77 year-old Mimi tends to keep herself to herself on Mackinac Island (i.e. a posh bit of Michigan) and her first thought when invited to neighbour Jane Ireland’s extravagant auction party is not to go. But when the invite is accompanied by a blackmail letter, insisting she pays over the odds for something, else her secrets will be revealed, her only resource is to ask her granddaughter Addie for help.

Addie is the designer of a popular murder mystery computer game, and is the ideal person to help sort things out – but when Jane is found murdered, stabbed to death, it is clear that there is something more sinister than blackmail going on. And when the second murder happens…

OK, this was a bit of a weird read, so I should make clear what to expect. You see, based on the title, and Addie’s occupation, I was expecting a something a bit… well, meta, I suppose. Something that invites the reader to play along, plays tricks with them, you know the sort of thing. And that’s not what this is.

Yes, there are plenty of references to Poirot, but to the utter delight of Brad at Ah, Sweet Mystery! it seems primarily to the TV programme, not the books. And who in their right mind would put on the dreadful adaptation of Appointment With Death to unwind?

No, what this is, is a fairly straightforward cosy murder mystery with a few modern mentions, notably to computer games, but at the end of the day, this is a grandmother-granddaughter teaming up to solving a crime in a situation where everyone should be panicking but mostly seem strangely relaxed.

At the end of the day, there were too many clichés without anything new being done with them. Fans of cosy mysteries will enjoy this – Addie and Mimi are pretty good company, especially Mimi – but just read it with your eyes open.