📚 Book Review 📚

When does a game look like a murder and when does a murder stop the game?

Great cosy whodunnit with twists and turns reminiscent of Agatha Christie herself. I really enjoyed this.

Addie is a clever tech mystery games designer and producer who is reeling after the break up of her relationship with the man she loves and business partner. After receiving an invitation from Mimi, her sharp witted and sharp tongued grandmother to stay with her, Addie finds herself with her grandmother, locked away in a large house with the inhabitants dropping like flies. Very soon, Addie and Mimi know that to solve the mystery, Addie needs to use her mystery writing skills before it’s too late.

I really enjoyed this book, the relationship between grandmother and granddaughter is lovely and the mixture of traditional whodunnit along with more of a contemporary mystery vibe, works very well. This is a fun, twisting and enjoyable read.

I’d like to thank Random House UK, NetGalley and the author for the arc and the fantastic opportunity, in exchange for my honest feedback 😊

Book released on 24th April 2025

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Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really thought from the cover and the description that this would be right up my street. Unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

I felt like the book just dragged on - it could have been halved and still fitted everything in. I found myself struggling to reach for it as I wasn’t engaged.

The characters weren’t very interesting, not even the two FMCs. There was such potential for them to develop - both personally and in their relationship but it just didn’t happen!

I’ve rated this 2 stars because I enjoyed the beginning. I saw the potential for the rest of the book but it just didn’t grip me and felt rushed.

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

What I loved about this book was the grandmother, granddaughter super sleuth team! We have here a reclusive grandmother who isn’t particularly affectionate and enjoys her solitude in her small village. Her world is shaken when she receives a blackmail letter directing her to an upcoming party at a wealthy neighbours. She daren’t face it alone so she calls up her granddaughter who is going through a difficult break up and legal case. Things are tense between them but through their investigation into this blackmail case they are able to understand each other better.

The relationship between grandmother and granddaughter was fantastic. It was such a fun pair to investigate the criminal occurrences and mystery that occurs and they just bounced so well off of each other! I thoroughly enjoyed the way they learned more about each other and they way they continue to surprise each other.

Here we have a group of people with secrets and lies, trapped in a house together by inclement weather following a dramatic party. There’s an interesting mystery here with layers and hidden connections. However what makes this memorable is the fab investigative duo!

Thank you to Netaglley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review. I have to be honest—this book just wasn’t for me. Despite the positive reviews that initially drew me in, I found myself struggling to get through it, hoping it would improve as the story progressed. Unfortunately, it never did.

The characters were completely unlikable, which made it difficult to care about what happened to them. On top of that, the plot felt silly and far-fetched, making it hard to stay engaged or take the story seriously. Overall, I found the book disappointing and wouldn’t recommend it.

Thank y ou net galley for this copy!
Absolutely loved the storyline & found it extremely gripping throughout!

I absolutely adore the relationship between the grandma and granddaughter in the book. It was a fun, easy-to-read, and entertaining mystery that beautifully explored family dynamics. The story had a cozy atmosphere, infused with humor and delightful twists. What more could you possibly need in a book?

Thoroughly enjoyed this story and all the twists and turns that came through as you continued into the book. The characters were great and really believable.

Addie is still in love with her ex-fiance Brian, but it is evident that he used her to get ideas for their co-created video game. Mimi, Addie's grandmother, is being blackmailed for a secret she is unwilling to reveal. The blackmailer demands that she spend a lengthy weekend at her neighbour's mansion, and she invites Addie along. Before you know it, it's a game. A hazardous game in which partygoers die one by one. Add in a violent storm, and no one is leaving the mansion. I loved the dialogue, and the fast-paced plot kept me gripped.

This is as cosy as Only Murders in the Building which is my favourite show at the moment! This gave all the cosy feel good thriller vibes! Highly recommend

4.5 stars!! 🌟

I flew through this in a few days, I was hooked! The story takes place on Mackinac Island, where a big, glamorous mansion sets the stage for a fancy auction party gone wrong. Mimi, a witty 77-year-old with a love for Gibson martinis and crosswords, is blackmailed into going, so she drags along her granddaughter, Addie (a murder mystery game founder), who’s trying to get over a messy breakup. What starts as a high-society event quickly flips when their hostess, Jane, ends up dead, and it’s Mimi and Addie left to figure out who’s behind it all.

I loved the grandmother-granddaughter bonding, they end up making a great/ slightly chaotic, detective team. The dialogue is nonstop & Mimi’s sense of humour had me giggling!!

The whole story was just the right mix of mystery, family drama, and suspense. It’s perfect if you love a good whodunit with a quirky twist!

When does a murder-mystery become a game? When does a murder become a mystery-game? Whose in charge, the gamer or the murderer? Rosemary, Mimi to her friends and family, is a retried journalist and lives alone on Mackinac Island in the Great Lakes. She is seventy-seven and the grandmother and the only relative of Addie, a designer and developer of the immersive, multiplayer, ‘choose your own adventure’, video game “Murderscape”. She is in dispute with her co-developer over ownership, and is losing, The pair have a tense relationship, mainly due to Mimi’s restrained personality.
Rosemary is surprised to receive a letter from Jane Ireland, super-rich owner of the islands largest estate, inviting her to a charity auction at the Ireland mansion, a castle surrounded by a moat and accessible only by drawbridge. The surprise, initially, is becomes she does not move in those circles and has a negative opinion of Jane. However, that is a minor detail when she realises that this is a blackmail situation, in which she will be expected to bid a ridiculous amount for an item to prevent her darkest secret from being revealed. Having no choice, she accepts the invitation and takes Addie with her for moral support. Duly assembled with an assorted bunch of strangers, the auction proceeds despite the fact that a massive snow storm is blowing down from Canada and will shortly turn into a ‘historic bomb cyclone. Needless to say, this will cut them off from the rest of the island and from the mainland. And then Jane is murdered. Trapped with a murderer on the loose, a classic murder-mystery situation, Mimi and Addie pool their expertise to discover all the secrets of the house and its occupants, and solve the murder.
Mimi and Addie are now two players on a quest inside a ‘choose your own adventure’ story, a constrained space, with multiple locations, multiple artifacts, open and concealed passages, equivocal characters, clues and red herrings, easter eggs and potential dangers. In other words, they are inside the sort of game that Addie develops for a living, and proceed through it the way a player would. It’s a novel approach but more because it explains the mechanics rather than hides them – a sort of Meta approach. At heart it is just a standard murder mystery; quite a good one because there are a lot of potential clues but very few real ones. The writing style is relaxed but a bit repetitive, and it rolls along nicely although the ending is a bit rushed. I wasn’t very engaged with the actual characters but that isn’t really an issue because I’m the Player in this game inside a game.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

A locked room mystery and who dunnit set on a snowy Great lakes island. I liked the dynamic chemistry between grand daughter and granny and their amateur sleuthing skills based on their individual hobbies. However, the storytelling dragged and there was no excitement to the plot. I persevered to the lacklustre denouement.

a multiple pov mystery about a video game called murderscape and a mystery party held by a rich woman who ends up brutally murdered.

i actually really enjoyed the inclusion of video games - it felt very modern and i haven’t really seen anything like that before in thrillers.

the only thing that annoyed me a little is there wasn’t an indication the point of views switched so it got a little confusing at times.

however, the book was beautifully written and constantly kept you guessing.

fans of alice feeny’s daisy darker and the tv show sherlock holmes would definitely enjoy this book.

A middle-of-the-road whodunnit à la Agatha Christie. The two protagonist sleuths (grandmother and grandchild) are interesting characters with a pertinent and even intriguing at times background whose repartee is entertaining enough. The story itself (a traditional lock-room (house!) plot) did not grip me totally despite the original (to me) idea of linking developments to a video game scenario (all well argued in background story…) perhaps it fell a bit mechanical in what happened or too similar to other novels of similar style. Whilst I liked sleuth team a lot (4/5), their banter etc, the plot was for me more like 2/5.

This Is Not a Game is a unique locked-room debut that weaves together a memorable intergenerational relationship and a gaming angle. Set against the backdrop of a lavish mansion, the story unfolds as widow Mimi and her granddaughter, Addie, find themselves snowed in during a charity auction, only to discover that their host has been murdered. This unlikely sleuthing duo must navigate a dangerous game, drawing on their distinctive skill sets to uncover the truth.

Mimi lives on the idyllic Mackinac Island, where cars are banned and a Gibson with three onions at the witching hour is a must. Addie, meanwhile, is recovering from the heartbreak of her fiancé, Brian, who not only dumped her but also cut her out of the lucrative video game they created together. When Mimi receives an invitation from local socialite Jane Ireland—a narcissistic septuagenarian embroiled in an affair with her son-in-law—it provides the perfect excuse for Addie to join her for the weekend. Unbeknownst to Addie, a blackmail threat related to the invitation looms.

Just as the scene is set for a tumultuous weekend, a fierce storm traps everyone inside the mansion. Tensions escalate when Jane’s body is discovered, and Mimi and Addie must rely on their wits—Mimi's love for crossword puzzles and Addie's expertise as a game designer—to narrow down the suspects. When another body turns up, the stakes become even higher, and it’s clear that someone is playing a deadly game, putting their lives at risk.

This book checks all the boxes for me: a sprawling estate, a mysterious cast of characters, hidden trapdoors, and snowed-in panic, all enriched by the charming dynamic between grandmother and granddaughter. I thoroughly enjoyed the engaging mystery, captivating setting, and well-drawn characters.

Read more at The Secret Bookreview.

Mimi is invited to a do at one of her neighbours who she as gone out of her way to avoid. She feels she has to go. She decides to invite her granddaughter Addie to go with her.
It does not take long for things to start to go wrong and it becomes clear that the other guests have their own secrets.
I liked the way the characters developed throughout the book and their back stories. It was a nice read.

Mimi and Addie are great characters!
Set around a very odd country house party, where blackmail is served with the canapes, the guests are trapped by the weather and forced to coexist with a murder victim whilst waiting for police to make it through the snow.
The investigation launched by Addie and Mimi, neither qualified but both keen uncovers many secrets and lies and put them both in danger- after all, how could the murderer have escaped without laving footprints in the snow?
A great take on the genre!

I throughly enjoy this book. The characters were great and I didn’t work out who dunnit!! It had a good pace and kept me wanting more.

Thank you to Netgalley for the copy to read and review.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really get into this. This is no reflection on the author.

This is definitely not a game

What a twisty and intriguing book. I found it a good quick read. Nothing to rave home about Thank you for the opportunity to review the book