Synopsis:
Everyone has a secret. Everyone has a motive. But only one of them brought a knife to the party . . .
To celebrate the end of high school, Izzy Morales joins her best friend Kassidy and five friends on a luxury 1920s-themed getaway at the glamorous Ashwood Manor. There, Izzy and her friends party in vintage dresses and expensive diamonds – until Kassidy’s boyfriend turns up dead.
And when a raging storm traps them on the island with two detectives, the sparkling young socialites become the prime suspects in his murder. There’s the girlfriend, and the other girl. The old friend, and the new friend. The brooding enigma. And then, there’s Izzy – the girl who brought the knife . . .
Review:
Suddenly a Murder was a pretty good murder mystery. It wasn’t the most surprising read as I did manage to guess some of the twists, but it was an entertaining read.
This was a little slow to get started, and I found it hard to connect with the characters–they’re really not very likeable–but once the story got going, it became a quicker read. It was fun to see how the stories intertwined and a few of the twists were good, not shocking, but interesting.
A few of the storylines were quite rushed, especially the one with one of the detectives–I won’t say more because I don’t want to give away any big plot points. Although, I do think if Suddenly a Murder was any longer, it would have become boring.
I did enjoy the whole premise of the book. Setting a murder mystery in an isolated mansion is such a classic horror trope. I love it. Having the characters be in 1920s outfits was the icing on the cake. There had to be a reason why modern-day teens couldn’t use their phones and this one was perfect, it really set a tense atmosphere.
Izzy was an interesting main character. As an outsider to her group of spoiled rich friends, you’re pretty much made to believe she’s the culprit all along. She has multiple motives to be the killer. But is she? I won’t tell, that’s a huge spoiler.
The ‘romance’ element was probably the most boring part. Whenever the book cut to a flashback of Izzy and Marlowe I just wanted to jump back into the mystery. I didn’t care that they liked each other, it felt irrelevant.
I also didn’t enjoy how the perspective would flip between first and third person. The chapters set in the past were in third person and the present ones in first. I understand that this is to make it clear when it’s happening, but it just made the story feel disjointed.
Overall, Suddenly a Murder was an entertaining read with a fairly surprising end. Although the characters weren’t terribly likeable, they were very interesting and seeing how their relationships changed throughout and how they affected the mystery was great. I’d recommend this book if you’re looking for a quick mystery.
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