Augusta Hawke is a successful mystery writer and is now a private investigator. She is approached by Callie to ghost-write a memoir about her political life. Augusta ends up at a dinner party at Callie’s house where a doctor dies in a room full of people. The police think the doctor died of a heart attack, but Augusta doesn’t think so. She can’t stop thinking of the doctor’s death and begins her own investigation instead of writing her book.

I really enjoyed the character of Augusta Hawke. She was well-written and developed by G.M. Malliet. I really enjoyed Augusta’s sense of humor. The narrator did a great job voicing the character of Augusta. Unfortunately, the other characters all sound the same and it became a little hard to follow at times since she did not give distinct voices for the different characters. I can’t help but wonder if I would have enjoyed the book better if I read it instead of listening to it. Overall, I give the book 3/5 stars. I highly recommend it to those that like Agatha Christie books and cozy mysteries.

Mystery writer Augusta is approached by Ambassador wannabe Callie to help her write her tell-all memoir. While attending one of Callie's dinner parties, Agusta is swept up into the drama as one of Callie's celebrity guests dies at the party. The verdict is he died of natural causes, but Agusta thinks otherwise. Will she be able to solve the case?

The writing style of this book was not for me. I was listening to the audio version of this book, so I didn't see the written words, but as the narrator read it, it seemed like 3/4 of the sentences had a meandering ending that sounded like they would have been in parentheses. These were so distracting for me and really took my attention away from the actual story.

The plot itself was interesting and would have kept my attention if written in a different style. I like a story that continually shifts blame and keeps you guessing. The ending was very Clue like to me which is always fun.

Thank you to the author, publisher, narrator and Net Galley for providing a free e-audio version of this book in exchange for my review.

I love mysteries, and have read hundreds. I thought this would be a good fit into my usual preferences. But I only actually made it to 20% into the audiobook before I had to turn it off and I won't be going back. The endless run of all of the thoughts in the main character's mind is just annoying, and even worse, it's so negative! The main character criticizes everyone and every thing she comes across. Just an endless negative ramble. It was too much, I was starting to feel badly about myself and decided it was the book, and that I needed to stop. I can't vouch for the rest of the book at all - and honestly, I don't care because I couldn't connect with any of the characters or the town. Such a huge disappointment.

1 stars for "I did not like it'

I’m a sucker for mysteries and any novel that is set in DC, so this was an easy yes for me instantly. This was a quick mystery and I really enjoyed the main character and many of the side characters.

When I started this I didn’t realize it was the second in the series, but the book reads fine as a stand alone book and I could still follow the plot perfectly. While I haven’t read the first book in this series I will definitely be getting it after reading this one.

The main character, Augusta, was well developed and I really enjoyed the humor in this novel. Normally I don’t love main characters that are authors but I think this one was done very well.

The mystery itself was the only place this book fell short for me. I just wasn’t in love with the mystery or the final reveal. I think I just personally look for more high tension mysteries and this was pretty relaxed and low tension. This would be a great book for someone starting to get into mystery novels but wanting something more low-key.

I listened to this on audio and loved the narrators voice and it was really easy to listen to on 3x speed and still follow along perfectly.Thank you to NetGalley, G.M. Malliet, and Dreamscape for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this mystery. Invitation to a Killer is the second in the Augusta Hawke series. This is not your typical cozy. August is a little like a Sue Grafton heroine. She's very sarcastic, speaking to the audience, with a big sense of humor. I checked multiple times to see if G.M. Malliet was a man because I found her so sexless and lacking in close friendships that I thought only a man would write a woman this way. However I was wrong (sorry, G.M.). I thought the mystery unfolded nicely. I think things really picked up when she got in contact with her pet police. I like Augusta's pushiness and I have to say "snowed in with all the suspects" is my favorite recipe. A++ I would give this five stars but I was dying for a little more emotional connection. Also the Narrator was INCREDIBLE.

I was so fortunate enough to advance listen to Invitation to a Killer by G.M. Malliet coming out in February!! 🎧
This is second in the Augusta Hawke mystery series.
4⭐️s
I actually liked this one better than the first one! I loved the plot twist, the funny and clever main character, and the suspense.
Augusta Hawke is invited to a dinner party where one of the dinner guest ends up dead. His death is ruled to happen by natural causes but of course Augusta thinks otherwise. Follow along with her in this book as she tries to play detective and uncover another mystery

I highly recommend checking this book out on release date! 🤩

https://instagram.com/ireadpastyourbedtime?igshid=Zjc2ZTc4Nzk=

A breezy mystery that is entertaining enough but also a significant step down from the first book in the series.

Crime writer Augusta Hawke is back, and she’s got another real life mystery to solve. The tone and style here is very similar to the first book, but it’s a definite letdown. Malliet’s Max Tudor series also went downhill quickly, and I worry that is the fate of this series as well.

This book does still have a good sense of humor about it, though it’s less clever in that way than the first. And the pacing is certainly well-executed.

If you want to give this one a try, I highly recommend the audiobook version. The story translates well to the format, and the reader for this series is outstanding.

The plot was less appealing to me personally this time around because DC/political wheeler dealer stuff just isn’t my bag, but the real problem with it is that the mystery itself just isn’t great, nor is the solve.

Augusta,however, is still a great character, and I hope that this series can return to the clever, sharp stuff that made the first book so notably good.

All the pieces of a cozy mystery: It's fast-paced, a random murder which the main charcater (who is not a detective) is set on solving, and a main character who follows random clues to find the real killer. I listened to the audiobook. The narrator was good as main character Augusta Hawke - her tone was conversational and I felt like Augusta was just telling me her story. I was entertained and interested in Augusta in the beginning, but I never really fell in love with her character and found myself drifting away from her search to find the truth. There were a lot of characters and some were quite interesting, but I found that there was a constant going back and retelling of who each one was without any new detail- whether it was when they are first introduced, or every time Augusta goes through who's who in her head. It became a little boring. Overall good read if you just want something quick.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the arc.

I loved the Agatha Christie vibes in this book! I loved that there were subtle nods and not blatant rip offs of Ms, Christie’s work. The characters were well developed and entertaining to read! Such a fun & cosy book!

Sorry, I quit this one.
I didn't read #1 (I wasn't aware this was a #2 until logging it on goodreads) but do not think that matters here.

I didn't like the character or spending time with her thoughts. I was bored, pushed on, then bored and annoyed. I read other reviews that said this ends up being a wannabe Agatha Christie thing with everyone being rounded up for a big reveal so I quit. Life is too short for books I don't dig.

PLEASE take this to your editors... big monologues/confessions or long-winded explanations = horrible writing -- please editors, say no to "scooby doo" endings.

Thank you NetGalley for my ARC.

This was a wonderful winter read! I loved the characters and how quirky some of them were! It kept the storyline interesting! I do think the ending seemed a little rushed, but overall I really enjoyed this book!

This book was so enjoyable until the very end. I've read G.M. Malliet's Max Tudor series and liked it. This book was a classic "who done it" that was a great listen. Unfortunately, the epilogue ruined the book by explaining everything. A bit of a disappointment.

I was so excited about this book. Unfortunately, after chapters and chapters in I just couldn’t finish it. It’s too much babbling, I was like “get to the point”. It’s too much of “inner” thoughts and made me loose interest. I gave it a good shot.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley an exchange for a review.
Augusta is an accomplished author. She receives an invitation to a party, during which a humanitarian doctor expires, assumedly from a heart attack. She soon becomes convinced it was murder. In order to suss out the culprit, she invites all of the party guests to a retreat.
A lot of the characters were not relateable, but I still enjoyed it overall. It was kind of a cozy mystery, no salacious or vulgar writing, which I appreciate. I would probably go back and read the first in the series, which didn't seem required background for this one.

I enjoyed this book! I love when books have characters who are authors or editors, so that was a plus for me! I felt like I was inside Augusta’s head as she tried to figure out if the doctor’s death was a terrible medical occurrence or an intentional murder. It was an interesting perspective to not know all the details surrounding the mystery before the main character figures it out. I really enjoyed the character development and the quirkiness of some of the side characters. If this turns into a series I feel a budding relationship forming between the detective and Augusta. The entire book gave off “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion” vibes.

Invitation to a Killer is the second installment in a series about Augusta Hawke, a mystery/thriller writer-turned-amateur-sleuth. Despite not having read the first book, I didn't have any trouble following along—any references to book #1 included explanatory context that kept me from feeling disoriented.

Augusta is an interesting main character, and she had me waffling between appreciation and slight distaste: On one hand, I could relate to her inner dialogue that bordered on snark, but she also gave the impression that she thought she was more likeable than she actually was, and she seemed to stumble into breakthroughs, or at least made it seem like she didn't put much thought into actually getting a confession. I don't need a perfect sleuth, but it would have been nice to see her exercise a bit more skill in drawing out the killer.

As for the plot, it could be slow at times, especially dragging in the middle when the author needed to close the gap between the first act murder and third act reveal. But I didn't feel bored; the narrator and Augusta's internal dialogue always kept me entertained even when it didn't feel like much was going on. For that reason, I'm glad I got to listen to the audiobook.

The setting of Washington D.C. unexpectedly surprised me too, and I liked learning about the political and personal dynamics that pulled each character in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for a free audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

DC mystery novels are some of my favorite things to read. I love being transported back to the hustle and bustle and scandal of DC through pages and that’s exactly what this book did. Most of the action happened toward the end of the book 80% and beyond which really turned the pages but until then it was a bit slow and felt like a lot of the same information was repeated several times. I enjoyed the narrator of this book and the changing voices for each character.

Thank you Dreamscape Media for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review. This story sounded juicyyyy but unfortunately the narrator prevented me from getting into this. It was very monologue and she sounded stuck up, but not intentionally if that makes sense. I'll definitely give this a read with my eyeballs and see if I fare better. 5 stars for DNF as I cannot comment on the overall quality of the book.

Before writing this review, I did not realize this was the second book in a series. While I do not think this impacted my reading too much, there were a few parts of the book where I was confused about what the author was talking about. I would have liked to read the other first.

Augusta Hawke is a crime writer who is approached by the wife of a political lobbyist to attend a dinner party. At this party, a well-known and well-liked doctor dies. It is believed to have been a heart attack, but Augusta is not so sure.

Overall, this was a lighthearted mystery. It did not have the intensity of a crime or thriller book. It was almost humorous and just a calm, background listen. My biggest issue was the over-explaining of… everything. As a reader, I like to figure some things out but this book explained every part of the mystery in minute details. The epilogue particularly was just too much. It reminded me of a TV show trying to wrap up every bit of the story before the next episode.

Invitation to a killer was an interesting idea that had a bland execution but was still very enjoyable.

Author Augusta Hawke is approached by the wife of a political lobbyist, Callie Morgan, to ghostwrite her memoirs. Augusta does not want to do it but she attends a dinner party thrown by Callie anyway. A respected doctor dies at this dinner party, and the assumption is a heart attack. Augusta is not convinced and later invites everyone who attended the party to a writer's retreat to solve the mystery.

The idea of a locked room mystery where all the players get to leave the room was very intriguing. All aspects of that worked really well and were written well. My problem with the book was how over explained everything is. I felt like author G.M. Malliet did not trust I would be able to draw any conclusions that she did not spell out and clarify for me. This was frustrating. The worst case of this was the epilogue. The epilogue basically summed up the whole book and explained it to us like we were a child. I can only speak for myself but I do not need that kind of hand holding in my books.

Despite the issues I described I keep thinking about the story. It was so well crafted. Just how great the story was is enough for me to deal with the explanations and want to recommend this book. It’s quick and a lot of fun.