A Game Of Lies by Clare Mackintosh

 

During a new reality TV show, a contestant goes missing and police are called in to investigate. It turns out that the contestants have been misled about the nature of the show. When a body turns up the police investigation switches to murder.

About a year ago I read The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh. I loved the twists in the plot, the style, the location and the characters. I was extremely eager to get my hands on book 2 in the DC Ffion Morgan series. The second book in the series, A Game Of Lies, takes place in the same location as the first book and features many of the same characters. 

The story takes place eighteen months after the events of the first book. The relationship between Ffion and DS Leo Brady has broken down mainly because Ffion is too frightened to let her guard down. As a result of this the working relationship between Ffion and Brady is strained, they are definitely off-hand with each other. Neither is willing to make the first move.

Reality TV is put firmly under the microscope. The contestants in the book thought they were taking part in a survival competition in the Welsh mountains. The manipulative producer turns the tables on them on the first day when they discover that the program is really about exposing their deepest, darkest secrets. The book really shows how TV moulds the narrative to suit their own agenda. We see how unrelated recordings can be easily manipulated to give a slant to a particular storyline. The role that society plays in these events is also questioned. As secrets are revealed there is a clamour to know more, social media becomes frenzied and we have a vicious cycle demanding ever more salacious gossip.

There are twists galore as almost everyone has a motive for the murder, not just the contestants desperate to keep their secrets. Each of the small TV crew and even some of the local residents are suspects too. 

We are introduced to a range of new characters, mostly the contestants. There is also a new DC working with Ffion, Georgina Kent. George, as she prefers to be known, is amiable enough but Ffion doesn't make a good first impression, mainly because Ffion isn't a team player. Another new character is Dave the rescue dog. Dave adds some lightness and hilarity to the story-line.

One of the things that I particularly enjoyed about The Last Party was that the murder victim was one of the most loathsome characters I've ever come across in fiction. The author does another excellent job developing the producer who is morally repugnant, only interested in getting the story he wants, with little regard to the welfare of the contestants. 

The conclusion is a frantic race against time to capture the murderer and stop anyone else from being killed. There is also an emotive revelation at the end which works well considering that the book is about the fear of having secrets revealed.

A Game Of Lies by Clare Mackintosh will be published on 20th July 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to publisher Little, Brown UK for a review copy.