Date Published:
September 6, 2022
Rating:
3.25 / 5
About the Book:
The weekend getaway at the gorgeous manor hotel should have been perfect. But Becca is freshly smarting from her husband Blake’s betrayal and knows this is just an expensive attempt at an apology. She may not be ready to forgive him, but the drinks are strong, the estate is stunning, and the weekend has an elaborate 1920s murder mystery theme. She decides to get into the spirit of things and enjoy their stay. What could go wrong?
Before long, the game is afoot: famed speakeasy songstress Ida Crooner is found “murdered,” and it’s up to the guests to sniff out which of them might be the culprit. Playing the role of Miss Debbie Taunte, an ingenue with a dark past, Becca dives into the world of pun-heavy clues, hammy acting, and secret passages, hoping to at least take her mind off her marital troubles.
Then, the morning after they arrive, the actress playing Ida’s maid fails to reappear for her role. The game’s organizer–that’s Miss Ann Thrope to you–assumes the young woman’s flakiness is to blame, but when snooping for clues as “Debbie,” Becca finds evidence she may not have left of her own free will.
Review:
Thriller. Mystery. Old mansion in the middle of nowhere.
Definitely a list of things that would pique my interest. At first, I thought this was set up in the 20’s because of the cover but I guessed wrong. It was just the concept of the murder-mystery party they attended during the weekend.
I was incredibly intrigued at first because of the setup. Unfortunately, I don’t think this book was for me. One fourth of the way, I was already losing interest because of Becca. I wished Jilly Gagnon focused more on the event itself and not the drama happening between Blake and Becca. Throughout the first hundred pages or so, Becca assumed that her husband has been cheating again and was ready to explode every fifteen minutes. Personally, I think it was a mess and could have been left out altogether. It really didn’t help the story at all.
I wished it showed more of the other characters present in the manor and how they were dealing with finding clues and solving the murder-mystery party they paid for. The only exciting thing that happened was when Becca and Jessica were in the attic looking for clues together because of the Yuri (girls’ love) action that happened in there. The only thing that kept me DNF-ing this book was that I imagined Becca to be Zendaya and Blake to be Tom Holland. I just think Zendaya and Tom would look absolutely dashing in 20’s garb while drinking whiskey at the bar. I was originally going to give it 3 stars but gave another point twenty-five for the two other hotel guests who run a blog where they rate and write reviews of these kinds of parties. I just like it when they have these kinds of people in novels.
If the premise of the story seems interesting to you then by all means, go ahead and read it. It’s not terrible, just something that didn’t suite my taste. I personally would recommend other thriller novels.
Thank you, Fully Booked for sending me a copy!
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