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 8 Broad Way. 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 author/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!
Thanks to Michael Joseph for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
She Reads Novels 
Hmm. I think I prefer my mysteries to be a bit more straightforward so I’ll pass on this one. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Helen.
I felt the author was trying to do too much in one book and it ended up being a bit confusing. I’ll be sticking to more straightforward mysteries for a while!
Sounds fun ! I want to give it a try….
I hope you like it better than I did!
This sounds very unique and has left me intrigued. I’m sorry it wasn’t entirely for you and I can totally see how you’d have expected something different. I’m curious to learn how it all works now although I think it’s one I’ll borrow from the library rather than buy.
It’s not that unique. Look up ‘Lord Lucan’. Using a real-life unsolved murder case as your inspiration seems slightly distasteful (to me, at any rate), unless the author cleared it with the family first.
I don’t know why the author found it necessary to base the premise on a real life case as the investigation and outcome seem to be completely fictional. Laziness or lack of imagination in coming up with something more original, maybe. The structure and format of the book are certainly unique, though, but not in a good way, in my opinion!
I meant the way the book was presented sounded unique, not the actual case. I didn’t realise it was based on a real crime though, I agree that is rather disrespectful.
I thought it sounded fascinating when I first came across it, but it wasn’t what I’d expected at all and not really what I would describe as interactive. It seems to be getting a real mixture of reviews!
Ah maybe I’ll skip it then. Or watch out for a few more reviews first. I know you said it was less interactive than you envisioned but I thought the style still sounded fun. But then the quizzes kind of make me worry (mostly because I read a Twilight companion with quizzes and it was terrible 🙈)
It does sound interesting, but like you I’d have expected a puzzle that I was supposed to solve rather than a maze over which I have no control.
There was no real opportunity for the reader to solve the mystery or get involved in the investigation, so I found the description a bit misleading. Not what I’d hoped for, although parts of it were entertaining.
Sounds like a gimmick that doesn’t pay off.
Yes, definitely. It didn’t work at all.
I’m currently listening this book on Audible and can’t believe how long it is! Almost 12 hours and that’s speeding it up. I’m not sure if I’ll be finishing it because it is definitely dragging.
I thought it sounded like a great idea, but it just didn’t work for me at all. 12 hours is too long for something that’s dragging!