A Game of Lives by Clare Mackintosh is a gripping thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Set in the Welsh mountains, the story follows seven reality show contestants who find themselves stranded and facing unexpected challenges. As they struggle to survive, it becomes clear that each contestant is hiding a dark secret, and when one of them goes missing, the stakes are raised even higher. Detective Morgan is tasked with unraveling the truth, but with everyone having an alibi and a secret, the task proves to be daunting. The author builds suspense and keeps readers guessing until the very end with her unexpected twists.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This is part of a series but could definitely be read as a stand alone. It's a fas pace thriller about seven reality TV contestants who become suspects in a murder.

Book Review
A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh

Tropes and Thoughts
Reality TV - Exposure
MC’s are Isolated in close proximity
What has more value… secrets or money
Second in a detective (police procedural) series
Murder and missing persons
Mental health rep
Wales- Dragon Mountain- gotta love armchair travel
Love the inclusion of Welsh dialogue, adds authenticity to the location/setting

Main Characters
Ffion- I got really frustrated with this character throughout this book, I was hoping for more growth
Leo- a good cop, a good guy
George- love her matter of fact way of stating things; guessing the next in the series will delve into her past

Exposure Cast
- author gave us just enough background about each to plant red herrings and sow the seeds of misdirection

Overall thoughts
It was a solid read but I didn’t enjoy as much as others from this author.

Thank you to @netgalley and @sourcebooks for my digital ARC in return for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own.

This is the second book in a series featuring Detective Ffion Morgan but can easily be read as a stand alone. The premise for this story intrigued me: a reality game show where the object is to keep your secret a secret and survive to the end. The clincher: none of the contestants knew this! They all believed it was a survivor type show. This group of contestants have every reason to be terrified because if exposed, their darkest secrets won’t just be revealed, they’ll be televised before they are eliminated. But the drama intensifies when one of the contestants unexpectedly disappears early in the game. And when a murderer strikes, DC Ffion has her work cut out for her in this remote Welsh wilderness. Clare Mackintosh’s books are always well thought out, intricately plotted and full of twists and turns. Thank you Netgalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on April 23, 2024

I didn't realize it was #2 of a series but I think there was enough in the story and enough background given about the recurring characters to not feel like I missed a whole lot. I did feel lost often with the use of all the Welsh phrases, especially the ones that weren't translated. It was a good story and I honestly didn't figure it out at all because I totally forgot about Henry.

I requested this book, and I had no idea it was the second book in a series. I never read book 1, so I think I am missing some background information about Ffion Morgan. However, you can read this one as a standalone and make do. That said, I enjoyed this book! The mystery had just enough of a twist to keep me engaged and invested with DC Morgan as she investigates the reality tv show set. I will probably go back and read book 1 now to see if that helps fill out any details I might be missing.

📺 T R A S H Y TV T U E S D A Y 📺 featuring “A Game of Lies” by Clare Mackintosh! This book is an atmospheric police procedural that investigates a reality tv show cast & crew where EVERYONE on set is a suspect!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤.5/5

Seven contestants make up the cast of the reality tv show Exposure, which takes place in the isolated Welsh mountains. What was assumed to be a “Survivor-like” themed show turns out to be something much more shocking and scandalous! Each contestant has a SECRET and if another contest finds out the truth then they get to EXPOSE their secret on the air! All the contestants have to do is keep their secret .. and survive! This is a game of lies after all …

When one of the contestants goes missing in the middle of the night, Detective Ffion Morgan steps in to investigate the case. But Morgan doesn’t know who she can trust since all the contestants are lock lipped about their own secrets. When a murder gets thrown into the mix it becomes obvious that all of the contestants and crew not only have an alibi, but a secret worth killing for!

Thank you kindly to @claremackwrites @bookmarked @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review. This book releases on April 23, 2024!

I throughly enjoyed this second book with DC Morgan investigating a crime in her home town. The book alternates between Ffion’s point of view and either a contestant or someone from the contestant’s family.

Great twists and turns with all the side characters from the first book making an appearance. While this book is part of series, you could read this book as a stand alone. I am looking forward to future adventures with DC Morgan.

If you are a fan of reality TV and a good mystery, this book is for you.

I read this book as part of @thoughtsfromapage’s Early Reads program. Thanks to @netgalley and @bookmarked for providing the ARC.

I spent my reading week with Detective Ffion Morgan, Leo Brady, and the rest of the characters that make up Clare Mackintosh's Cwm Coed, a fictional small town on the Wales side of the England-Wales border.

Thank you so much to Thoughts From a Page and Bookmarked for the ARC of #GamesofLies. After finishing this book, I immediately read #TheLastParty - and I am thrilled to have learned about another fantastic mystery/crime author.

In #GameofLies, the contestants on Exposure think they’re on a survival reality show, but really the producers have learned their scandalous secrets and will be exposing one contestant every episode. When one of the contestants goes missing, Det. Ffion Morgan and Leo Brady return for another twisty-fun mystery.

I was so caught up in the drama and secrets surrounding the reality show and the neighboring small town, I almost forgot that this was a murder mystery. The murder happens a little later in the book, and I rather enjoyed this because when the investigation begins we already have a familiarity with the major players.

In both books, Mackintosh alternates POV between the detectives and the witnesses/suspects. Not only does this method add to the mystery, but it also gives us a deeper sense of this very small town. And from the residents of the small town to the contestants on the show, all or her characters are so vibrant.

I love Clare as an author, so I jumped on this book quickly. It was a very intriguing dive into reality television and how it can impact mental health and relationships, amongst many other things. I liked the remote setting in the Welsh mountains and how that added to the anxiety of everything else happening around our reality show contestants.

I have not yet read the first book, so I was a little lost on some plot points, but not enough to make the story any less enjoyable. I will definitely be going back so that I can get the full scope of Ffion and Leo's relationship dynamic. Overall, a very enjoyable mystery from Clare.

I love this series! Detective Fion is a refreshing change to traditional detectives and investigators. There is a wonderful sense of place and connection in these novels that take place on the border of Wales and England. I truly look forward to the next in this series.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this advance copy. I really enjoyed the first book in this series, so I was happy to get an early copy of the next installment. I think the set up here is clever with the reality show with a twist. However, I just never felt a strong sense of suspense like in the first book. The first book also had a great local community of characters with the small town Welsh setting that I feel was lacking in this second book. While I enjoyed the first book more, I still think this series has great potential.

Wow! I could not put this one down!!

7 contestants arrive in the Welsh countryside ready to compete in a reality tv show. It is billed as a "survivor" type of series, but this one will be aired in essentially real time. At the end of the first episode, the TV host announces that this, in fact, is NOT a survival show. It will, instead, revolve around the contestants darkest secret, and the game will be to guard your own secret by exposing someone else's. The contestants do not take this news well as they start to process the ramifications to their family, their jobs, their reputations... Things escalate quickly as they scramble to do whatever is needed to protect their secret. Are any of the secrets dark enough to kill for?

My thanks to Cindy Burnett at Thoughts From a Page, NetGalley, and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advanced ecopy of this book.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
Murder+reality tv= I am sold🙌🏻 This book is about a group of reality tv contestants who become suspects in a murder. They were all lied to about the premise of the tv show they signed up to be in, and in reality the tv show is going to expose all of their deep, dark secrets. The group, with plenty of secrets to hide, will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried…forever. This is the second book in the DC Morgan series, however it can be read as a standalone, however I highly recommend reading the first book! This is a slower paced book, but not in a bad way. Mackintosh knows how to build up the suspense and the tension slowly as the plot thickens until all is revealed. This book has plenty of drama and secrets throughout it, which I always enjoy. This is definitely a fun and entertaining read, although I highly disliked all of the characters, except for DC Ffion Morgan.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:


𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
✦Murder+reality tv
✦A good slow burn
✦Police procedurals
✦Unlikeable characters



𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4/5

I thoroughly enjoyed A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh, my first foray into this author's works. The story evolves from a reality television show that pits seven individuals against one another in a contest to not have their shameful personal secrets exposed on air to the world. This was a well done take on current reality television offerings and poses the questions about what is "reality" and how far can alleged entertainment go before it becomes criminal activity. The setting in north Wales was intriguing as were the characters' Welsh names and conversations. I loved the strong but flawed women, such as Ffion, Elen and George. These characters in particular were smart and loving but still not immune to life's disappointments and pains. Dave the dog pretty much stole my heart. I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read other novels by Ms. Mackintosh. Thanks very much to Cindy Burnett with Thoughts from the Page Podcast and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the copy of A Game Of Lies by Clare Mackintosh. I loved the reality/game show aspect. The pacing was off and choppy, and it would have been more compelling to have more about the game and how it ‘worked’ before jumping into the disappearance. The different elements of the story were great, they just didn’t all flow together for me. The indictment of the thirst for reality shows was well done, even though this one was too over-the top to believe. I think if you are already reading and enjoying this series you will probably love this one. It just wasn’t really for me. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I loved the second novel of the DC Morgan series. The backdrop of being in Wales was a fresh take. Game of Lies was a fun cozy mystery which included a reality TV show as the scene of the crime, and I am here for it. This is simply perfect summer reading!

Clare MacIntosh ties in intriguing family dynamics, ones that I’ve not seen before in a novel.

Oh Ffion. She has an unexpected backstory for being a prominent small town detective and I can’t wait to learn more about her complicated past. It just shows humans are not infallible regardless of being in the Justice system.

Looking forward to more of Ffion, Leo, George, and of course the hero Dave (FFion’s dog!)

4.5 stars.

Thank you to Cindy Burnett with the Thoughts From a Page podcast / Page Turners Patreon Early Reads group for arranging ARC copies. Thank you to the publisher Bookmarked; Clare MacIntosh; and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a review.

4.5/5 stars

Second in the DC Morgan series set in Wales, this one has an interesting backdrop around its disappearance/murder mystery…a reality show set on a Welsh mountain centered around seven contestants who have been misled in their understanding of the premise of the show. They must correctly guess their fellow contestants’ biggest secret thereby exposing them on tv and eliminating them from the contest.

After the disappearance of one participant sparks a search and rescue, a murder opens a whole new investigation, and Detective Ffion Morgan along with her British border counterpart (with whom she has a past) must work together to unearth secrets and plot each contestants’ movements to determine the killer.

This was a complex, suspenseful mystery with lots of twists and turns with a side story of a relationship complication/conundrum for Morgan. Ffion is an intriguing and often abrasive character who has a tough time showing any softer moments, and it is engaging to watch her as a very multi-faceted character.

I enjoyed the first book in the series, and this one was a solid and entertaining next step. As this one left a bit of a cliffhanger, I’m really looking forward to the next outing for Morgan.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for providing the free early arc of A Game of Lies for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

DC Ffion Morgan is back in this new twisted case in Cwm Coed. There’s a reality show filming on the mountain, and one of the contestants has gone missing. Ffion, some new colleagues, and, of course, Leo Brady set out to find him. This sequel to The Last Party, brings readers back to familiar characters, but they’ve got new personal and professional baggage to deal with. Ffion and Leo’s relationship is definitely undefined, and it causes issues in how they work together. There’s a whole reality TV show cast that becomes suspects in a crime, and similar to The Last Party, the author provides all of their perspectives through nonlinear timelines, so the story unfolds gradually as the detectives piece together the case. While this is a new case, this is not a standalone book. Readers would miss out on several plot points if they haven’t read the first book. This is a great sequel, and it leaves readers wanting another installment.

This is the second in Clare MacIntosh's DC Morgan series and I liked it even more than the first! I likened the first book to a modern day Christie-- and that continues with this novel-- such a strong sense of place,a large cast of suspects and an interesting detective you cannot help but root for. This story also takes place in a small town near Mirror Lake in Wales. There is a reality show (with a twist!) filming in the area. All of the participants are harboring a secret, and someone ends up dead. This is a great police procedural and I did not predict the ending at all. I love the characters, especially Ffion, her dog, her mom and Leo. Cannot wait for the next in the series! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars.