more so. The narrator was woeful he voice being sickly sweet at times and monotone with it. There was no sense of drama or suspense created at all both in terms of the story and narration. I love crime books both of the dark and less dark nature but this was not for me. I found it boring, pointless and highly unbelievable with characters that were annoying and badly developed. Note to author please don’t make a series featuring these two leave, start again cause there was a glimmer of something there in your writing it just didn’t shine in this pitiful book.
NOT FOR ME