The Murder Game by Carrie Doyle

The Murder Game

by Carrie Doyle

Boarding school has never been more dangerous.
What if your roommate is a murderer? Or what if he's being framed and only you can save him?
Luke Chase made history as a child when he escaped a kidnapping. Now, all he wants is to be a normal teenager. So when he sneaks out to the woods one night to drink with friends and flirt with the new British girl at school, he's excited to feel some freedom.
Except the next morning, one of their teachers is found murdered—in the exact same spot where they had been partying. Soon, Luke's roommate and best friend Oscar is the #1 suspect.
As the evidence and list of suspects builds, Luke attempts to use his famous survival skills to find the killer and clear Oscar's name. But as Luke gets closer to the truth, the killer is getting closer to Luke.
The Murder Game is perfect for fans of:They Wish They Were Us and One of Us Is LyingMurder mystery books for teensTeen thrillersYoung adult suspense

Reviewed by Kim Deister on

3 of 5 stars

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I wanted to be absorbed by this book, as I wish with every thriller I read. But I just couldn’t fully fall into it.

Some of this was because of the characterization, I think. The characters are quite archetypical. Oscar was cast as the bad boy, and thusly the main suspect. Luke was his opposite, the good guy with the heart of gold, determined to prove his friend innocent. And, of course, they were best friends. There’s nothing wrong with this, of course. There just didn’t seem to be a lot of depth to their dynamic, which made it feel as an easy device to progress the story. Enter Pippa, Luke’s secret crush, who has secrets of her own that make her an easy suspect. Then we have Mrs. Heckler, the young and beautiful wife who is a teacher and married to the Dean. I felt like she was painted a little bit with the same brush as in The Scarlet Letter, the upstart harlot. There’s also the Dean’s ex-wife, who also works at the school and seems entirely too okay with her ex and his new wife. And, of course, the Dean himself, who comes off as a bit of a narcissist. A lot of suspects, a lot of characters, and not a ton of depth with any other than Oscar, Pippa, and Luke.

It also really bothered me how much sexuality seemed to be used as a joke. No one in the book seems to identify as anything other than straight. In and of itself, that’s fine as sexuality isn’t in any way a part of the storyline. However, it becomes downright offensive how often other-than-straightness is used in a flippant way. The students joke about girls cheating because they are lesbians. Even a teacher jokes with Luke and Oscar about being gay, even using the phrase “don’t ask, don’t tell” as a punchline. It’s a lot.

The premise of the book was good, and I think if it had been a little more developed it, I would have loved it. I didn’t hate the book by any means. I just wanted… more.

I do wonder about the cover, though. I’m not entirely sure how the title or the tally marks relate to the story. But that is neither here nor there. Another thing that gave me pause… the insertion of narrative about British news coverage of Pippa and her troubles. Everything, even the quotes, was written in American English instead of British English.

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Reading updates

  • 13 August, 2021: Started reading
  • 16 August, 2021: Finished reading
  • 22 November, 2021: Reviewed