The Game is Murder

In Ward’s clever and unusual debut, the reader is put to work solving a murder, their task propelled by a sassy narrator who insults them throughout. The tale opens with murder-mystery dinner at which guests hear the story of a nanny who’s murdered in a case of mistaken identity; when the former man of the house, Lord Verreman, discovers that he hasn’t killed his wife, Lady Verreman is able to escape. At least, that’s what police believe. At the dinner, guests are told of various anomalies at the scene and alibis and motives for others connected to the case, and are led through the inquest after the nanny’s autopsy. Then the viewpoint switches: a detective is hired by the rich couple’s son and is required to visit the the home where the murder happened, hear the evidence—in a most unusual delivery—and reveal the culprit. These first two sections are unusual enough, but the third tops them: the reader is presented with all the evidence and must make choices step by step as to what they believe, in the end reaching a verdict of their own (a contract is in place, after all). What an intriguing start for this author!