A fun, easy to read, murder mystery set in the 1920s reimagined from the original.
Greta, the protagonist, is home from finishing school ready to start celebrating with her brother and friends.
One of the guests are murdered & it's down to Greta to solve it.
The author has created a novel with lots of twists, turns and red herrings, which keeps the reader fully engaged. The central character is portrayed so well, she's perfect for the role.
The novel is based on historical events & I found the notes at the end of the novel, informative.

Thankyou to Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Who killed the odious Tom? The list of suspects is limited to the guests at Gatsby house.
Returning to live with her brother Jay, after finishing her education Greta is looking forward to spending time with him.
The house has a few houseguests. Seemingly friends on the surface but lots of undercurrents.
A classic whodunnit, where everything is not as it appears at first and second look.
An enjoyable read in a setting of excess and opulence.

A Great Gatsby murder mystery!

It’s been a while since I read the Great Gatsby, but that didn’t spoil this novel.
Gatsby’s sister Greta, back from boarding school, investigates a mysterious death
Well written and some great characters Greta seeks to find answers whilst doing a bit of growing up herself.

I really enjoyed this. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the copy to review.

This was a great murder mystery, incorporating the main characters of F.Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The book introduced a new character, Jay Gatsby's younger sister, Greta who takes centre stage. This story provides an alternate narrative for the characters of The Great Gatsby and is in no way 'canon' with the original.

The story begins with Greta returning to the Gatsby home following completing her education, where she is reunited with Jay, Nick Carraway, Jordan Baker and Daisy and Tom Buchanan. They celebrate Greta's return and plan to rise early the next morning to go sailing. However, when morning comes one of the party does not appear...

I loved how the story unfolded and we learned alongside Greta the chain of events she unravels to reveal the murderer. I think the use of the Gatsby characters was fun as I love the setting, and the opportunity to experience another Great Gatsby party! However, I think you can easily read this book and enjoy it without having read The Great Gatsby as it is a fun murder mystery of its own.

I also really enjoyed the historical elements of the story, and appreciated the author offering more of the facts surrounding events within the story at the end of the book.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC. The Gatsby Gambit is an excellent murder mystery, which will be published April 3rd 2025.

I love The Great Gatsby with its flawed characters and 1920s decadence, so I jumped at the chance to read an alternative take on that world. Daisy Buchanan is given, if not a more sympathetic treatment, then certainly she is rounded out much more in this tale and the reader is invited to sympathise far more with her. The introduction of Gatsby's younger sister is done extremely well. In the original, told entirely from Nick Carraway's perspective, Gatsby is given almost hero-status, but through Greta's eyes we get a much different point of view.

Greta knows and recognises her brother's flaws, but loves him in spite of them - theirs is not the happiest of back stories and this draws them closer together. She is also clever and kind and loving and through her eyes we see a very different Jay Gatsby to the one portrayed in the original novel. Different, that is, but true to the original character. It is only because of Greta's inside knowledge that he seems different - on the surface, he is unchanged. The same is true of all the other characters too - Greta recognises them for who they truly are, rather than the image they attempt to project to the world.

Loyalty is a trait which runs strong in the Gatsby family, even when it is misplaced and ultimately, it is this loyalty which allows Greta to solve the case - she knows her staff as well as she does her peers and is determined to get justice for them. In a world which is often superficial and seduced by glamour, Greta recognises what is truly important and pursues the truth when others would prefer to hide from it.

As a standalone novel, this is a good read, but setting it in the world of Jay Gatsby brings an extra dimension to the plot, not least because expectations are there to be subverted throughout.

I highly recommend this book!

An entertaining story, but I would have preferred it without any reference to Gatsby. I found it irritating that the characters were taken from the original, with no regard to the story.

A who-dunnit set within the realms of The Great Gatsby. Although the pace felt a slow in the middle, overall I enjoyed this and I particularly liked Greta's characterisation. A fun, cosy read.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Greta's ascendancy over perceived hauteur of being upper class and rich didn't stifle her ambitious hunt for a murderer. Using F Scott Fotzgeralds themes (well, a bit ham-fisted) of the value of friendship over money and snobbery, we learn of mismatched friends, secret children and careless guys with too much money. Not really working for me!!

The Gatsby Gambit is a fresh take on The Great Gatsby, told through the eyes of Greta, Jay Gatsby’s younger sister. Greta returns from finishing school to spend the summer at her brother’s mansion. But when Tom Buchanan is found dead, Greta takes it upon herself to solve the mystery.
This one is perfect for anyone who loves a lighthearted whodunnit with a bit of the glamour of the 1920s sprinkled on top.

This is a nice little take on the Great Gatsby classic by Fitzgerald. Whereas the former focused on Jay’s obsession with Daisy Buchanan through the narrator Nick Carraway, this novel is seen through the perspective of Gatsby’s sister Greta, who has been away at finishing school.

The novel opens with Greta travelling back to West Egg to join her brother and the rest of the gang, Jordon, Nick, Daisy and Tom Buchanan who have gathered there for the summer holiday. Their trip sailing is cut short when Tom is found dead from a gunshot wound the following morning. Something however doesn’t feel right to Greta and she makes it her mission to find out what really happened.

Throughout the narrative we are given an insight into Jay’s rags to riches story and his stint in the army. His obsession with Daisy is re-visited when the two are discovered to have been having an affair. While the characters have been resurrected and pretty much lifted from the original novel this still proves enjoyable. After all who could not like the flamboyant and sly Jordon or the level headed Nick who remains the confidant of Jay. Greta’s character is superbly developed as the amateur sleuth with a class conscious. I particularly like the teasing of will they, wont they between herself and Nick. Overall, this is a light hearted read for those who enjoy murder mysteries of the Agratha Christi genre. It works well as s a standalone too.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication.

Setting a novel within a well known story could have been disastrous, however The Gatsby Gambit works well. Focussing on the POV of Greta Gatsby, recently returned from school, and her observations of her brother, the 'Great' Jay Gatsby and his socialite bright young friends. Jay is in love with Daisy, ensuring that he is instantly suspected when Daisy's husband Tom, is found dead. It is Greta who decides to uncover the truth of Tom's suicide, while the police get side-tracked by missing pearls and a house full of secrets. It's a light-hearted mystery, with plenty of motives for a classic whodunnit.

A very enjoyable twist on Gatsby, a bit slow to get to to the action but nice world building, very engrossing and with a good sense of place and atmosphere..

Claire Anderson-Wheeler’s The Gatsby Gambit is a dazzling reimagining of F. Scott Fitzgerald's iconic world, infused with murder, intrigue, and a fresh perspective. Set in the glamour and decadence of the Roaring Twenties, the novel brings new life to familiar characters while introducing Greta Gatsby, Jay Gatsby’s younger sister, as a compelling and relatable protagonist.

Greta, freshly graduated from finishing school and eager to embrace the modern world, arrives at her brother’s legendary West Egg mansion with high hopes for her own transformative summer. Yet, she quickly realises that stepping out of Jay’s shadow and into her own identity won’t be as simple as she imagined, especially with the magnetic Daisy Buchanan commanding every room.

The murder of a guest shifts the narrative into a tightly woven mystery as Greta steps into the role of amateur sleuth. Through her eyes, the reader is drawn into the secrets, scandals, and class struggles that underpin the glittering façade of Gatsby’s world. Anderson-Wheeler’s prose is both evocative and thrilling, capturing the opulence of the era while delving into its darker undercurrents.

What makes this novel particularly engaging is its re-examination of well-known characters like Daisy, Tom, Nick, and Jordan, who take on new dimensions within this inventive story. Greta’s journey from a timid observer to a bold investigator is satisfying and nuanced, providing a fresh perspective on the mythos of The Great Gatsby.

Anderson-Wheeler balances homage and originality beautifully, crafting a narrative that feels both familiar and innovative. The blend of sophistication, glamour, and deadly intrigue ensures that The Gatsby Gambit is not just a murder mystery but a richly layered exploration of the illusions and pitfalls of wealth and social ambition.

A must-read for fans of literary adaptations and mysteries alike, this novel breathes new life into a classic while standing firmly on its own merits.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

This book not only lived up to my expectations, it surpassed it. I thoroughly enjoyed the Gatsby decadent atmosphere the story evoked along with the Agatha Christie style whodunnit. Devoured every page and didn't want it to end.

AU fanfic has it's place but that place it not on my ereader when I think I'm getting a spin off of a clasdic that engages with the central themes. This just wasn't for me.

A cozy crime set in the 1920s in the jazz era but all other likenesses to The Great Gatsby were missing. It’s ok if you like a basic whodunnit but didn’t really float my boat.

I wanted to like this and was excited to receive an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley but I'm DNFing at around 15%. Rating 3/5 because I didn't read it all and don't feel it's fair to give it anything other than an average rating.

I went into this expecting a murder mystery set in the world of The Great Gatsby, that revisited locations and places from the original novel. I was curious to see how it would integrate itself into the events of the original novel and how the timelines would overlap.

Unfortunately the answer is that they don't. The author has basically thrown out any idea of 'canon' here, so that this really has very little to do with The Great Gatsby at all other than using the names of the characters. The guest of Gatsby who dies at the beginning of this novel is Tom Buchanan, a fairly important character in The Great Gatsby who survives to the end and outlives Jay. If we're killing off major characters from the novel and in the process ignoring the actual events of the novel then I'm not really sure what we're doing here, because it has very little to do with The Great Gatsby itself.

Once it became clear that this was basically just 'AU' fanfiction I lost interest entirely, and I won't be finishing it. I would much rather have read a jazz era murder mystery that had nothing at all to do with The Great Gatsby.

Also, a minor nitpick to end things: at one point Greta buys "that new Agatha Christie novel" and wonders if Christie must be well-traveled, because her stories take place in "such exotic locations". If this takes place in 1922 (which it must do, because Jay Gatsby is alive and has just fired all his staff) then Christie had only published two novels at that point, and they're both set in England.

I absolutely loved this! The idea of a new book set around a story, and characters, we all know and love is great.

Felt like I was picking up a familiar friend given the setting and the familiarity with the key characters in this story.

It moved at a great pace and kept me guessing. Highly recommend

It was an average read. I was attracted by the twenties setting and being absorbed in Gatsby's world again. But the middle half of the book had little happening. There is no real sense of intrigue. I think the author may have got away with it, if the characters had been drawn a bit deeper, but they came across as wooden. The book did redeem itself in the later quarter, as the plot is poured out of the perpetrator's mouth at brace neck speed. So I think the story as it is revealed was good enough for a decent book, but needed a bit more oomph with the writing. I'd like Grace to have another drama to absorb herself in and I'd be keen to give that a shot.

GIFTED a free e-ARC from Dialogue Books via @netgalley Publishing date 3 April 2025

The reviews and book cover made this novel appealing but I’m not convinced it lived up to my expectations. The heroine of this thriller, Greta, came across as a young, slightly immature, dreamer who risked her life and high-society reputation to solve a murder. A fairly straightforward novel without the thrill of twists and turns. To its credit the story did flow well and the characters were quite engaging with the final historical notes very informative.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Dialogue Books for this ARC in return for an honest review.