Toured To Death

by H. Conrad

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

The description immediately made me think of Clue. It's my favorite boardgame and I adore the movie, so I knew I had to read Toured to Death. Amy and her mother have started up a travel agency, but they don't just ship clients off to exotic locations. They specialize in custom excursions. Their newest one is a live action, murder mystery, role playing game set in Monte Carlo. Twenty-four wealthy patrons have gathered to take part in the whodunit, but then the game creator gets murdered, as well as one of the players. On top of that, the game was based on a real murder whom some of the players were present for. Coincidence? I think not.

Toured to Death is told in two parts. I loved the first half, but the format did make the mystery feel really long and drawn out. The beginning is all the staged murder mystery for the guests to solve. They're all extremely into it, and become extra motivated to "win" when they learn of the creator's death. This part was so much fun! I adored this whole idea of getting to see a new city or country by running around and finding clues! Then around halfway, the game is over, a player dies right at the dinner table, and they suspect it was the same person who killed the creator and possibly the same murderer from the original case. But why?

The second half was good too, but it was less interesting to me, since Amy was back in the city and playing detective. She's mainly trying to get one of the team captains off the hook, since they were arrested back in Italy. I never figured out who the real murder was or why, and I was honestly shocked by the reveal. There are a few things in the beginning of Toured to Death that rubbed me the wrong way, but it turned out that they were hints for the murderer. While I did like this twist (yay diversity!), I do think it could have been handled better.

Toured to Death also isn't as clean as other Cozies I've read. I didn't mind, since I don't read them for their lack of suggestive content, but I know others do. There is some strong language at the end, and it really did feel out of place. It easily could have been left out, and actually fits with my "could have been handled better" opinion. There's also a bunch of sex jokes and talks of sex throughout. Plus two characters are killed on the page rather than off, which I understand is the norm. Otherwise, this is another fun mystery.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.