I knew there was something great about this book just from its title and I wasn’t disappointed! This murder mystery book follows six thriller writers, a famous anonymous writer J.A Alastor and a former aspiring writer Mila. J.A Alastor hires Mila to run his writers retreat for six lucky writers on a remote island. They will also get the chance to meet the famous anonymous writer and put a face to the well known name.

What the writers don’t know is that Alastor wants to play games, Mila plans to kill and each writer has a secret they’re hiding. There’s also a few dead bodies and a storm that cuts them off from the rest of civilisation. Who makes it out alive?

You Are Fatally Invited had me hooked from beginning to end. I don’t think I’ve worked my brain as much as I have with this book, there was so many twists and turns. Although I enjoyed the book and the story, I’m giving it four stars as there was a lot of information to comprehend and get my head around but overall a worthwhile read.

A gripping read that had me on the edge of my seat from start the finish. The pacing was very well done and I was always excited to pick it up and read.

When reclusive writer JR Allastor invites 6 other crime writers to a retreat on an island the stage is set for an Agatha Christie type mystery along the lines of "And then there were none".
Ande Pliego writes the tale using the separate voices of each author, plus that of Mila, the vengeful event organiser, JR Allastor's public face.
Like others I found this slightly confusing at times and the breaking into the plot of JR Allastor's own writing didn't really help matters much.
There were some enjoyable moments and twists to the plot, but overall, I wasn't very taken with it and found the ultimate ending a little too much a tying up all the loose ends".
Thanks go to NetGalley and Random House for an e arc of thus novel

As a tip,of the hat to Christie’s “And Then There Were None”, this one was already fighting an uphill battle from the start. Like the original, this one too needed a decent dose of suspension of disbelief, and the ending disintegrated into a ridiculous mess. But I was compelled to keep reading to find out the identity of the mysterious author, for which I am adding an extra star.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

I think this is one you'll either love or hate. It was such a slow burn that I really struggled to engage. There's a lot of characters and backstop to figure out and the short chapters are constantly jumping from pov to pov so it's easy to lose track. There were some good twists and turns but also some massive plot holes were just going to act like didn't exist! It's basically an Agatha Christie style locked room thriller but very character based and woth a lot of words...... a lot! I prefer more action led thrillers so it wasn't really my vibe

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego is a gripping thriller that combines mystery and suspense with a touch of dark humour. The novel follows a group of seemingly unrelated characters who receive an enigmatic invitation to a remote location, only to find themselves trapped in a deadly game where their pasts come back to haunt them. Pliego expertly builds tension, keeping readers on edge with every twist and turn.

What sets this book apart is its fast-paced narrative, intricate plot, and compelling characters. Each character has a distinct voice, and their development is crucial to the story's depth. The setting adds to the eerie atmosphere, with the secluded location amplifying the sense of danger. Pliego’s writing is sharp and direct, creating a page-turning experience that keeps readers hooked until the very end.

Overall, You Are Fatally Invited is a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers, with a strong mix of suspense, mystery, and unexpected revelations that make it hard to put down.

I was intrigued when I read the synopsis, as it follows one of my favourite prompts in mystery/thriller novels. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy.

Six authors, a mysterious island writing retreat and murder. What’s not to like. Well I liked it…a lot. Clever and twisty it was like Cluedo meets And Then There Were None with a cast of characters with their own deep and dark secrets. It kept me up at night reading and guessing. Definitely one I’d recommend.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A select group of authors are invited to a themed writing retreat on an island by renowned crime writer JR Allastor, whose identity has long been kept secret. A locked room murder mystery sees the invitees participate in games following various famous tropes of the genre. With dark secrets galore from their pasts, and a complicated web of who knows who, the story unfolds through the voices of the different characters. Keeping up with who’s who and who is talking got a bit challenging at times and I often had to flick back to the chapter title to remind myself; the same with keeping track of the backstories and how everyone related to each other. Overall it was an enjoyable read and it kept me guessing for the most part of the book.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for a review.

Six bestselling thriller authors are invited to an isolated writing retreat but all is not as it first appears and things start to go awry quite quickly .
The writers are unaware that they will not leave the retreat alive .
All of them have secrets which they don’t want made public .
The writing is excellent and it kept me guessing until the end .
There’s more than a slight nod to Christie’s And Then There Were None .
An enjoyable thriller .
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers.

A locked room mystery set on an island featuring a group of crime writers invited for a retreat. Fans of Agatha Christie type novels will enjoy it but the multiple characters got me lost. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the rc.

Liked it . Due to health issues cannot will write a proper review at a later time
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mineA more extensive review will follow

𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 ✨ 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘼𝙍𝙀 𝙁𝘼𝙏𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙔 𝙄𝙉𝙑𝙄𝙏𝙀𝘿

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
📚 Genre: Thriller, Mystery
📖 Pages: 371
🤍 Read if you like: Knives Out, Agatha Christie
📆 Publish date: AVAILABLE NOW

An exclusive thriller writer’s retreat hosted on a private island turns lethal when one of the authors is found murdered.

“𝘭'𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦.”

This is a Knives Out style locked-room mystery meets Clue, with a dash of Traitors (reality show) vibes!

“𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴.”

The atmosphere of the story was very well done and as a whole it was a great concept, filled with twists that will keep you guessing till the very end.

“𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴.”

I did find it to be a very slow burn, which I don’t love, but the short chapters helped! There were also a lot of characters to keep track of and I did find that the multiple perspectives and intertwining mysteries did get a bit confusing at times, it took focus - and a couple of chapter re-reads.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thank you Random House UK, Transworld Publishers and Netgalley for this Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review. 🙏🏽

I actually enjoyed trying to figure out who’s who relying on the different point of view that told the story and it was rather fun in the beginning and it had a bunch of deceptions to lead the reader astray. But at some point the twists became so much that we were jumping over the plot holes left in the story. I started forgetting who’s chapter it was, because the characters were really similar, especially towards the end, where it looked like the author didn’t want to bother with the consequences of their characters’ actions and just wrapped the story up naively.

Here is my review for You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego

This was a fantastic story which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. This is a great mystery thriller within a mystery thriller! It was the great synopsis that drew me to read this book. Plus I liked the front cover of the book, this drew me to the book as well. I thought the book was extremely well written and that it had been well thought out. It seemed that the author had given the plot a lot of thought and thought about his characters, like who did what and when. One of the best bits was getting some thriller authors to the Island for a writing retreat being hosted by a legendary mystery author. All the authors were in awe of this author's work and were chuffed that they found copies of all their books in a bookcase they found. Would they all return from the Island though?

Blurb :

Six thriller authors. One writing retreat.
You’d die to be on the guest list . . .

The Host
Legendary mystery author J. R. Alastor’s books are sold all over the world, but no one knows his real name. After years hiding in the shadows, he has sent out six invitations to an exclusive murder mystery retreat on his private island.

The Assistant
Mila del Angél has been hired to ensure the week runs smoothly. She has yearned for revenge on a ghost from her past for years – and this could be her chance to get it.

The Players
The six bestselling thriller writers accept their invitations without question – it’s an opportunity any author would kill for.

The Game
What should have been a week of trope-filled games takes a sinister turn when one guest is found dead, and the others find themselves in the midst of a nightmare drawn from Alastor’s dark imagination. They may have written thrillers – but now they and Mila must survive one...

A gripping, intense, hugely enjoyable novel. Their story grabbed my attention and had me hooked till the end!

It's difficult to write a closed-circle mystery these days, since everyone carries a powerful communications device at all times. Broadly speaking, authors deal with this in two ways; the characters have to surrender their phones for a social media stunt or reality TV show (or they're stolen or lost), or the location is isolated, with no signal or way to recharge. This novel takes the second route. Six authors are invited to a retreat at the island home of an author so reclusive no one alive knows who he is. Expecting a week of brainstorming and manuscript critiquing, they soon realise that their host has different plans...

It's very hard to review this book without spoiling the plot! I loved all the little games and riddles the host had prepared for his guests - some real work has gone into them, and there's plenty of clues that the reader will only notice in hindsight. Mila's asides didn’t resonate with me personally - perhaps because I’m not as steeped in the genre - but they may hold clever hints for seasoned mystery fans. The setting is amazing and - aside from the whole murderous rampage thing - sounds like somewhere I'd love to visit.

Whether you're a long-time fan of closed-circle mysteries or - like me - new to the genre, this story delivers a suspenseful and satisfying ride.


Book recommendation: If you enjoyed the closed circle aspect of this story, try The Launch Party by Lauren Forry. Set aboard the first hotel in space, it combines tense horror with a truly inescapable setting.

Film recommendation: Agatha Christie is of course the master of closed circle mysteries, and Murder on the Orient Express is her crowning jewel. Trapped on a train in a snowstorm, a diverse group of people grapple with a murder.

Classic crime fiction fans, this one is for you! If you can imagine a modern 'And Then There Were None' (Agatha Christie in fine form) and mix it with all the crime tropes you can think of, plus throw in some classic horror elements...you might be part of the way to imagining this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for my review copy. As always, opinions are entirely my own.

In this book, we're introduced to Mila, an events co-ordinator who has been tasked with bringing together a group of celebrated crime writers for an island writing retreat to be hosted by the mysterious and reclusive J R Alastor. When the guests arrive on the island, it soon becomes evident that Alastor's plans involve far more than writing tips - and secrets begin to surface. The luxurious and creepily remote setting even conceals mysteries - a network of hidden cameras, sinister clues, murder weapons from the books of each of the writers, hidden passages and a sinister 'museum' of macabre film props. It seems that the writers need to play the game to ensure their survival and even co-ordinator Mila doesn't know the rules that will keep them alive.

Fans of crime and thriller fiction will enjoy spotting the tropes here - in a book about crime writers, it's entirely fitting that the conventions of the genre form such a strong part of the plots and sub-plots, the red herrings and the murders. Indeed, snippets of J R Alastor's book on crime writing are even included as one of the 'voices' through which the story is told, alongside Mila and the guests. Even though I saw through some of the plot twists (I'm pretty secure on my crime tropes!), there were still plenty of surprises in the plotting and times when I couldn't turn the pages quickly enough to find out what happened. Yes, some of the elements slightly stretch the limits of credulity, but it's all such fun that you're drawn along in the slipstream.

This is highly recommended to anyone who spots the novel's ingredients - a remote island, a mysterious gathering, an absent host, a group of characters with hidden secrets, an abundance of murder weapons - and thinks that sounds like a perfect recipe! If you like tightly-plotted and twisty crime fiction, you'll love this.

This was a fantastic thriller. Twists, suspense, tension. The mystery was riveting. I . Right away, I was hooked with how odd this situation was, and things only increased, which had me on the edge of my seat.

If you love locked-room mysteries full of puzzles to solve and twists then I can’t recommend this book enough. I was quickly caught in You Are Fatally Invited and I stayed up late at night to finish reading it. I am not sure what attracted me most, if the reclusive author no one has ever met, the remoteness of the setting, the riddles to solve and the secrets to unravel, or the tribute it pays to one of my favourite books ever, Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Probably, all these things together, and all I know is that I couldn’t put it down until I reached the end.

Told from different perspectives, the story revolves around J. R. Alastor, a legendary author whose identity no one seems to know. He has invited six authors to his remote manor off the coast of Maine for an exclusive writing retreat, but, when they arrive there, the big author is not there welcoming them as they expected, but there is Mila, an event planner hired for the occasion. There are games and riddles planned for the guests, but what they don’t know is that both Alastor and Mila have their own secret plans for the guests. For Mila is murdering one of the guests, but what is exactly Alastor’s agenda? As the guests start to disappear and are being murdered one by one, Mila discovers that she is trapped in a house with people full of secrets and crimes and that Alastor has every intention to reveal them. Who will survive? And who can she trust?

This is such a brilliant, suspenseful, and smart read. You never know what to expect next (although I managed to figure out a few things in advance), you don’t know who is telling the truth, you don’t know who will make it out alive. I loved it!