A suspenseful who done it where everyone was a suspect and kept me guessing till the late hours. Recommended for fans of pretty little liars etc

The title of this book is somewhat misleading. It gives the impression that some homicidal game is about to occur- the movie saw comes to mind. However, there wasn’t any cat and mouse games. Just a simple murder and the whodunnit. I give it three stars. A quick read, though if a bit predictable.

I frankly don't understand the fixation on boarding schools in teen fiction. They don't reflect the experience of most readers. Is it aspirational? In the case of this book, the school has a lot of rules and supervises students more than is typical of these stories. That means that this book could as easily have taken place in any small town, no boarding school needed. I could accept the setting if the mystery were more compelling. But we don't meet the victim before her death. We have no emotional connection to her, or to any of the characters really. There are no stakes in the mystery. And while the police are not shown as useless (a frequent problem in novels) their plan is needlessly convoluted. On the whole, this one didn't make enough sense to me.

This book kept me guessing till the end. Every time I thought I had it figured out I was wrong. It is a well told story with good twist to keep you in the story.

This is exactly what you would expect a teenage boarding school murder mystery to be, so don’t expect to be surprised in any way.
Teens sneak out and unknowingly are present at the scene of a murder. Was it one of them? A faculty member perhaps? The teens investigate at the risk of getting caught by the killer.
There is one teacher who knows everything, but instead of telling the police and wrapping things up, he feeds the protagonist clues — leaving the teens in danger the whole time, which is super concerning and is never truly explained. Oh! And the author mentions the portaging story showering so frequently that I assumed it was a clue of some sort, but the story just seems to hinge on his shower schedule. (Seriously, if you read it, you will understand.)
It wasn’t a bad story in any way, in fact, it didn’t really have anything to say beyond a very basic story. Not that every novel needs to be an activism piece, there just wasn’t much in the way of depth or character development and that feels like a missed opportunity. It often felt very artificial and out of touch and almost a bit dated? I found myself assuming the story was set in the late 20th century, until someone mentioned something contemporary, like Snapchat. These hits of ‘Now’ felt inconsistent and out of place.

Thanks to Sourcebook Fire and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this book unaware that it was a teen book. The entire premise was far-fetched, including the backstory, that a teenager would be better at collecting clues, following leads, and solving a murder than the actual authorities. Let alone, sneaking around a heavily guarded school without being detected, eavesdropping on teachers, and numerous other unbelievable scenarios. Fantastic schemes aside, the timeline lacked momentum and very little pushed the reader to continue. Overall, the final result was an underwhelming mystery for any age.

Sourcebooks and NetGalley provided me with an advanced copy of this book. The opinions are my own.

I DNFed this one and I am sad that it came to that. I was very bored and I felt like everything was predictable in this book. Just very boring and I did not enjoy the writing style.

This didn't really work for me. It felt too long for one thing. In addition, it's a good thing that Luke is good-looking and lucky, because he comes off like he's as dumb as a sack.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC.

Firstly, I need to address the fact that the cover and title do not match the story; there are not thirteen deaths, there’s only one non-historical death. I was expecting something far different to the story that I read due to the cover, perhaps more deaths or student involvement?

The first part of the story consists of four students at boarding school sneaking out for night time hijinks and then discovering the next day, that a faculty member was murdered while they were in the woods. Which leads to one of the two best friends, Luke and Oscar being a suspect. The story then continues with the main character Luke trying to solve the mystery of who was the murderer and clearing Oscar’s name.

While the premise is good, the somewhat stilted dialogue and descriptive elements made it difficult for me to ‘get into’ the story. However, this is a solid murder mystery with a good resolution, and the hint of at least one sequel.

The murder game is about Luke Chase who got caught up in solving the murder of Mrs. Heckler. He didn't mean to, all he wanted is to spend alone time with the new girl at their boarding school.

Little did they know that someone would end up dead right next to their meet-up spot in the woods. Crazy thing is that his best friend and roommate Oscar would take the blame for the murder. Luke knows that he was to use his famous survival skills and solve this mystery and find the true killer. Is Oscar the real killer? Will Luke find the real killer? What famous skill does Luke have?

This was book was good, I enjoyed it. It was an easy read, very fast past. It kept me on the edge of my seat, I love that it wasn't predictable and the secrets were all kept till the end. The story was very well-plotted. It kept me intrigued till the end. It has lots of twists and turns that I enjoyed very much. I agree with a lot of you that the title and cover could have been better. I find this book is a little like the book One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. It has the same vibe.

Thank you to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for giving me the chance to read and review this book.

I will start with agreeing that this book is misnamed. There is no game being played here. Instead there are 4 dumb high school students in a private school. They break out in the middle of the night so they can talk in a cave, basically. While there, they hear what they later find out may have been a murder. What follows is an interesting YA book in which the teenager, with the much more interesting past of surviving a kidnapping, does that YA thing and investigates the murder. The whole thing is fantastical and unbelievable. I’m OK with that. No one of any age wants to read about people their own age being without power, so YA books give the power to teenagers. There was way too much going on at this school and the perpetrator was pretty obvious, as were the red herrings. This was a decent, quick book for those who want to read a little fantastical murder mystery.

This book was okay, for a YA whodunnit in a boarding school setting! I think I was expecting much more, with the cover, but didn’t get what I expected. I was still able to finish it, and found it to be a solid read. It didn’t blow my mind, but didn’t make me not finish either. I think maybe it was a bit slow, but likely my expectations and the reality made me feel that way. Overall, I do think if you enjoy whodunnit murder mystery in boarding school settings, you will enjoy this one. I would recommend to those who enjoy those types of books!

A mediocre, overstuffed mystery. The characters were meh and the pacing was odd. I never got a good sense of place and not sure what time period it was supposed to be.

What a fun, dark, fast read. Carrie Doyle really transports you in this book and takes you on a wild ride. At every turn, you're questioning everyone which is exactly what I want in a book. I can't wait for this to hit shelves.

The Murder Game by Carrie Doyle first caught my attention because of its name. I’m all about “murder stories”, as I like to call them. Most know them as mystery, thriller, or suspense novels. I am also a fan of YA fiction novels and so this book combined a few of my favorite things, I was all in.

The story follows Luke Chase at his boarding school in the woods where a staff member is killed and the murderer is not immediately found. Luke, being well known for his kidnappin when he was a bit younger, at first has no big interest in helping solve the case. He is interested in who did it because he happens to be keeping secrets in fear of getting in trouble, but all that changes when his roommate is accused.

The characters in this book are my favorite aspect of this book. They are all so quickly and interesting in their own ways that it makes the story that much more enjoyable to read it. Luke seems like your average teenage boy, but he’s also kind of nerdy and more empathetic than other teenage boys. Oscar, the roommate, is definitely your typical teenage boy and a bit refreshing. He’s a bit of a ladies man, he doesn’t always follow the rules, and his room is a mess at almost all times. Pippa is mysterious and secretive. I wasn’t sure I liked her at first but she grew on me. Then you have all the teachers who have the strangest lives and personalities but they all seem very comfortable in their own skin and I love it. All of these characters really added to the story. A good plot line is one thing, but great characters to fill it seals the deal.

Doyle wrote a thriller that gripped me from the first chapter and held me up until the very end. I love when I cannot guess the ending of a mystery novel early on and Doyle accomplished that. There are a magnitude of twists and turns and a lot of suspenseful moments where I found myself holding my breath thinking something huge was about to happen. Just when I thought I had guessed it, another twist had me second guessing myself. While this book is labeled for Young Adult readers, it’s a mystery/thriller anyone could enjoy and will enjoy if they take the time to read it. Doyle’s writing style flows really nicely. There is no jumping around. You get a few flashbacks for Luke, but otherwise its just flowing until you hit the big reveal.

I’m so glad I picked up this novel. It’s an astounding story packed full of thrills and suspense. An absolute must read this spring. I had never read anything by Carrie Doyle before, but I will definitely be adding her to my list of authors to watch for new releases and all of her previous releases. I’ll be busy reading.

I was really excited to start reading this and I was not disappointed!
Luke and Oscar are best friends and roommates at an elite boarding school, St. Benedict's. Everything is normal, these two high school buddies planning to sneak out and meet a couple girls and hang out at a make-out spot in the woods. However, this is when things get crazy, they have a scary and strange experience and find out the next day that a female member of the staff was murdered that night right around where they were hiding.
So much goes on in this book. Luke has a mysterious past that leads him into privately searching for the murderer. Not only was Luke overwhelmed with suspicion, but I was too... for pretty much everybody else in this story at certain points.
I thought this was a fun and fast-paced read. I did think there were some predictable points but that didn't stop me from enjoying it.

I was kindly provided an ARC of this book by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is okay, it is a fast reading and if you're in need for a boarding school mystery I believe you'll like it. However, I feel like the title and cover are misleading.

A reference to Westing Game in a blurb will always get me, but unfortunately this fell flat for me. Perhaps I shouldn't read books similar to my favorites!

I was really excited to read this book, but unfortunately found it didn't really live up to what it advertised itself to be. I found the characters to be weakly defined and not very fleshed out, and a story that was trying to be too clever for its own good. The combination of those two things made it difficult to wade through, and although the first 10% was interesting, it went downhill from there.

First off I think the title is a bit misleading. But the cover is gorgeous. It was overall a decent book especially as a 27 year old reading a YA book. Well written even tho predictable (also some weak points). I think things were rushed with off pacing and the characters are not so flesh out. So over all a pretty enjoyable YA mystery. I didn't love it but it mostly engaging all the way through. I do want to read more from this author. Hopefully the next book will be more interesting and well rounded. And hopefully the cover won't be as misleading and meaningless to what's in the book!

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC

(Review to be posted soon on my instagram @fortheloveofcrime )