The reading group who solved the murder of the person who brought them all together in Murder By The Book have achieved celebrity status due to the one murder that they solved/tripped over the murder (delete as appropriate) and have been invited to Abbots Chantry to visit the filming of Murder On The Polar Express, a classic crime novel from an author who the reading group seem to like.

It’s not long, though, before one of the party takes a plunge from the billiard room that is housed, for some reason, up a tower, with a rope around her neck. And then someone else is killed by an antique candlestick. Is someone trying to bring a game of Cluedo to life? The blurb and the cover would certainly seem to make you think so, at least up to the level of actually mentioning it…

Where to begin? I started reading this one a while ago but then saw book 1 on sale so thought I’d go back and read that first. I did, and while I enjoyed the characters and the set-up, the ending was a bit of a mess, with confused motivations, especially on the part of the victim. But there was some promise there, especially with the character of Bella and her struggles in a loveless repressive marriage. So, I decided to persevere with Book Two.

First of all, let’s address the Cluedo thing. It’s a marketing gimmick, nothing more. A bit like This Is Not A Game, the blurb implies it’s a clever, game-playing mystery, when it’s nothing of the sort. The similarity to the Cluedo board seemed forced into the story rather than actually being part of it and is utterly irrelevant to the plot.

And the plot basically consists of our four sleuths wandering around the house trying to to accuse the maid of anything until they guess who the killer is based on a clue that is mentioned once in the narrative and, I should say, the description “clue” there is doing some seriously heavy lifting.

Add in a murderer whose plan makes no sense given that surely there should have been a second/third victim, suspects who get very little page time – more it seemed was spent of characters who clearly had nothing to do with the whole thing, and an investigation that doesn’t even mention motive until three-quarters of the way through the book… with all that, it has to rely on the lead characters. And with Bella’s situation seemingly resolved, they’re just… nice characters. Apart from the one has a daft idea that he has nicked off Colin Dexter (and admits so) that he seems very proud of. Oh, a piece of weird fake Agatha Christie trivia that goes absolutely nowhere.

This book is billed as for “fans The Marlow Murder Club”. Well, if they read this, all they will get is a renewed appreciation of how good Robert Thorogood’s series is. Because for something that wears the trappings of the classic mystery, it simply doesn’t come anywhere near it.

A Game Of Murder is out now from One More Chapter. Many thanks for the review copy via NetGalley – I’m sorry I couldn’t be more positive about it.