Three Card Murder by J L Blackhurst

Three Card Murder

by J L Blackhurst

SOON TO BE ADAPTED FOR TV! The first in a gripping new mystery series introducing Detective Tess Fox and her con-artist sister Sarah Jacobs

’A tasty whodunnit’ The Sun

’Three deviously clever impossible crimes’ Gigi Pandian, Edgar-award winning author

’A real puzzle box of a story’ J.M. Hall, author of a A Spoonful of Murder

’An ending I never saw coming’ Faith Martin, multi-million-copy selling author

DI Tess Fox’s first murder scene has two big problems. One, the victim was thrown from the balcony of a flat locked from the inside. Two, Tess knows him.

But the biggest problem of all is Tess’s half-sister, Sarah. She has links to the deceased and has the skills and criminal background to mastermind a locked-room murder. But she’s a con-artist, not a killer.

When two more bodies turn up, Tess now has three locked room mysteries to solve and even more reason to be suspicious of Sarah. Can she trust someone who breaks the law for a living, even if she is family?

Tropes
🔒🚪 Locked room
🤷 Impossible crime
☠️☠️☠️ Multiple murders
🤼 Family feuds
🕵️‍♀️ Sherlockian detective

Readers LOVE Three Card Murder

‘Incredibly ingenious’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘One of the few authors where the twists leave me speechless’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘From the first sentence to the end I was hooked’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘This book was so much fun!’⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Has a narrative which is unique and one that you won't see coming’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Reviewed by annieb123 on

4 of 5 stars

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Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Three Card Murder is an appealingly convoluted locked room mystery series opener by J. L. Blackhurst. Released 31st Aug 2023 by HarperCollins on their HQ imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook format. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. 

Locked room/impossible mysteries are perennially popular. There are classic examples from the golden age (John Dickson Carr, Fredric Brown, Craig Rice, Ellery Queen) straight through to the modern day (Tom Mead, Gigi Pandian, Ruth Ware, Lucy Foley). This is a promising start to a new series full of impossible crimes. 

The author has a very deft hand with characterization and the settings and pacing are well done (albeit a bit choppy in the back-and-forth time jumps... but once readers find their feet, it's mostly smooth sailig). 

The main protagonists, who are a sister duo, one a cop, one a criminal, are appealingly clever, sharply intelligent and intriguingly convoluted; in a lot of ways, con-artist Sarah is more straightforward and uncomplicated than her detective sister, Tess. 

The ending is surprising, but somewhat unsatisfying, since it ends on a huge cliffhanger which foreshadows the next book in the series. In the plus column, there are now two books extant in the series, so readers can progress to the second book to find out what comes next without any delay.

The unabridged audiobook format has a run time of 9 hours 49 minutes and is capably narrated by Candida Gubbins. She has a classically trained, well modulated alto voice and handles the disparate regional character accents of both sexes and a range of ages very well. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read. Ms. Gubbins also narrates book 2 for those who enjoy continuity in their series reads.

Four stars. Well written and engaging. It would be a good choice for public or home library acquisition, or for a short binge/buddy read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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Reading updates

  • 3 January, 2025: Started reading
  • 3 January, 2025: Finished reading
  • 3 January, 2025: Reviewed