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.