The description of this novel make it sound pretty enticing to me, but unfortunately I found it to be a huge letdown. It was very, very difficult to follow the storyline — probably because of the ever-changing format in which this novel is written. What I thought was going to be a real page turner turned out to be a book that I found myself being forced to finish. (IMO, the whole book read sort of like an instruction manual, and then the ending was awful.) I applaud the author for trying this unusual format, but it was just too weird for my reading taste. Others may very well enjoy it (it does have some pretty witty moments).

Not a fan of the writing style. The second-person POV isn't something I have ever tried to read before and I don't think I'll be seeking it out ever again. That accompanied by the fourth wall breaks really pulls you out of whatever is going on. DNF.

This book is intertwined with the writer interjecting expertise how authors use different genres when writing murder mysteries, thus making the reader a participant in trying to solve the multiple murders that happen over the holiday weekend at West Heart Kill. There is also a second voice throughout the book, detective Adam McAnnis who has been hired by an individual to attend the weekend at the hunting camp and report anything suspicious back. Everyone one there has their reasons as to who could be the killer. The book was written in a very unusual story line and was a little different to follow.

Is this a book, a play, a TV script? Who can tell? I tried to decipher what is going on in this book but it fails me. Its like being on the outside looking in and then you're in and back out again. Totally inconsistent and fails to grab attention because its a matter of the old cliche...'who's on first?'. I admittedly did not finish tis book because there was no determination of what is the book,what is narration and the myriad of characters to keep straight. I suppose the descriptions were the reason I chose to read or it was recommended. Just not my cup of tea. I was provided an advanced reader copy and was under no obligation to write a review. The opinions expressed are my own. Thanks to the author. publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book despite my being unable to understand it's content.

This is a very odd book, and I had high hopes for it. The author is explaining the finer points of the mystery genre while writing a mystery novel. There are many interesting (to me) asides concerning the masters of various devices used in the mystery world (locked rooms, poisons, small sets of characters, etc.). These asides would likely not be of interest to anyone expecting a standard "whodunit". These asides are rather long and by the time you've read through them you've forgotten what was happening in the mystery novel portion of the book. I was constantly confused by characters in the "novel"; they were very 2-dimensional and I really didn't care for any of them (except the detective-he did have some depth). The story concerns an enclave of wealthy individuals cut off from the mainland in a storm. Murder happens, investigation begins...but never actually ends. It's a rather unsatisfactory ending, really more of a non-ending. I do understand (I think) what the author was trying to convey in this book, but I am unsure if it will satisfy the expectations of many mystery readers.

This book isn’t what I expected, and that isn’t a good thing.

First, this isn’t a murder mystery in the traditional sense, which makes this book unique but also is its weakness. The book concentrates on how a murder mystery is written, and the mystery itself is secondary. Various points of view are also employed in the book-first person, third person, and what really put me out of the story-second person. Second person is used to tell the reader what assumptions the reader is making and when those assumptions were wrong, it really disrupted what was already a complicated read. Another format used in the book was that of a play. Personally, I don’t like reading plays to begin with. The format was used to make the reader a participant in trying to solve, at this point, multiple murders, but it added another layer of difficulty in trying to keep straight what was going on.

A multiple number of identical characters also made for a difficult read. There is really nothing to distinguish one from another—they are all unhappy, can’t cope without alcohol or drugs or both, cheat on their spouses, and are just difficult to keep straight. I really didn’t care about any of them.

Recommendation
This book wasn’t for me, but if it sounds like something you might enjoy, give it a try, maybe by borrowing a copy from the library or a friend.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, for providing a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.

This is the silliest book I have ever read. I don’t know why I finished it, except it was a NetGalley copy & I felt I should finish it. DO NOT like the structure of the book, especially the removal of the fourth wall & trying to engage the reader. The ending is a total cop out.

This was a very different kind of "country house" murder; a hunting club for rich people, tensions in the group of long-timers, bodies showing up. But in between is a narrative explaining the whole genre and the story switches off between an omniscient narrator and the first-person narration of a detective on the scene. I don't think it will be to everyone's taste but for lovers of Agatha Christie and other classic mystery writers, this is an homage to the genre.

In Dann McDorman’s West Heart Kill, a newcomer detective (who doesn’t state himself as a detective to most of the characters) joins a group of wealthy, bored, entangled people in an exclusive camp that is then cut off from society during a storm. As we all know, storms are perfect covers for murder. When bodies start popping up, things get sticky.

It is set during the bicentennial (so late 70s), easily explaining the lack of cell phones and internet with which to contact the world once they are stranded with a murderer. It is SORT OF a locked room mystery, but more than that it is a VERY stylized, metafiction, with direct-to-reader addresses, very stylized writing, and a bit of self-congratulatory adulation. I found it a bit challenging to keep track of the characters and their relationships without having a physical copy to reference the character list at the beginning. I had a fine time with this, but I don’t know that I feel particularly compelled by it and it is probably too stylized for my readers.

Readers of West Heart Kill will find themselves on a unique mysterious journey. The narrator/author transforms readers into insiders from the outset, incorporating an exclusive club in a remote setting, dangerous weather, a mounting number of murder victims, and a cast of wealthy, eccentric suspects.

While this book may not be everyone's cup of tea, in the right readers' hands, it is a rare gem.

Well, I have to say, I didn't expect that!
With this particular setting, I felt the author set the story up to be a classic whodunnit. There were all the usual elements but with a very unique format. If you like to read books that are different then this one is for you. I found the extra information distracting (lots of classic mystery facts about well known authors and books) but it was still a bit interesting. I'm not sure I would read more from this author but his next book might interest me at some point.

I really thought I would like this book from the description. However, it just wasn't for me. Maybe the writing style? The characters? I'm not sure, but I did not end up finishing the book. I would try another book by this author in the future to see if it was just this book or the writing of this author.

This is a very unusual book and deserving of attention by mystery aficionados. However, this was not at all to my taste and I did not finish it.

Hated it. For about 10% of the book, I was intrigued, but forced myself to read the other 90% in hopes that it would redeem itself. It didn’t. I wish I had followed my instinct to put it down and never pick it up again, but I was convinced the unusual writing style (narrator speaking directly to the reader mixed with screenplay?) would pay off. It didn’t.

My thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me this arc to review, but I have to agree with the general consensus of reviews. I dnf and really don't know how to describe this book? Odd pov writing style with a tutorial thrown in.

This story was something quite interesting dont even know how to describe it. it's just something alright

I was gifted an e-arc of the book prior to its release date thanks to Netgalley & the publisher.

This book is supposed to be a genre-bending cross between lit-fic and a locked room mystery. There is a club and a storm and three bodies will be discovered in a short amount of time. A detective finds himself in the middle of a cast of characters to investigate these murders.

It was giving the newest season of Only Murders in The Building, which I was all here for, but unfortunately this story just wasn’t it for me. It felt icky at times, I did not enjoy the writing style, and the story honestly just lost my attention. I did not finish it, but I don’t think that it would’ve helped my rating all that much.

Overall, I don’t really recommend this book. Maybe check out other reviews to see if this is something that you might enjoy more than I did.

It was slow to start but I loved how uniquely this was written. Once the action started, I hung onto every word until the very end! I am looking forward to seeing more from this author.

It was a DNF for me at 23%

I actually thought the writing/narrative style was intriguing and unique - especially the breaking of the fourth wall - but I had a tough time keeping everyone straight and figuring out what was actually taking place.

Love a good murder mystery. Especially when is a locked room type. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC