The Murder Game By Rachel Abbott

‘The Murder Game’ is the latest book by Rachel Abbot and the second book in the Stephanie King series.

A year ago today, we gathered for Lucas and Nina’s wedding at their glorious Cornish home overlooking the sea. But no one was married that day. Last year there were nine of us. Now there are eight. And Lucas has invited us back for a macabre anniversary. Tonight, he’s planned a game for us: we each have a costume and a role to play. The game, he tells us, is about to begin. What does Lucas want? What are we not being told? And how will this terrifying game end?

This is the first book that I’ve read by Rachel Abbott and right from the beginning it was a gripping story.

Jemma and Matt have been invited to the wedding of Lucas and Nina in Cornwall. Lucas is Matt’s childhood best friend and the pair hung around for years with their other gang mates, Nick, Andrew and Isabel. Lucas has a younger sister called Alex and when she was a teenager something terrible happened to her that changed her forever. On the day of the wedding which is meant to be a happy, Alex is found tragically drowned on the beach changing their lives forever. One year later, Lucas has everyone to return to the place of the wedding to celebrate his one year anniversary, but in truth it’s to re-enact the last movements before Alex’s death as he doesn’t believe it was a suicide. DI Stephanie King is the investigator into the case and like Lucas has her own suspicions about the death.

I really enjoyed this book and I found it to be quite different to the usual series that I normally read. The series is called Stephanie King series, but the character doesn’t actually appear in the book until chapter 18, up until that point the story was seen through the narration of other characters. The characters are a mixed bag of complex, intriguing and suspicious individuals as the writer delves into their background and history, you discover that they are all quite shifty characters that all have secrets that they don’t want exposed.

The story is seen primarily through the Jemma’s narration as she is an outsider to the group and for me, she was a great strong character who stood up to people and challenged actions about that night. It also makes for sad reading how the time after Alex’s death has effected people in so many times, Jemma and Matt once had a thriving marriage and now they are struggling to communicate.

DI Stephanie King was great also, strong willed with an eye for detail, she picked up on things that outsiders may have failed to notice and she also had a sense of empathy towards the people.

Reminiscent of a game of Cluedo, ‘The Murder Game’ was a great classic whodunit story with secrets, drama and suspicion, this psychological story was cleverly written with multiples perspectives to keep the reader engaged and on the edge of their seat.

You can buy ‘The Murder Game’ from Amazon and will be available to buy from good bookshops.