This book struggles to pick the genre it is trying to be in. The cozy mystery section does not match up with the darker themes wanting to peak out in the pages. If it was just a bit darker or a bit lighter, it probably would have been a bit better for me.

The premise of a murder mystery themed getaway at a gothic mansion has me interested immediately. I was expecting a classic whodunit type story that kept me guessing and engaged in the mystery. Unfortunately, this story became to bogged down by the drama of Becca's marriage and less about the mystery.

Struggling to heal their estranged marriage, Blake surprises Becca with an immersive murder mystery weekend getaway. Becca starts to suspect a real murder has occurred when one of the characters goes missing overnight. She investigates on her own, but can she find out the truth before she meets her own end?

All Dressed Up is an atmospheric, intense thriller that surprised me with the completely satisfying ending. When I first picked it up, I thought maybe there was too much going on and too many storylines to intersect and wrap together, but the writer clarified it and it came together beautifully. I enjoyed the emotions of Blake and Becca’s attempt at healing their love, along with the other odd characters also trying to solve the mystery. Overall, it was worth the read!

Inspector Raquel Laing is called in when a human skull is found under an art installation at the Gardener Estate, a vast property once owned by the wealthy and influential Gardener family. Over the years, the estate has been home to the family, a commune and now a trust. Inspector Laing's job is to find who the skull belongs to and how it got there. One suspect is the Highwayman who murdered young girls during the 60's but was never found or identified. The primary suspect for the Highwayman murders is dying and doesn't have much time to tell his story. Rob Gardener, grandson of the estate's original owner, lives on the property but has become a recluse. He was there during the midsummer festival. when the murder was suspected to have happened. Additional characters emerge and some are suspected of the murder. Will Inspector Laing solve the murder before it's too late?
This was a slow starter for me. I had to make myself continue. It was so worth the effort. Laurie King's Inspector Laing has worked her way through the department in spite of being socially awkward. She's learned her lessons and has developed extraordinary interview and investigation skills. She's wonderful to watch and her thought process is especially charming. In fact, I would like to see King develop another series based on her. She and her sister and their quirks could easily carry it off. My thanks to Net Galley and Random House for the ARC. The book went went on sale 9/6/22 and I recommend it!

The premise is great. Becca’s husband, Blake, surprises her with a murder mystery weekend at a Catskills resort. Part of the problem is that Blake forgot to tell Becca that it was a murder mystery weekend. Becca is embarrassed by her emotions when the body is discovered since she is the only one that doesn’t know what’s going on. To compound the problem, Blake cheated on Becca with a co-worker – a fact that Becca can’t get over despite counseling. Every time Blake speaks to a beautiful woman, Becca gets emotional. Every couple at the retreat are hiding something. When one of the actors that Becca had befriended goes missing, Becca seems to lose her focus even more. She begins to get confused about what is actually happening and what is part of the mystery. Honestly, I did enjoy the book. The murder mystery part weekend was great. I did feel like I needed to keep notes of what the real names were and what the names for the weekend were because the story uses both names depending on what is going on. It got a little confusing for me but all in all, I recommend this book.

A few days late but, A big thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for approving me of a copy of an e-arc of this book!
Such a great book! I absolutely loved the whole story! Would recommend to anyone I love.

I absolutely loved the premise of this book and the setting was intriguing - however, as the book went on I became super frustrated with Becca and her marriage woes. This distracted me from the mystery at hand, and I ultimately found myself caring less about all of it. So much potential but this one fell a little flat for me.

All Dressed Up by Jilly Gagnon is a murder mystery with a 1920s theme, where a real murder might have taken place but is it all part of the game? This novel was hard to get into, and that's a problem because I love murder mysteries. I think this book has a good mystery in that is buried deep in mediocrity and a bad mystery. We only see glimpses of the real mystery at the end. The climax was not bad and the only highlight of this novel. The dialogue was bad in a lot of spots and hard to tell some characters apart since they sounded so similar. I thought about not finishing more that a few times but powered through this is easily the worst book I have read that was published this year. I hate to give bad review knowing how much time and dedication went into it but this book did not work for me on multiple levels. Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam for letting me read All Dressed Up by Jilly Gagnon. All Dressed Up is published on September 6 2022.

Plot Summary: Becca is invited to a 1920's weekend but really it is a murder mystery set in the 1920's weekend that she doesn't figure out until she finds the dead body and starts freaking out like its real as her husband and guest laugh. Becca and her husband Blake are having a rough patch since he got caught cheating, and this weekend was a making up for it getaway. They came with Phil and Heather two of Blake's friends who are a couple in sync in Becca's mind. The Becca runs into Bethany the who played one of the character's and who breaks character to have a real conversation but overreacts when her husband is scene talking to her alone. Becca ants to apologize but Bethany is gone, and the other cast announce she has broke her contract and returned to New York. Becca having just talked about living situation knows this can't be true. Becca on an exploratory mission finds Bethany's cell phone and clothes and needs to solve this mystery.

What I Liked: The end when we finally get to the mystery within a mystery. I enjoyed the who dun it? and the explanation for it. I did like the characters of Gabby and Drew and there commitment to stay in character while playing the game, the only characters that had interesting dialogue.

What I Disliked: The 1920's theme was used all that well. I really disliked that Becca couldn't figure out this was a murder mystery weekend. The dialogue is really bad at times an added nothing to the characters. The pace was way too slow. I was not interested in the murder mystery plot at all which was the main plot with the other mystery beneath the surface. I had a hard time visualizing the description because they were lacking.

Recommendation: Stay away from this book! There are so many great mystery's out there, this book sadly is not one of those. I rated All Dressed Up by Jilly Gagnon 2 out of 5 stars, it is more like 1.5 stars.

Very interesting read about a murder mystery dinner theater weekend gone crazy.
A definite slow burn and the main protagonist Becca was quite annoying, but her aside it did have a pretty good ending.
Thank you to Netgalley, Random House and the Author, Jilly Gagnon for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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.

I really wanted to like this book - there was a lot of things that was interesting. I love an atmospheric setting and I love the hotel. It really felt like you were in game of Clue in the book. I think it's good for someone who's a fan of that or of locked room mysteries but personally that just isn't for me. I also didn't connect with Becca and I didn't find her to be painted in a good light - she felt annoying and whiny and I didn't love all the marital problems. Overall 2.5/5 stars

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for my free digital copy.

Jilly Gagnon has created a wonderful premise in her latest novel, All Dressed Up. Imagine going to a strange secluded mansion for a murder mystery weekend when something mysterious does happen. Has the actress playing the maid just shown how unpredictable she is, flaky is the term they use, or has something unexpected happened to her? And, are of of these weird occurrences and behaviors Becca’s imagination because she has been under a lot of stress or is there something nefarious going on?

Considering how intriguing the plot is All Dressed Up fails to live up to its potential. Much of the beginning is given over to Becca’s mental state and equally the state of her marriage. So much exposition weighed the novel down, making it frequently tedious. More attention should have been given, at this point, to creating atmosphere and characterizations that would add to the mystery, which was the draw of the premise.

About two-thirds of the way through, action picks up and becomes far more engrossing making me wish that Gagnon had written this way throughout. The ending is fast-paced and finishes with a bang. Do I mean that literally? Hmmm.

As the main character, Becca is problematic. Perhaps it’s presumed that because of how she’s been treated that the reader will automatically feel sympathy/empathy/good feelings for her. I just wished she’d drop victim status and be forceful in her own life.

This is a good book; it could have been a great book.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Murder mystery theater with an actual murder is a great concept for a story, but sadly in this case it takes a backseat to what might be the world’s worst protagonist with the world’s most irritating backstory.

In theory, the premise for what gets our protagonist and her philandering husband to a murder mystery getaway weekend is fine, and would have been a non-issue had it not taken over the narrative at the expense of the mystery.

It’s a potentially fun one to solve, but we spend so much time listening to the protagonist whine and bleat about her insecurities and to her gross husband try to gaslight her that it feels like the book moves into a completely different (and deeply unappealing, at least to me) genre.

Even the mystery and its solve is connected to the theme of cheating husbands and unlikable women, and that destroys any chance the book had of getting past that part of its backstory.

The premise of this is super fun - a couple on the rocks spends a weekend away at country manor with 3 other couples for an elaborate 1920s murder mystery.

The getaway itself followed the same cheesy characters and prompts of murder mystery parties I’ve been to, but just on a larger scale. This is kinda my dream vacation and I definitely looked up how much these getaways are in real life, lol. The mysteries in this book were fun to follow and while the results weren’t surprising, I enjoyed the reveals.

But the main character REALLY annoyed me. To get into the specifics of why is spoiler territory, but I’ll just say that I don’t mind an unlikeable and whiny main character as long as there is some sort of payoff. But there wasn’t, so her unbearability just…lingers. I really wish this had ended in a different way, because she DID have reason to be so angry, but that never really resolves in a satisfying way.

This story had so much promise. A murder mystery, written with all the information on the different characters, the rules of the game, the characters playing in the murder mystery game. This takes place at this really neat gothic mansion. It had such potential to give off sort of modern day Great Gatsby vibes, unfortunately it fell flat.⁣
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There is so much drama with Becca and her husband Blake. He cheated, which is terrible, but she can’t stop bringing it up and blaming him for things and being over the top hostile at times. We are in her head a lot over his cheating and the betrayal of her marriage that it kind of bogs down the potential of the story and made me lose interest. ⁣
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I think if I hadn’t also listened to the audio of this in addition to reading it would’ve been 2.5/3, but the audio narrators make it more exciting so I’m giving it a 3.5.⭐️

The premise of this book sounded so good. A locked-room mystery? Clue, whodunit vibes? 20s theme? Sounds like something I’d like but it unfortunately fell flat. There were too many characters and drama to keep up with. The main character was also super frustrating and the drama of her marriage really hindered this book for me. The second half was certainly better than the beginning but the end reveal was anticlimactic. All the drama wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley & Batam Books for the advanced reader copy. I really liked the premise for this book but felt like the execution was too spotty for me and I couldn't get engaged in the story. This just wasn't for me.

I was so excited to read All Dressed Up - I love a good whodunit, murder mystery, and the premise of the story was very intriguing.

In an effort to fix their marriage after Blake has an affair, he surprises his wife Becca with a murder mystery weekend getaway. When the staff member playing the maid disappears, Becca isn’t sure if it is part of the game or they have a much more sinister mystery to solve.

Unfortunately, the story fell a little flat for me. I found Becca to be a very unlikeable character. Too much of the story was focused on her emotional roller coaster of feelings towards Blake, and her internal monologue was a bit repetitive. The murder mystery plot also had some big holes that were hard for me to ignore, and I couldn’t always follow Becca’s logic as she worked her way through the mystery. Overall, this was a cute story but somewhat lacking in development. It was a quick and fun read, and has an ending that left the possibility open for a second book!

A huge thank you to the author, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review. #AllDressedUp #NetGalley

All Dressed Up is like a modern day Clue novel. A group of couples gather in a gothic mansion for a murder mystery weekend. Everything seems to be going according to plan, but one of the actresses goes missing. Is there something more sinister going on!

I enjoyed the premise, but not the execution. There was way too much internal dialogue which I felt slowed the whole book down. I thought the ending was a bit unrealistic and rushed. Not my cup of tea, but I feel like fans of Clue and Christie novels may enjoy this one.

Thank you to Random House Publishinf Group-Ballantine and NetGalley for granting me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

2.5 stars. When Becca's husband, Blake, whisks her off to a 1920s-themed murder mystery weekend at a grand estate, she knows he's trying to make amends. Although Becca still isn't over his recent betrayal, she decides to embrace the fun of the weekend...but then an actual murder is committed, throwing everything into chaos.

All Dressed Up has a ton of promise, but ultimately tries to do too much. Bringing in elements of cozy mystery, locked-room mystery, and domestic drama, Jilly Gagnon can't seem to decide if she wants to tell a screwball murder story or a heartfelt, earnest story about a marriage in turmoil.

What worked best for me, and why I rounded my rating up instead of down, were the insights into Blake and Becca's troubled marriage, which felt authentic. However, I'm just not sure dressing this story up (pun intended) with an elaborate murder mystery weekend was the right way to tell it. Both the fictional and real murder mysteries are muddled in the execution, full of coincidences and characters who make illogical decisions. And throwing the drama of Becca's emotional angst into the midst just made everything a bit of a mess.

All Dressed Up has a compelling premise and lots of atmosphere, and it's well-written. I had high hopes for this one, but unfortunately, by the end of the book, I didn't care about any of it -- the real or fictional whodunnit, or the fate of Blake and Becca's marriage.

Husband and wife, Blake and Becca, are going through a rough patch. Becca recently found out that Blake was having an affair with a co-worker, though they are trying to work through it. In an attempt at an olive branch, Blake decides to surprise Becca with a weekend away upstate for a murder-mystery themed stay. A few miscommunications cause things to be tense with Blake and Becca throughout the story. Becca became convinced of something more sinister happening behind the guise of the "game" though she didn't share her concerns with anyone else.
I felt that the end was a bit rushed, but it was a good read. 3.5 rounded to 4 stars.

Thank you to Bantam and NetGalley for an e-arc for honest review.