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The Murder Game

by Linda Suzane



      When mystery writer Gwen Wilson is offered the job of producing a Murder Game as part of Lawrence Van Hise's seventieth birthday celebration, she has more than one motive for accepting. Though no one appears to recognize her now, from the ages of ten to thirteen Gwen called Hillside Cottage home. Her mother, Sylvia, was Lawrence's housekeeper and Lawrence's son Hunter (a thirteen-year-old-bully-turned-sixteen-year-old-heartthrob) was a frequent feature in young Gwen's diary.

Even twenty years later, Hunter still causes Gwen's heart to race and, this time around, he seems equally intrigued with her. But that's before clues surface linking Lawrence to Sylvia's death, before Gwen's game provides the blueprint for Lawrence's murder and before Gwen emerges as the most likely suspect.

Having a personal fondness for stories set in California, featuring heroines who return home after a prolonged absence, I fully expected to enjoy The Murder Game and I was not disappointed. This is an excellent mystery in the classic, cozy tradition.  All the usual suspects are assembled; motives—both apparent and less than—are in no short supply; no one's alibi is sound; and inclement weather, which sets in shortly after the murder is discovered, keeps everyone from leaving until the mystery is resolved.

Ms. Suzane takes all these time honored set-pieces and gives them a new twist—a whole series of twists, actually—which will keep you happily guessing right up until the end. Gwen makes a most engaging amateur sleuth, one who is forced to uncover the real murderer in order to clear herself of suspicion, rather than for other, far less reasonable motives and I can only hope Ms. Suzane is planning more mysteries for her to solve.

The Book

Wings Press
September 2008
Trade Paperback
978-1-59705-343-3
Romantic Mystery
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE:

The Reviewer

PG Forte
Reviewed 2008
NOTE: Reviewer PG Forte is the author of Let Me Count the Ways, Love, from A To Z, Waiting for the Big One, and the Oberon series..
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