I’m thrilled to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for superb psychological thriller The Murder Game by Rachel Abbott, second installment in her Stephanie King series of books. Thank you to Anne Cater and Wildfire Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this fabulous book.
About the book:
The dark and breathtakingly tense new novel from the queen of psychological thrillers
A year ago today, we all gathered for Lucas’ wedding at his glorious Cornish home overlooking the sea.
But no one was married that day.
Now Lucas has invited us back to celebrate the anniversary. But the anniversary of what? The wedding that never happened, or the tragedy that occurred just hours before the ceremony was due to begin?
He’s told us that tonight he has planned a game. We have our costumes, we have our parts, and everyone must play. The game, he tells us, is about to begin.
What does Lucas want from us? What are we not being told? And what’s going to happen when this terrible game is over
About the author:
Rachel Abbott began her career as an independent author in 2011, with Only the Innocent, which became a No.1 bestseller on Kindle, topping the chart for four weeks.
Since then, she has published eight further psychological thrillers and sold over 3 million copies. She is one of the top-selling authors of all time in the UK Kindle store, and her novels have been translated into 21 languages.
Rachel splits her time between Alderney – a beautiful island off the coast of France – and the Le Marche region of Italy, where she is able to devote all her time to writing fiction.
My Review:
The Murder Game by Rachel Abbott is a tense and exciting psychological thriller that will keep you guessing right through to the final shocking conclusion. The second installment in the Stephanie King series of books, it’s a fast moving story that had me hooked from the very first page.
One year ago a group of childhood friends gathered in Cornwall for a wedding, not knowing that tragedy was about to strike. Now Lucas has invited everyone back to celebrate the anniversary of that fateful day. He’s planned a murder mystery game and each guest must play a part. Everyone is dressed in their costumes ready to play, but what does Lucas have in store for them? And what’s going to happen when this terrible game he has planned for them is over?
Told mostly from the point of view of Jemma, who is married to one of the childhood friends, the first part of the story goes back to a year earlier when the friends all gather in Cornwall for the wedding of Lucas and Nina. As an outsider to the group Jemma knows very little of their shared past, so the reader sees everything through her eyes as the mystery of what happened is slowly revealed.
In the second part of the book we’re brought back to the present day and the ‘murder mystery’ game that Lucas has put together for everyone. Here the pieces of the puzzle gradually come together, the tension gathering pace as we head towards the final shocking revelation. The seemingly idyllic Cornish setting of a huge mansion overlooking the sea all adds to the atmospheric feel of the story, but how many shocking secrets of what happened a year ago does this beautiful place hold? This dysfunctional group of friends are harbouring so many secrets and lies, but what will happen when the truth is finally revealed? And can anything ever be the same again?
I loved this book so much! The writing is beautiful, with the intrigue and suspense ratcheting up to breaking point as we head towards a devastating conclusion that I did not see coming. Rachel Abbott has written yet another superb psychological thriller that will have you racing through the pages, not able to put it down until the final exhilarating page has been turned.
The Murder Game is a fast paced and highly addictive read I would recommend. Simply wonderful!
The Murder Game by Rachel Abbott is available to buy now: Amazon UK
Check out what these other lovely bloggers have to say about this book:
Cal Turner Reviews 
Massive thanks for the blog tour support Cal xx
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It was my pleasure as always, Anne. xx
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