Suddenly a Murder
YA Mystery
G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
September 5, 2023
E-ARC
320
NetGalley
July 12- 28, 2023
Seven friends throw a 1920s-themed party, where it's all pretend—until one of them is murdered. One of Us Is Lying meets Knives Out in this killer locked-room mystery.
Someone brought a knife to the party.
To celebrate the end of high school, Izzy Morales joins her ride-or-die Kassidy and five friends on a 1920s-themed getaway at the glamorous Ashwood Manor. There, Izzy and her friends party in vintage dresses and expensive diamonds—until Kassidy's boyfriend turns up dead.
Murdered, investigators declare when they arrive at the scene, and now every party guest is a suspect. There's the girlfriend, in love. The other girl, in despair. The old friend, forlorn. The new friend, distressed. The brooding enigma. And then, there's Izzy—the girl who brought the knife.
To find the killer, everyone must undergo a grueling interrogation, all while locked in an estate where, suddenly, the greatest luxury is innocence.
Review
The blurb for this book compares it to One of Us is Lying and Knives Out… and while I can see the parallels, honestly, I think Suddenly a Murder is far more entertaining. I was engaged in the story from the very beginning.
Izzy is a student at a high school for rich kids, and the only reason she’s able to go there is because her mother is a teacher at the school. She and her bestie, Kassidy, are both obsessed with the 1920s and for a graduation gift, Kassidy rents out a beautiful historic house on a private island for Izzy, Kassidy, Kassidy’s boyfriend Blaine, and a group of their fellow graduates to celebrate their freedom from high school—bonus, this house was where one of their favorite 1920s movies was filmed!
Kassidy, being the dramatic young woman that she is, insists that in order for the week to be authentic, nothing modern is to be allowed on the island. That means no cellphones, no modern clothing, nothing! She’s stocked each room with period clothing for each guest and after instructing them to change, has everything modern shipped back to the main land. The week is going to be epic.
But not everything is champagne and glitter when one of them ends up dead. And we know from almost page one that Izzy brought the murder weapon to the island.
Enter the detectives who work to read between all of the lies and piece together the real story of what happened to Blaine, Kassidy’s boyfriend-of-four-years-turned-murder-victim. Everyone loved Blaine, who could do such a thing? But as the friends tell their stories, we quickly learn that more than one person has motive for murder.
To be honest, a lot of the characters blurred together. I don’t think this was poor writing, more just a me problem. I read this book in small pieces over a longer period of time than it would’ve taken me if I only read one book at a time, and when there are as many characters as this book has, and they’re all introduced relatively quickly, I sometimes struggle to keep them straight. I was able to keep up well enough and it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the story at all.
All of the characters in this book were enjoyable but my favorite was Pilar de León, the detective merely consulting on the investigation. She was a woman seemingly full of secrets, who could easily act like your best friend one moment only to arrest you the next. She was wonderful. I’d love to read more books based on her investigating crimes and mysteries.
As for the books ending…I didn’t call it. At all. I love when a book is able to literally keep me guessing until the very last pages and Lauren Muñoz succeeded in doing so. This is an author I will keep on my radar. I can’t wait to read what she comes up with next!
The only thing I didn’t like about this book was the cover (sorry!)
5 glorious stars for Suddenly a Murder and, hands down, one of my top reads for 2023.
* Shout out to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for a review in exchange for my honest review!
