This atmospheric thriller had me racing to the end of this captivating whodunit. I enjoyed how the story unfolded by the different perspectives. Putting the clues together while not falling for the red herrings was engaging and entertaining. The plot is clever with twists and turns that kept it interesting. Thank you Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for my copy.

The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allen Poe is one of the earliest examples of a locked-room mystery. Agatha Christie wrote many famous locked-room stories, most famously "And Then There Were None." It's a trope. It will continue to be a trope used by many writers forever.

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego is a debut novel of the locked-room sort. A legendary anonymous author, J. R. Alastor, invites six thriller/detective writers to spend the week at his grand estate in Maine in a writer's retreat. Event coordinator Mila is running the entire week; she had to. Alastor knew her secret vendetta against one of the writers coming to the island.

As the retreat starts, there's suspicion from the very beginning. Who knows Alastor, and how, how well, and.. well, really WHO is J.R. Alastor. However, the first night begins with a murder and all the planned 'games' are now in question. Mila and Alastor had their secret plan of revenge, plus Mila's plan to take back what was hers, but now someone is dead, and it's not the person who was planned.

Alastor remotely guides the group through a series of games, including a custom Clue board. Alastor never appears, he controls everything via Mila and a gathering trove of black envelopes. There's backstabbing, there's secrets revealed, and there's blood. Lots of blood.

Can Mila and the authors escape the island before it's too late?
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I'm a fan of locked-room mysteries. This hit all the notes but still felt a bit empty to me. The various perspectives were good, but the subtle romance storyline didn't really add to the story for me. As everyone's secrets are revealed, it becomes a bit convoluted, and stories start to blend together. The grand reveal, and there is a grand one, comes quickly and seems to wrap everything in a bow, but I feel this could have ended better.

{Side note: all the descriptions of clothing and hair got to be a bit much. I don't care about pencil skirts or hair falling out of a bun and it added nothing to the plot. }

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me an advanced copy of You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego in return for an honest review. I was excited to try out a locked room murder mystery by a new (to me) author. The premise is fantastic, as are the setting and cast of characters. Where I struggled with this one was following the story. There are many narrators; sometimes they are named and sometimes they are anonymous. I found there to be continuity errors which made the story very difficult to follow.. With another pass from an editor to fix these issues, this would be a real winner.

I absolutely LOVED the movie Clue when I was a kid, so I was eager to read something loosely based off it. Sadly, I chose to DNF this one-third of the way through. While I think this book likely has a very interesting premise, I'm afraid the writing -- and ultimately the editing -- didn't work for me. Here's a quick take on my response to reading the first third of this book in a nutshell: when it comes to page-turners, it takes a LOT of hard work and polish to make the reading 'easy,' By easy, I mean the prose flows, the characters are clear and specific, and the descriptions are brief yet evocative. It seems to me like this book is being marketed as a page-turner, yet it reads to me like a draft with some promise that hasn't yet reached the polished stage. It took too much thinking on my part, so I was never able to forget that I was reading.

Essentially, if I'm expecting a page-turner (versus literary fiction), I want to feel myself get easily swept up and immersed in the story. But I am seeing others rave about this book, and I DO think that Pliego has an interesting voice, so I hope to read something from her in the future that perhaps resonates better with me as a reader.

What a debut!! Wildly entertaining from start to finish. Fans of Clue, rejoice! The ending definitely had a few twists that I had not yet figured out which was such a treat.

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego is locked room mystery centered around a one week writer's retreat that is being hosted by a reclusive author on a remote island. Six thriller authors are invited to the retreat where they must solve riddles involving popular tropes.

This is the author's debut novel and is a very strong, well written first outing. The story was engaging and I would recommend it to fans of thrillers and locked room mysteries.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego is a thrilling mystery that kept me guessing right up to the end. Packed with gruesome deaths, cryptic clues, and suspense, it kept me reading.

What really stood out is how the mystery came together. The ending tied everything up in a way that was satisfying, making all the twists and turns along the way worth it.

My only downside: the characters were a bit hard to tell apart at first. They’re interesting, but it takes a little while for their personalities to stand out. Once the story gets going, though, this problem disappeared and their first person chapters were more engaging.

If you’re into mysteries with dark twists and a payoff that delivers, You Are Fatally Invited is definitely worth picking up. Just stick with it through the character introductions, and you’ll be in for a gripping ride.

[received an advanced copy from netgalley and random house, thank you!]

super fun! i don't read many thrillers/mysteries but i genuinely enjoyed myself with this one. i was taken by surprise with how invested i got into each character, outside of just their role to play in the mystery itself. i genuinely really enjoyed the final act, which is usually where i feel a drawn-out mystery like this can get tripped up--and the interludes of author-on-author bickering were funny and gave this book its own unique flavor. the whole thing really did give me a sort of 'clue' vibe--a little over the top, and kind of silly--but i mean that in a complimentary way! even when certain clues or scenes seemed obvious, i enjoyed the chase as much as the reveals.

You are Fatally Invited is a locked room mystery where the players are on a secluded Maine island with no transportation off the island. Several mystery/thriller/horror authors were invited on an exclusive writing retreat by J.R. Alastor, a famous author whose identity has been anonymous since they entered the industry. These bestselling authors jump at the chance to learn from and learn about the mysterious host.

The guests are greeting by the event planner, Mila, who is there with two staff members to make the guests comfortable and to help with Alastor's agenda. We soon learn that Mila also has an agenda - seeking revenge on the author who stole her work years ago. As we learn more about the guests, this is not the first time some of them have crossed paths with each other or the host. They all have their own secrets, ranging from theft to murder.

The book is well written as we move POV between all the guests. Sometimes we know who the person is by their name and sometimes we know who they are by their sin. The rules of games are simple, atone for your past sins and you might get out of this alive. There is a lot of misdirection with the names and roles that keep you guessing until the end. And just when you think you might know who someone is, they are the next to die. And nothing goes according to the anyone's plans as there are a few unplanned for events or actions as well.

I definitely enjoyed this book that kept me on my toes and recommend it to others. Thanks NetGalley and Bantam books for the advanced copy.

A delightful must-read for fans of classical mysteries
When a renowned but mysterious thriller writer invites six other thriller writers for a week’s retreat on an island in Maine, everyone expects murder to be on the agenda, but they are not expecting the murder victim to be one of their number. A big storm prevents the attendees from leaving the island or even contacting authorities after the first body is found. The disappearances and deaths keep growing; the suspects keep shrinking; and the innocent guests begin to wonder who will be the next victim. The host remains unidentified, presenting another mystery for the guests to solve.
It is always a good sign when the opening sentence of a book makes me laugh, but the humor was only one of many things I enjoyed about You Are Fatally Invited. The structure is interesting; interspersed between the chapters telling the story, there are excerpts from books written by the attendees (with a few handwritten amendments) and excerpts from a book by the host on how to write about fear. The characters’ emotions and their dialogue are well done, too. As we come to know them we also come to learn there are mysteries in their own lives, also. There are intriguing references to other fiction, such as Neil Gaiman’s fantasy, The Ocean at the End of the Lane. My interest never waned as I followed the twisty plot, sympathized with the fear felt by the guests, and saw some of my favorite suspects die. There were some times when I became a bit confused as I followed all the characters and all the trails, but I do not know whether to blame the author for that or myself. Not surprisingly, the denouement was twisty but satisfying.
If you are looking for a mystery that is classic, clever, and a lot of fun, I would invite you to put this one at the top of your list.
I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley and Bantam Books

Love thrillers? You'll love You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego! Check this one out... but only if you have some free time because you won't want to put it down!

You Are Fatally Invited by Andy Pliego is a fun, fast-paced thriller that serves up a twist on the classic "whodunit" with a group of thriller authors trapped on an isolated island. Mila del Angél, hired to host a writing retreat for six suspense-loving authors, has her own agenda—one that involves a bit of murder. But things go awry when one of the guests is found dead—only it’s not the person Mila intended.

The book delivers plenty of intrigue and dark humor as the storm rages outside and the body count rises. With each character channeling their inner mystery writer, it’s a meta experience, full of tropes, riddles, and games, keeping you guessing. The premise is solid, and the setup is deliciously sinister, but somewhere along the way, the execution falls a bit short. The plot occasionally feels predictable, and the characters don’t always live up to the potential of their darkly comedic roles.

Still, You Are Fatally Invited is a page-turner with a good balance of suspense and humor. It’s a light, enjoyable read for fans of locked-room mysteries—just don’t expect to be completely floored by the twists.

I love the board game and the movie Clue, which is why I picked up this book. However, there were so many POVs and none of them had a true distinctive voice which made it hard to keep track of. The beginning also failed to hook me in. There was too many "fluffy" sentences that I just do not enjoy in my thrillers. This one seemed to be more of a slow burn. DNF'd at the 20% mark.

So twisty! This story felt like a darker version of the board game Clue came to life.

Six thriller writers are invited to a secluded island, by a host that no one has met. What was thought to be a writer's quickly turns into something more sinister. Everyone is not who they say they are and trying to figure out the clues kept me turning the pages. There were a few slow parts but a couple pages later, the story picks up at avalanche speed. Loved this one!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

I will be raving about this book for the rest of the year. The storyline is great, but the writing takes it to a whole other level.

This story starts with a group of writers, meeting for a themed writing retreat. The elusive, but incredibly well-respected and admired author, J.R. Alastor is hosting at his island lodge in Maine. There is immediate tension between the characters but they forge along to Wolf's Head Lodge. Some have history, and the shrouded secrets and tension are simmering from the first page.

This story has "And Then There Were None" and locked room vibes. That's pretty obvious just from the book synopsis. However, what I LOVED about this story was the writing. The author takes a common feeling and uses beautiful language to convey it and it doesn't feel distracting, but unique and refreshing.

Another aspect of this story is the concept of the unreliable narrator. Every single character is unreliable, all in different, and sometimes deadly, ways. As the story goes on, I was completely unsure of who our villain truly was. With every character hiding secrets from their past, even the present becomes murky with uncertainty. The author does an amazing job at making the reader relate to the characters, and then suddenly...you're not sure you can trust them anymore.

Hands down, this is a five-star, favorite book of 2025 for me. I know it's early but this book was just THAT good. This book is fantastic for those who love trapped rooms, secrets, and deadly games between (sort of) friends.

I remain in awe of authors who can keep this kind of story so tight and so straight. There are so many characters, all who had deep, dark secrets, and all who have reason to be the bad guy. That it flowed so smoothly and tied it up in the end is simply astonishing. Nicely done.
The details are pretty good, but I would have loved to get a better view of the house. I got a little lost sometimes because I didn’t know how they got from point A to point B. .

Immediate yes from chapter 1. A thrilling debut from Ande Pliego, the story is set around a writer’s retreat hosted by reclusive author J.R. Alastor. It features a cast of writers trapped in a real life murder mystery, all with secrets, hidden agendas, and motive to kill each other. This is not only a story about writers, but a book for writers. The story throws every trope into it, but done in a very self-aware, almost meta way. It also contains a ton of thought provoking lines, especially in the excerpts of J.R. Alastor's book that pepper the story as breaks between chapters.

For fans of Agatha Christie, Clue, and/or Knives Out

Recommend if you like:
- Locked room and/or closed circle mystery
- Opulent settings
- Strong character development
- Twists and turns
- Ensemble / multiple POVs
- Flawed characters

Cons:
- No spoilers, but some the characters motivations unraveled for me a little bit towards the end. I'm not sure the resolution fully landed with me, but it was a really fun ride getting there.

Highly recommend for fans of the genre, and I’ll absolutely be reading future work by the author. Note: the book does contain some horror with occasional graphic descriptions. Thank you NetGalley, Random House, Ballantine Books, Bantam for an advance copy of #YouAreFatallyInvited. Releasing Feb 11, 2025!

4.5 Stars rounded up to 5

Thank you to Penguin Random House and Bantam Books for an early electronic. All opinions are my own.

I cannot believe this is a debut. A book about books and authors, murders of all sorts, and a locked room mystery done so well. Entertaining to be sure.

Six authors of thrillers convene on a private island owned by the famous author and recluse, J. R. Alastor. Along with a couple of staff members and Mila del Angél, hired as event coordinator. Everyone has secrets. Of course they do. They also are masters of writing twisty tales of murder. When one author goes missing and is found dead, the finger pointing begins and the body count starts. Even better, the killer is using the author's own works as a manuscript for murder.

This book reads as if it were the game of Clue on the pages. Fun read and highly recommend.

If this is a debut, I can’t wait until we get more from this author. The story did feel pretty slow for the first 50-60%, and I think that will lose some people, but I sprinted through until the end. I loved the Clue elements and the sections divided into common mystery/thriller tropes.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

A fantastic premise, a locked room/island mystery populated with mystery writers. I was sucked in initially, especially when each of the writers were trying to figure out the fatal game being played, using their own experiences as mystery writers. Then story is unfolded so slowly and was told from so many perspectives that I kept getting confused about which perspective I was reading. There wasn;t enough distinction between the various voices. It was a convoluted story, and the characters were pretty one dimensional so that when the predictable big reveal came about I really didn't care about it. I can't really recommend this one.

thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for an advanced reader copy.