An interesting read and unpredictable plot but the overall premise seemed somewhat ill-considered. Definitely worth a read, but try not to let the 4/5 star reviews inflate your expectations.

The Murder Box is the fourth in the Frankie Sheehan series, although the first that I’ve read, and it doesn’t matter - it stands alone as a good read.
A high profile person goes missing, and it’s up to Detective Chief Superintendent Frankie Sheehan to find him - especially as he is related to the Commissioner.
But Frankie has received a game, known as The Murder Box, which she thinks is from one of her team for her birthday. She starts playing the game, thinking how realistic it is, when she realised that the victim bears a very close resemblance to a missing person.
Then the body of Lydia Callum turns up, along with some gruesome crimes around the city. Who is playing the game, and who is controlling it. How longer does Frankie and her team have to play it, and what will happen if she wins? Or loses?
A good read with a couple of unexpected twists

Detective Chief Superintendent Frankie Sheehan is sent a murder mystery game on her birthday, but soon realises this is not a game but a real life murder mystery. Lydia Callin has been murdered and the clues are within The Murder Box sent to Sheehan. The team link crimes across the city that are now all related to this Murder Box. Sheehan and the team are battling the clock as time is quickly ticking away and need to solve the game to solve the case. It takes a personal twist at the end and Sheehan really is under pressure to win.
This is the first Frankie Sheehan book I’ve read and quite happily read without needing to have read the previous books. A well paced storyline with likeable characters. Looking forward to reading more.

Olivia Kiernan's Frankie Sheehan series gets better and better and I loved this, the fourth in the series. It's a great police procedural, well written and moves along at a good pace. I love the Dublin setting of these novels and the relationships between Frankie and her team. A compelling plot and a twist that I did not see coming. A highly recommended police procedural.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC.

*4.5 Stars*

Copy kindly received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really interesting read with great characters. The ending was interesting and it surprised me. Would recommend.

This is the 4th book in a police procedural series featuring Frankie Sheehan.I was really fascinated by the concept-a murder mystery game which involves a real victim. But it wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped it to be. The pace was slow and I struggled to keep myself interested in the story. There were a lot of characters especially in the police and the investigation team and I felt it was more than necessary. And I just couldn't connect with any of them. And the character development for the victim was lacking too. That said, for someone following the series the experience could be totally different. I didn’t realise that this book was the 4th in a series when I requested it. I read the blurb and was intrigued. But starting with the 4th book could be the reason why I didn’t feel invested with the characters.

I did appreciate the big twist at the end. I had not seen that coming at all.

Thank you to Netgalley and Quercus Books for my copy.

I didn’t realise that this book was the 4th in a series, so maybe that’s why I didn’t feel involved with the story as I usually do.

I loved the concept and I liked the author’s writing style but I got rather bogged down with the number of characters featured, particularly on the police side. I just couldn’t warm to the main characters, even Frankie and Baz, but that is probably my fault for only meeting them in book 4.. I have no doubt that if I had read the previous stories I would have enjoyed this one more.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC

I made a silly mistake of losing track of Olivia Kiernan after the first book in the series but at least that meant I got to feast on three in a row!

The murder box brings us a settled Frankie faced with a mystery like no other. This is a fast paced utterly original and scarily gripping must read. I'm so happy to have rediscovered this series.

I can’t say I was expecting much from this but it is so incredible I have now read the first couple from the series.

Frankie is a great lead character, absolutely great writing of a strong woman with a strong sense of morals.

Excellent book and really exciting. I cannot recommend this series and Olivia Kiernan more!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for an advance copy of The Murder Box, the fourth novel to feature Detective Chief Superintendent Frankie Sheehan of the Dublin Murder Squad.

When Frankie receives a murder box she thinks it’s a birthday present until she realises that the victim looks like Lydia Callin who’s been missing for over a month. As she starts to investigate the murky online world associated with this box she realises that Lydia is probably dead and she might have to play the game to find out.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Murder Box, which is an engrossing read with a big twist at the end. There are smaller ones throughout the novel, but the last one is a cracker that totally blindsided me.

The novel is mostly told from Frankie’s first person point of view, which gives the reader insight into her thoughts and, at times, emotions, but she tends to play it close to the chest so it doesn’t offer as a good a view as some other fictional detectives. Fortunately her prey doesn’t get a look in, so there are no ramblings from psychopathy 101 and they remain a mystery until the denouement. Just how I like it, the hunt’s the thing.

The plot is convoluted and complex, not due to the investigation, but because the killer is a gamer who obviously wants to play against Frankie. The reader could ask what the point is, and I’m still not overly sure of that myself, but it makes for absorbing reading. A clever perpetrator who always seems one step ahead is a reliable page turner and this is no exception. There are several suspects and quite a few red herrings and I still couldn’t fix on either a suspect or a motive. It’s both perplexing and moreish as I couldn’t put it down until I had the answers.

I like the atmosphere of the novel. Frankie works with a close group of detectives, who create a professional, warm environment. It makes the reader feel that they are in good hands and a solution will be found. Frankie is a nice woman, but she’s as tough as old boots when she needs to be. It’s a good combination.

The Murder Box is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

It was an absolute joy to catch up with Frankie again, a no nonsense female leading detective.

Frankie receives a box which she thinks is a birthday present but turns out to be much more sinister than that, we follow Frankie and her team as they try to solve the murder box before the time runs out.

I absolutely loved this book and couldn't put it down staying up late to finish it,

I received this arc through netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc for an honest review.
This is my first book by this author and I had not read the other books within this series although not a issue.
I enjoyed the twists and turns which came and did not anticipate the ending. I would recommend if you enjoy a good thriller.

Plot:
From the first page I was hooked on this book. I was so excited to see how the writer would intricately weave both an active murder inquiry and a murder mystery game together. However, after I read the initial few chapters it was clear that the murder mystery box would be practically ignored in favour of typical police procedure and bureaucracy. This meant that it quickly became pretty predictable. The motives within this story were pretty flimsy and I did struggle to understand why the killer would go to such lengths to orchestrate the entire thing. I do admit, that the twist did surprise me and I did not manage to guess who the killer was until it was explicitly revealed.

Characters:
I personally felt like there were too many characters involved in this story, I really struggled to keep up. There were numerous police officers, external experts, victims, suspects and their families. For me, this read like a police television drama, however, when watching television, you have the benefit of recognising them by sight. During so many points within this book, I was confused as to who I was reading about and I felt overwhelmed by the characters and their input or influence on the storyline.
I did like Frankie and felt she was a good and strong detective. I personally enjoy a strong female detective in a thriller and I thought she was intelligently written and someone that I could get behind. I was happy with the development the character made but I did question one choice she made!
The killer’s motive to me felt slightly off, there was not enough background information or character development for me to believe that they were a cold-blooded killer (pretty much psychopath) I did enjoy their fascination with Frankie and how they were desperate for her to finish the game, however, the other player’s motives were a little unbelievable... maybe it was just that I would have gone about things differently!

Ending comment:

This book had so much promise and from the blurb alone I was completely hooked. However, in reality, I felt this book fell a little flat, I wanted it to be based more around the game and how they used it to uncover the truth, however, this ended up being another typical detective story with a less-than-believable killer.

If you’re looking for a police procedural with a clever twist and a compelling detective the why don’t you play the game and solve ‘The Murder Box’?

Olivia Kiernan’s DCS Frankie Sheehan and partner DS Baz Harwood are stymied by the case of a missing celebrity when she’s delivered what she believes is a birthday present - a murder box containing all the clues to solve a case. She quickly learns this is all part of a master plan connected to her case, and another a new case of a missing young woman.

Frankie lives and breathes her job, pretty much like most good detectives. However she still has a sense of humour and a passion for justice. For me what makes a crime series stand out is always the characters. What drives them? In this installment we see Frankie really coming to her own, while still retaining her edge.

The strength of this series is her relationship with work partner Baz. They are the yin to each other’s yang. Frankie is a lone wolf but even she admits how reliant she is in Baz’s unflappable manner. However there are hints of change ahead as we see him hiding secrets from her.

I love how Kiernan throws in explanations about procedure but in such a manner where you’re not bogged down with too much detail.

This is the fourth outing of Olivia Kiernan’s police procedural, and while you benefit from reading the previous books you can still read this as a stand alone. I believe it’s the best of the series, a testament to Kiernan’s growth and talent as a crime writer.

4.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Quercus Books for the ARC. Views expressed are indeed my own after a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Frankie, a hardened and somewhat cynical senior detective, receives a mysterious package at work which appears to be some kind of interactive murder mystery game. Assuming it to be an anonymous gift, she goes along with it for a while, only to discover that in fact the ‘murder game’ is all too real, and the clues in the game relate to a real life killing...

I’ve enjoyed Olivia Kiernan’s previous Frankie Sheehan books but this one fell a little flat for me. Despite the unique idea and the usual enjoyable writing style, I just couldn’t identify with any of the characters and it seemed to move too slowly. I identified with the various Irish idiosyncrasies and enjoyed the usual regular characters, but aside from that it didn’t really hold my interest.

That said, Olivia Kiernan can clearly write a great thriller and it wouldn’t put me off reading more of Sheehan’s escapades in the future!

DCS Frankie Sheehan #4; Bureau of Serious Crime, Dublin

Frankie and her team are investigating the disappearance of TV personality Terry Dolan which, despite their best efforts, is going nowhere. She receives a gleaming red box which she assumes is a birthday gift, it contains objects for a murder mystery game. However, this ‘game’ is one with real victims. Who would be that devious or perverse to dream that up or indeed to actually subscribe to ‘play’ the game? The box contents prove to belong to 22 year old Lydia Callin who has a connection to Dolan.

This is a good crime thriller series with the central character of Frankie being really intriguing. She’s dogged, hard working, driven, independent and prepared to dig her heels in when those above her pay-grade affect her Investigations through budget constraints. She needs every ounce of intuition she possesses to solve this case, talk about twisted sister! The premise is good and the further the team go in the inquiry you realise they are being led, with the narrative controlled, with pieces of evidence dangling on strings and red herrings thrown into the equation. It’s frustratingly unclear and the elusive perpetrator is clearly someone who is cold blooded, heartless and totally merciless. The case is gritty to say the least and the police team have to exercise all their creative juices just to keep up. There are several heart in the mouth, chilling moments, there’s tension so thick you could cut the atmosphere with a knife as we reach a tense and exciting conclusion. There’s much to like in this series, the author creates believable characters in the police team and includes just the right balance of personal issues so you can see them as ‘real people’. The novel is well written and has a good pace throughout. Although this is the fourth in the series it can easily be read as a stand-alone.

Overall, a compelling and easy to read novel which I thoroughly enjoyed.

With thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books, riverrun for the arc in return for an honest review.

This was gripping and I will not be at all surprised when I see this on Netflix as their newest mini series.
This book is going to be talked about alot

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for my honest review of ARC of "The Murder Box".
This book is well written and the characters are very fascinating, as well as good and interesting storyline. I was absolutely hooked from the beginning and I couldn't put it down from day to night. The story is so thrilled and tremendous from start to finish. To be honest, the story was really brilliant and showed Olivia is so genius. There was turn and twist at the end and I was shocked that I hadn't seen that coming. As the story progresses, I was tried to figure out the clues but the outcome was out of blue. Honestly I was thrilled and chilled throughout the whole book. I definitely recommend this book to those who like thrilled story. Really good read and suspense enough mystery story.

Olivia Kiernan's Dublin bases series featuring DI Frankie Sheehan is consistently good and The Murder Box, the fourth outing for Sheehan, is the best yet. The concept is extremely clever; a murder mystery game turns out to be related to an actual crime and Frankie herself is in receipt of one of the murder boxes. She is under great pressure to find the other players and the game is fitted with a timer. Well written, with a great setting and fascinating characters, this is tremendous from start to finish.

DCS Frankie Sheehan receives what she thinks is a birthday gift to her office, a board game called The Murder Box. However, it turns out to be a game built around a real murder that’s just taken place. At the same time, a celebrity has gone missing in the area and he just happens to be the ACC’s nephew, so they’re pulling out all the stops to find him when it appears that his disappearance could be linked to the game.

Frankie has to ‘play’ the game and discovers that there are other players, and they could be at risk from the murderer.

I was totally hooked from the beginning and was reluctant to put it down to eat or sleep! A really brilliant story with a twist that I didn’t see coming. I’m off to look for more in the ‘Frankie Sheehan’ series…!

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.