It’s that time of year … Christmas books are overflowing from bookshop shelves. And if you’re like me, you prefer something that’s a little bit on the dark side … something where the snow is not so pure and driven! The Twelve Days of Murder certainly ticks all the boxes for a twisty tale with lots of murky depths to plunder!
Blurb:
Eight friends created the exclusive Masquerade Murder Society while in college. The murders they solved were fictional—until their final masquerade, when one of the group disappeared. Twelve years later, the remaining members are invited to a reunion in the Scottish Highlands .
Twelve years ago, eight friends ran an exclusive group at The Masquerade Murder Society. The mysteries they solved may have been grisly, and brilliantly staged, but they were always fictional—until their final Christmas Masquerade, when one of the group disappeared, never to be seen again.
Now our young, privileged cast of old university friends are summoned to the depths of Scotland for a Christmas-themed masquerade party. But all are hiding something deep below the surface that could make or break their careers. Charley is a struggling actress who has always been on the periphery of this high-flying group, but has decided to reunite with her frenemies on the promise of career help if she joins the old cast for one last weekend.
When they arrive each is assigned a new identity themed around the “Twelve Days of Christmas”—they become Lady Partridge or Mr. Gold; Lord Leapworth or Doctor Swan. The game begins, and it feels just like old times. Until the next morning, when Lady Partridge is found hanging—dead—from a pear tree.
It quickly becomes clear that in this game the murder will be all too real, and the story is bringing long-hidden secrets to the surface. Will Charley’s discerning eye and outsider status allow her to uncover the truth, or will she, too, fall prey to the murderer among them?
If the group hopes to win the game and survive until Christmas morning, they will need to face the truth about their history together and who they have become—and what really happened on that fateful night twelve years before.
My review:
I was hooked right from the beginning. The story is told from Charley’s point of view, and right from the start we learn that she’s always been the outsider to this rather elite, snobby group. Just like her, the reader immediately wonders why she was included twelve years ago, and why, now that someone has chosen to revive their escapades, they’ve chosen to include her again when it’s clear that something went very wrong all those years ago.
Charley is uncomfortable from the start, but just as she is an outsider, so is the reader, and we’re able to gain insight into the other players, realizing that they too are not as at ease as they might seem. It’s Charley’s assumption that the group’s pre-existing connections and network have cushioned their paths over the years in which she hasn’t seen them, ensuring a charmed life for them all, and even if they haven’t had regular contact, they’ve all remained in each others’ orbit, unlike her who lives in an entirely different galaxy!
A sense of unease prevails throughout, and if Charley was not so preoccupied with her own anxieties (both real and imagined) she would be able to see through their faux confidence. Their Masquerade Murder Society was originally created so that they could all play different roles and find a bit of escapism and creativity from what they considered to be their mundane lives at the time, and now here they are, reunited twelve years later, having to play the most important roles of their lives: themselves, in all their true and authentic glory! What will the outcome be? They’re almost immediately plunged into panic when one of the party is found hanging from a tree!
This is an absolutely delicious, devious, delectable read that I couldn’t get through fast enough. The setting is almost another character – an isolated gothic manor house, cut off from the outside world due to a snowstorm. There’s no landline and no wi-fi, so our (mostly rather unlikeable) characters need to rely on themselves or each other … who will they choose to trust?
Thank you to Compulsive Readers and Zaffre Books for a fabulous Blog Tour!
Jan's Book Buzz 
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