✨An exclusive thriller writer’s retreat hosted on a private island turns lethal when one of the authors is found murdered in this twisty locked room mystery.✨

Let me tell you, this narrative is a whirlwind of twists and turns, but it’s so wonderfully captivating. Typically, I struggle to keep track of characters, yet surprisingly, this book excels in character development, making the journey feel much more intimate and allowing me to remember each character distinctly. Of course, those shocking twists leave you questioning everything you thought you understood, adding another layer of complexity to the reading experience. There are so many layers! I’m still definitely digesting this one, but I can, with certainty, say this may just be one of my favorite mystery books ever. It’s like a grown-up version of CLUE.

The breadcrumbs sprinkled throughout were perfect. I can’t even count how many times I was fooled. The multiple POVs really helped with the trickery, as did the little excerpts thrown in from one of the characters’ books. I honestly feel pretty proud of myself for guessing one of the more significant twists because, wow! It is hard to say more without spoilers, but one of the twists had me so happy and relieved. And the ending? Perfect.

Some people might find this plot confusing, but it will all become clear by the end if you persevere. You have to give this one a try!!! The expected publication date is February 11, 2025. Go pre-order if you haven’t yet! 🔪🩸

Thank you sooooooo much, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam, for providing me with an ARC of this upcoming mystery/thriller. As always, all thoughts are my own. 🖤

I really liked this book! The beginning of my review may not sound complementary but bare with me.

Okay, so I hate this trope. A bunch of people with a secret lured to an isolated location by an unknown party with an axe to grind. That hasn't been original since Agatha Christie came up with it. It's probably the single most abused trope there is. Only a handful of writers has ever done it any justice and this author was one of them.

There's no original idea under the Sun. Everything has been done multiple times. At this point, an authors challenge isn't to write a new idea, its to write an old one in a new way. Most can't accomplish that, in my opinion anyway. Many of today's popular authors can't write to save their lives. They have one good book then use the same formula for everything that follows. Ghost writers support some of the "Literary Giants" because they haven't had an original thought in decades. (No one can write 3 books a year, okay.)

I'm 34 and, believe it or not, I've been reading since I was 2. I've read thousands of books and it's become a challenge to find one I actually enjoy. I've become jaded because it's all been done better before.

So, imagine my surprise to find such an aged idea in such a new way! This author took Agatha Christies "And Then There Were None" and made it her own. She didn't pretend it was a new idea, the book itself acknowledges that these tropes are old and tired. Then she gave them new life! I loved it! It was refreshing and beautiful. And this is the best book I've read this year!

One of the things I dislike most about these plots is the paranoid atmosphere. Everyone scrambling to save their own lives, manipulating and backstabbing each other. It's boring and makes it impossible for me to root for anyone. (I cannot read a book where I don't care about at least one character, or worse, want everyone to die.) But this book gave us options. The MC, Mila, was not perfect. She hated, manipulated, got involved in the scheme somewhat knowingly, etc. Even planned her own murder. But, it worked. I liked Ash. I even liked Olivia. The book was also funny. I'm a sucker for some good sarcasm!

My one complaint is that I wanted more. I really wanted to know more about the the villian. We get the motivation but not a lot of explanation on how. I would also like to know more about Olivia, not a novel, but a short story would be nice. Oh, and why did the old lady kill her husband? We didn't get an explanation on that either.

The writing is very "lofty" so it took me a minute to become immersed in the story. However, I think fans of slower-paced character-driven stories will appreciate this book. I'm not sure quote what to compare the author to, maybe Agatha Christie premise with Taylor Adams insight and Sarah Goodwin pacing? I love the inclusion of tropes as riddles and traps to avoid, and I would readily watch this in movie form.

Reading this book was a rollercoaster experience, with the author skillfully incorporating classic writing tropes, teaching readers about the crime fiction writing process while taking them on a thrilling adventure that simulates a writer's retreat. The author presented the perspectives of all characters, allowing readers to become intimately acquainted with each one, making this a character-driven thriller.

📢 Calling All Mystery Lovers📢

🔪🪦✍️📚✉️🩸

Imagine an isolated island, a group of thriller authors with something to hide and everything to lose, and a retreat packed with plot twists, genre tropes, and games. Mila, the host with her own dark agenda, quickly finds herself entangled in a real-life whodunit when a guest winds up dead—but not the one she planned! With a relentless storm, mounting tension, and a killer who seems to anticipate every twist, the story races toward a deadly conclusion. Perfect for fans of clever, locked-room mysteries, this one is an absolute page-turner that'll keep you guessing until the end! Congrats on the debut, Ande!!

In You Are Fatally Invited entführt uns Ande Pliego in die düstere und spannende Welt eines exklusiven Schreib-Retreats auf einer privaten Insel, wo das Spiel mit dem Tod eine ganz neue Bedeutung erhält. 🏝️✍️

Die Geschichte beginnt mit Mila del Angél, einer ehemaligen aufstrebenden Schriftstellerin, die von dem berühmten anonymen Autor J. R. Alastor eingeladen wird, um einen einwöchigen Workshop für Thriller-Autoren zu leiten. Mila hat nicht nur ihre Leidenschaft für das Schreiben im Gepäck, sondern auch eine persönliche Rechnung mit einem der Teilnehmer.

Der Aufbau ist geschickt, da Pliego die Spannung von Anfang an aufbaut. Sechs talentierte Autoren, jeder mit eigenen Geheimnissen und Abgründen, versammeln sich in Alastors prächtigem Anwesen. Die Stimmung ist unheimlich, und die interaktiven Spiele, die als Unterhaltung gedacht sind, verwandeln sich schnell in einen Überlebenskampf, als ein Mord geschieht – und nicht der, den Mila geplant hatte.

Die Handlung nimmt rasant Fahrt auf, als ein Sturm die Insel vom Festland abschneidet und die Protagonistin gezwungen ist, sich einem Killer zu stellen, der die Tricks und Kniffe des Genres nur zu gut kennt. Mila muss nicht nur ihre eigenen Pläne überdenken, sondern auch herausfinden, wem sie noch trauen kann, während die Zahl der Verdächtigen und Opfer gleichermaßen sinkt.

Pliego schafft es, die Leser mit cleveren Wendungen und einem unvorhersehbaren Finale zu fesseln. Die Atmosphäre ist dicht, die Dialoge scharf und die Charaktere vielschichtig, was das Buch zu einem echten Page-Turner macht.

You Are Fatally Invited ist nicht nur ein spannender Thriller, sondern auch eine Hommage an das Schreiben selbst, an die Macht der Geschichten und die Dunkelheit, die in jeder von ihnen lauern kann. Ein absolutes Muss für Fans von Krimis und psychologischen Thrillern! 🔪📚

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of You Are Fatally Invited.

The title is was what drew my eye to the premise but a part of me thought, here we go again, another locked room mystery.

Personal experience tells me this won't end well and I was right.

I love revenge stories and the premise sounded right up my alley, an anonymous author, an aspiring writer bent on revenge, a big mansion on an isolated island, creepy games and riddles to solve.

What's not to like:

A lot.

Let's start with the cast; not one character is likable though some people experience a bit of growth at the end.

But does that mean I like them? No.

The narrative drags, oh boy, does it drag. Lots of exposition, lots of POVs, lots of talk about suspense and thriller tropes, which is meta since the book is exploiting those very tropes.

All the reader has to figure out is how each character knows each other and in what capacity, but the story is purposely bogged down with dull, monotonous filler about each character's backstory and the books they wrote.

The writing was good, but also too wordy, too verbose...too much.

The story was boring. Even when people start dropping like flies, it took too long to get there and it's hard to care since I didn't like anyone.

Everything was TOO hard to suspend disbelief for; the elaborate schemes, the devious machinations, the setup.

I guessed Mila's ulterior motive but her need for vengeance seemed lame especially after waiting a decade to enact her plan.

This is no Count of Monte Cristo; even the identity of the reclusive author was a downer, and not because I figured out who it was early on.

If you love locked room mysteries and clever tropes, this one is a must-read! The story follows a group of bestselling thriller authors who are lured to a private island for a writing retreat, only to find themselves caught in a deadly game. The mix of mystery, dark humor, and meta-commentary on the genre was fantastic. The switching between narrators wasn’t confusing, and the tension built perfectly as secrets were revealed. While there were a couple of over-the-top moments, the creative plot and eerie setting kept me hooked. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie!

I love a good thriller, and I was absolutely in the mood for one. The title drew me in and made me think of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.

The idea that thriller, horror, and mystery writers were lured to a remote island for a writing retreat was so exciting. The theme of revenge and justice had me guessing the whole time about who to trust. The plot twists were fantastic and completely out of nowhere.

The story started a bit slowly for me, but once it took off, I couldn’t stop reading. I really enjoyed the ending and that it was straightforward. I’d definitely recommend this to friends and followers!

My review will appear on Goodreads and my instagram, @rebekahreadsbooks, between the dates of October 28 and November 1.

A fairly strong debut. I enjoyed this book overall. I just had a few hang ups with it, but nothing major.

A private manor house. An isolated island. A group of authors each hiding a secret. This book had all the promise of what I love in a stellar locked room mystery. But sadly it did not reach that promise for me.
At the beginning, the Clue like atmosphere had me hooked. But it quickly became full of so many clichés that nothing felt original. The big reveal that we wait the entire book for is only possible because of an overused trope, that cheapens the entire story. I do think it was quite clever how all the plot points were intertwined by the end but it just wasn't enough to save this book for me.

Thank you to the publisher for the free copy in exchange for my honest review.

The idea of reading a book that was like a more grown up version of Clue really caught my attention. Six mystery/thriller/horror writers are invited to a super mysterious retreat that is hosted by a fellow mystifying author. Things definitely go sideways and there is a lot to figure out.

The pacing was erratic. It was so slow for a while and then some action would start happening and it would be moving too fast, but then it slowed right down again and seemed to get stuck there. It was hard to push through at times. That's not to say it wasn't entertaining. There were multiple POV's and unreliable narrators which I'm always a fan of. I enjoyed trying to piece together who was who and challenged myself to figure out the hosts endgame.

The authors in this book talk about all the different mystery and thriller tropes which felt very meta because this story falls prey to several of those tropes itself. Some of the content was far-fetched. Some of it just didn't make sense or wasn't fully wrapped up. It was nice to see a tiny bit of character growth from a few people. I did find myself rooting for them a little even though they were all of questionable nature.

Overall, despite it not always being easy to follow, this is an enjoyable whodunnit with plenty of tropes and a lot of puzzle pieces to put together.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

At first I would want to go to this retreat but then will all the "problems" i think i would need to pass that one up. Very solid writing I loved the characters even the problem filled ones. I tried guessing the ending and I kept being surprised each time bravo

I just love an unreliable narrator with so many mysteries that you're not sure who to trust and what to think. Recommending!

This is one of the best locked room murder mysteries I have ever read!! I love that it takes place during a writers retreat and on an island. I would definitely recommend!

Saw the synopsis of this one and had to snag it on NetGalley! Everyone knows I’m a mystery/thriller girlie, so having all the tropes in one place is a dream come true for me. It kept me guessing until the very end, and then I continued to guess after that. Some parts seemed to be too cluttered or slow, but overall, a great debut!!!

Big thanks to NetGalley for this ARC! What a ride!!! This book was great and I couldn’t put it down. I read it all I. One weekend. Go ahead and add this to your TBR pile lol

I really enjoyed this one! I loved the setting and the characters. It was very atmospheric and I could picture myself in the setting. It was chilling and made me think about it long after it was done. I will be recommending this one for sure! Thank you for letting me read it early!

One of the better murder mysteries I’ve read! A good locked room murder mystery is a hard sell for me, there’s often some aspect that takes me out of it. There was one plot point that felt a little silly, and the token unlikable character felt overly obnoxious, but I still quite liked this! The main character’s personal stakes elevated the story for me.

I received this book as an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I love me a good murder mystery. This book takes the cake on that theme! The author gives you all of the people and it’s almost like a game of clue. You need to figure out who is connected to which crime by reading about each character. Then juuuuuust when you think you figured out who it was, a twist arrives! Then you are back to square one. This went on for chapter after chapter where I thought could there really be any more twists? And oh my god, there was! I sat here and wrote out names and professions and who I thought did what, and who I thought was the murderer! And I was still shocked in the end! This was an extremely well written book and I honestly muttered to myself “WTF” way too many times! I cannot wait for this to come out so I can snag me a copy of it!