Described by the publisher as a murder mystery in which the reader ‘plays the role of the Great Detective’, The Game is Murder sounded fun. I expected an interactive Choose Your Own Adventure style book like Max Nightingale’s Murder in Tinseltown (although hopefully better executed than that book, which didn’t quite work). It turned out to be nothing like that, but something very different.

The novel is written in the second person with an unnamed narrator – presumably the author – directly addressing you, the reader, and positioning you as a character in the story. It begins with you arriving for a murder mystery party at the London home of David Verreman and his brother Daniel:

The lights are on at 8 Broad Way. The steps have been swept and the brass door-knocker has been polished. For this is an occasion. Walk up the steps and tap lightly open the door. They are expecting you.

Before you take your seat at the dinner table, David addresses you and the other guests, explaining the purpose of the party. You’re gathered here tonight to attempt to solve an historic crime involving the Verreman family – one evening in 1974, a servant was found murdered in the basement of the family home. Everything points to the killer being Lord Verreman, David and Daniel’s father, who was believed to have mistaken the woman for his wife. Lord Verreman fled before he could be arrested and the crime has remained unsolved ever since. Your fellow guests include suspects, witnesses and medical experts; your task as the Great Detective is to listen to their evidence and try to solve the mystery.

This may sound straightforward enough so far, but you quickly discover that the author is playing games with you and nothing is really as it seems. Without wanting to spoil too much, the direction of the story changes several times and so does your role in it. This is not the sort of book you can really become immersed in as it’s impossible to forget that you are, in fact, reading a book and are being manipulated by the reader/narrator into believing or not believing certain things. It’s something people will either enjoy or they won’t and I’m sure it’s a book that’s going to massively divide opinion!

There are lots of nice little touches, such as quotes from classic mystery novels at the start of each chapter, a ‘contract’ between author and reader laying out the rules of the investigation and some games and quizzes (which I suppose form the interactive element of the book). However, there were other things I just found irritating, such as naming characters after real crime authors: Wilkie Collins, Gaston Leroux etc. And there’s no real opportunity for the reader to actually direct the course of the investigation or solve the crime for themselves, which is the impression I’d been given by the blurb (and why I was hoping for more of a choose-your-own-adventure structure).

The mystery itself is interesting, with several suspects and lots of clues, alibis and red herrings. Because it’s a crime that has already taken place, though, we only see it unfold through the statements and testimonies of the people involved, which means things become quite repetitive in the middle as we hear the same incidents described by several different characters. Overall, I found the book entertaining in places, but too ambitious and not really what I’d expected or wanted. I think other readers will love it!

I was very excited at the idea of this book, assuming it would be in the style of 'chose your own adventure'. However although the tone was excellent, the execution of the conceit was I thought a little muddied. Was this truly 'solve it yourself' or simply a post modern murder mystery? I also felt the mystery itself lacked suspense. Interesting but I sped read to the end

First of all thank you to Michael Joseph for the ARC opportunity. The quality of the file was poor and this along with a 2nd POV with speech made it very hard to follow and most importantly the narrator was rude and unlikeable. DNF at 20%.

This really surprised me.

I found the intro exceptional, really unique and exciting and very cleverly written.
I was almost a little disappointed when it was going to be the two characters alone and it did feel a little prolonged in parts. I think sometimes it became a little confusing, mixing the authors, narrator, reader vibes and it almost got a little bit lost.

Overall an interesting read but I did feel a bit letdown after the incredible start.

While this book was not for me I can see the appeal.

I really wanted to love this but to be honest it was hard going. i liked the characters and the mystery, I liked that it was so involving and I loved the game of it.

It's quite unique and I liked that it is based on an unsolved crime.. It is an immersive book and I was hooked.

Unfortunately I didn;t solve it ..silly me

This was an ambitious undertaking that challenged the reader (and The Reader) as to what actually is a murder mystery and what role characters play within it.

Would I want every crime novel to be like this one? Not at all. Did I enjoy this experience and experiment? Yes. Mostly.

The characters themselves were rather good on the whole, especially David and Daniel. They were fascinating characters who led the whole book from start to finish. Some of the other characters were a little underdeveloped because of the attention that was focused on them, which is a shame as they all deserved more time. The middle of the book suffered a little from pacing, as we went over the same information but as an example of a fictional court case it was good and kept me turning the page to see if I was right as to my conclusions - it wasn't the most complicated of cases in the end, but then they never are.

I didn't particularly enjoy the moments where the book was talking to the reader. It felt, at times, akin to negging - insulting me to make me appreciate how clever the book was and want it - which wasn't needed or enjoyed.

Overall, an entertaining fresh take on a very saturated genre.

Not at all what it's advertised to be this is no way interactive it's not the best mystery either so really was disappointed with this one. It's big PASS for me I'll be sticking to my usual mysteries this is a piece is meta not a classic mystery with a twist it is just so disappointing

This was not what I was expecting. I thought it would be more interactive, instead, it was a meta reading, maybe too meta for my taste. I liked the plot and kudos to the idea, but it was not my cup of tea.

would like to thank Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Incredibly ambitious.

As a murder mystery fan, I thought I'd read every trope possible for detective fiction. I was wrong. Ward experiments with a different type of genre, which I have not previously read. There may be authors like her out there somewhere that are not popularised - but I've not read them.

This read is a mind meld, like my brain hurts from reading this. I liked the idea of being invited in as the 'great detective'. There's lots of tricks and twists along the way... Make your opinion on that as you will. Despite this being a review, I will keep my opinions to myself as they may serve as spoilers.

I liked that this was a twist on a murder mystery.