Two of my favorite things...Maine and locked room mysteries. I could even add a third..a phenomenal debut. Add all of those things together, and you have Ande Pliego's You Are Fatally Invited. Everything about this book just works, from the initial idea of bringing authors (all of whom are hiding secrets) together for a weeklong retreat to the premise that the killer might in fact be one of them. Every once in a while I find a debut author that I just have to know what they're writing next, because I have a feeling they might just become a new favorite author, and I'm definitely getting that vibe from You Are Fatally Invited!

BOOK: You Are Fatally Invited
AUTHOR: Ande Pliego
PUB DATE: February 11, 2025, by Bantam
PAGES: 371
RATING: 5 stars
GENRE: Murder Suspense/Thriller

A H U G E Thank You to NetGalley, Bantam, and the author for gifting me an advanced digital in exchange for my honest review!

QUICK & SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: This book was difficult to put down. It was intriguing, and I found it to be a great whodunnit murder mystery and even better than CLUE! If you’re looking for a terrific book that will keep you guessing until the end, be sure to pick this one up!

Elusive author J.R. Alastor invites a handful of mystery writers to an island for a retreat; however, they do not know the real reason they are there and how they are tied to each other. They are all keeping secrets, and J.R. is determined to shed some light on them, all the while maintaining their anonymity. Mila is the one who organized everything, but even she does not know what is happening when people start showing up missing every day; she also has her own ulterior motive. Can the remaining players make it off the island and discover Alastor’s true identity? The writing was unique because it also had pieces of J.R.’s work sprinkled throughout the story. The book was self aware and knew a plot twist was needed. I really enjoyed the Clue game and how it came into play.

I love locked room mysteries, especially ones that involve other writers with mastermind games afoot, but I couldn't connect with this one. I'm not sure if it was because of all the different whirling POV's or what, but I had difficulty settling into the characters and storyline. Unfortunately, this didn't work for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Thank you Ballantine and PRH audio for review copies, You are Fatally Invited is a fun twisty read, particularly excellent on audio for a multi voice, engaging performance. A group of authors who are so much more than who/what they seem, competing revenge plots that ensnare an unwitting but savvy main character, and a growing unease ala locked room tropes and a missing dead body... these are great plot devices that should work and in a lot of ways they do. Overall this is a fun read, engaging for the ideas and perfect for a deadly trapped on an island mystery. The moody setting is particularly well executed!

For me though at times the pacing, especially early on, lagged and I found myself sitting and trying to get more oriented to a story that in many ways was already in progress, I just needed a little more set up and character development at the start of the book. This often happens to me with multi character suspense reads, as a reader I often feel placed in the middle of the story without knowing the who/what/where of the plot and for me this is alienating, even if clues come together later. Slow burn works for me often but I need a hook, to be sucked into wanting to get to the reveals, the pay offs and I never quite got to the can't put this down, what will happen vibe.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I loved this book and read it in one sitting. I could not put it down, I just had to know what was going to happen. I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance e-book.
This book was so good. I immediately went out and purchased a finish copy.. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future

3.5 ⭐️’s
When a reclusive author invites six additional thriller authors to a writer’s retreat on a remote island, all are not overjoyed to be there, but also don’t want to miss it. Mila has been hired by Alastor to help mastermind a week of games, riddles, puzzles and so much more. Mila has her own agenda for being there along with the six writers. All have secrets, and all they need to do is confess those secrets and they will live, but the rules seem to change abruptly and with a storm on the way and no way to get off the island, will any of them survive? A new twist to an old plot, only made this an OK read. Thank you to Bantam and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I love a good locked door/stranded on a small island mystery. Six writers enthusiastically accept an invitation to a private island owned by a reclusive writer for an exclusive writers retreat. Horror writers all, they are not surprised to learn it is to have a mystery to solve at every dinner. What they don’t know is that their host and the hosts accomplice have some very troubling games waiting for the, Things start to go wrong pretty quickly. It becomes clear early on that Mila, the event coordinator, is there for her own revenge on the author who stole her book and published it as their own. She doesn’t know why Alastor wants to punish the rest of the authors and she doesn’t care.

Each of the characters is very well written. For a bunch of people who could come off as very similar, they are very distinguishable. Not just by the kind of horror or mysteries that they write. The fun of a story about writers is matching them to possible real life author you know. There is the young new writer, the old and well-published writer, with everything in between. We find out how each of the guests are connected bit by bit up until the very end. From the first night, they start getting picked off.

There are quite a few mysteries to solve. Which writer stole Mila’s book? Is one of the Alastor? If so, which one? Instead of answering any of them early on, more questions come from practically everywhere. My favorite clue is Clue. A personalized version including each of the people on the island. There’s a handy picture of the game board at the beginning of the book. This is where we find out that every single one of them has something to hide. Something big. So we have to figure out who is who because no one wants to admit what they have done right up front.

I just couldn’t put this one down. I read it in my comfy chair with very little interruption. I’m pretty proud to say I did figure some of them out. I had two characters completely backwards, though. It was so much fun that I just bought the book for my daughter.

I think that this is going to be a most talked about book this year. I've read a lot of similar books - private island with no escape and people are dwindling.... But this one spun together the story in a really interesting way that kept my attention. The multiple POVs, backgrounds, mystery, lies, twists & turns..... I should have kept a notebook on the suspects/characters & the storyline. Well put together. I look forward to the next book from this author.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Ande Pliego's 'You Are Fatally Invited'.
This is a twisty thriller that kept me guessing until the end. The author did a great job of making the island come alive. The various perspectives propelled the story along while weaving present-day and flashbacks of each character's back story.
4 stars, highly recommend!

I just finished You Are Fatally Invited, and this one took me by surprise. I give it 3.5 stars . At first, I thought it would be your typical ‘writers on a remote island, people start dying’ setup, but the twists got me good. I didn’t see everything coming, and trying to piece together who did what kept me on my toes. A little chaotic at times, but overall, a solid, well-executed thriller. Definitely recommend if you like books that keep you guessing!

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for honest review !

Unfortunately, you can only be surprised by the plot of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None once. For those, like me, who long for a similar plot, there is the new locked room mystery, You Are Fatally Invited.

Six authors, all with secrets to hide, are stuck on an island and the bodies keep piling up. The architect of the setup may, or may not, be among the island’s guests. His accomplice has her own secret murder plan. Then someone surprising is found murdered. Could there be another guest with his or her own vendetta?

You Are Fatally Invited is a hoot! I did have some problems initially with remembering each author’s backstories. Many seemed very similar and only one, the elderly Cassandra, had a distinctive voice. However, by a quarter into the book, their actions within the book began to make them easier to remember. Despite this minor issue, the plot is such fun! It reminds me of all the classic mystery movies I’ve loved. It’s Clue but without all the French farce running around action. This book is more of a homage than a parody.

There are quite a few twists in the plot, which I loved. And a rather workmanlike conclusion, which I didn’t. I recommend this book for Agatha Christie fans, just don’t set your expectations too high. 4 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for providing me with an advanced review copy.

Absolutely loved this book. Deadly and intriguing interpretation of Clue. I appreciated the tropes alignment too. Excellent for book club discussion. Only minor things is that I think the book could have ended without the last chapter and epilogue, but that's being not picky and I still loved it.

I snuck this one in as a last minute February read. I've got mixed feelings. I liked the "Clue" structure of the plot. Starting with the map, it was clear that we would be looking for a resolution with a whodunnit, with what weapon and where. That morphed into whodunnit, what was their 'secret' occupation, and what sin were they being punished for.

I had a lot of trouble keeping all of the characters/voices/"sins" straight. The introduction of excerpts from the characters' books only made things more confusing. (As the body count mounted, it got easier.)

I thought the "reveal" was clever, and surprising. The author did a good job of tying up some loose ends that had bothered me. I was sufficiently surprised by the twists to feel like the read was worth it in the end.

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

This book started out a bit slow but ramped up at the midway point. It’s a locked-room / Christie-esque thriller with a unique twist that kept me guessing.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book was SOOO good! What a fun, wild ride! You Are Fatally Invited takes And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie and several other well-known thriller/horror tropes and tips them on their head. This story truly kept me guessing until the very end, and I read it in a day! So, so good, and definitely one of my favorites of the year!

A delightfully twisty debut thriller! I loved watching Clue as a kid and this gave me similar vibes with characters that aren't quite who they say they are, secret passageways and questionable past of all involved. Thank you Random House Publishing Group Ballantine and NetGalley for an ARC!

I always love a locked room mystery and this one was executed very well. I liked the way the author played with different thriller tropes and tied in elements from Clue. This was all around a fun read!

You are fatally invited is a strong debut by ands piliego. Mila is a hired host for the mysterious author Alastors writing retreat. Mila has never seen alastor and has only communicated in writing with the anonymous writer. Mila agrees to host a writers retreat for Alastor and 6 famous authors are invited to attend on the mansion on an isolated island for a weekend of collaboration, learning, and games. Mila is tasked with executing the plans, but is there for her own reason-she labs to murder one of the authors. However, as the weekend begins, an author falls dead, but not the one Mila planned. Suddenly, Mila realizes she’s is playing a very different game and must try to navigate the tropes of a locked-room murder mystery to survive. Each of the authors has something to hide and all have been chosen for a reason-who will survive the weekend and who is the mysterious alastor pulling the strings?

I really enjoyed this book! I love a locked room mystery as it is, but sometimes find them to execute the trope well. Piligeo crafts a well executed and tightly wound mystery with hidden identities, a creepy isolated setting, gory deaths, and an impending sense of dread with a building claustrophobia. This has come the closest to invoking Christie’s and then there were none than any closed circle mystery in the modern era. Short chapters will keep the readers turning the pages and the mystery builds to a twisty (but fair) denouement. The points of view are constantly shifting between the authors, which can make it somewhat harder to follow at times. That does not hinder the enjoyment of the plot or atmosphere though for this worthwhile debut!

Thanks to the publisher for the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.