The Murder Game

Written by Carrie Doyle

Narrated by Chris Andrew Ciulla

Boarding school has never been more dangerous.



What if your roommate is a murderer? Or what if he's being framed and only you can save him?



Luke Chase made history as a child when he escaped a kidnapping. Now, all he wants is to be a normal teenager. So when he sneaks out to the woods one night to drink with friends and flirt with the new British girl at school, he's excited to feel some freedom.



Except the next morning, one of their teachers is found murdered—in the exact same spot where they had been partying. Soon, Luke's roommate and best friend Oscar is the #1 suspect.



As the evidence and list of suspects builds, Luke attempts to use his famous survival skills to find the killer and clear Oscar's name. But as Luke gets closer to the truth, the killer is getting closer to Luke.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Sep 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9781666178081

Carrie Doyle

Carrie Doyle is the best-selling author of multiple novels and screenplays that span many genres. A born and bred New Yorker, Carrie has spent most of her life in Manhattan, with the exception of a six-year stint in Europe (Russia; France; England) and five years in Los Angeles. A former Editor-in-Chief of the Russian edition of Marie Claire, Carrie has written dozens of articles for various magazines. She is also a screenwriter, and her movie Intern (co-written with Jill Kargman) premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Carrie currently splits her time between New York and Long Island, with her husband and two teenage sons.

Reviews for The Murder Game

[Jennifer Fowler · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It kept me hooked! I mean it’s a YA novel so you have to keep that in mind. But I didn’t know who the killer was when they figured it out so I call that a win! Finished in a few days, easy read. Pretty good! I really wanted to vote a 3.5 but I can’t so a 4 it is.

??

[Teacher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fun mystery, but the cartoonish voices really detracted from the author’s work. Why an adult man with a somewhat deep voice was chosen to narrate a book full of teenagers is beyond me. (And don’t get me started on the British teen who sounds like a middle aged lady!)

Don’t know if it’s too late, but as this is apparently the start of a series, I hope the publishers will reconsider their narrator choice for these books!

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wasn't aware that this was a YA novel until I was already into the story.
A group of teens at an exclusive boarding school sneak out to the woods. While there, they are frightened by voices and overhear a heated conversation. After returning to the dorms, it is revealed that someone was murdered in the woods. Years ago, someone had been strangled on the grounds, and now, there is another victim.
Luke Chase, one of the students, escaped a kidnapping years earlier. He and his friends decide to invesetigate the murder and catch the killer.
A bit far-fetched, and the writing became more juvenile the more I read. The story's conclusion leads me to believe this is the first in a series.

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a boarding school mystery. Luke, his roommate Oscar, and two girls Pippa and Kelsey sneak out late one night to a local make-out spot. They weren't expecting to overhear a murder.

Since they snuck out which could have consequences including expulsion, they want to keep their presence at the scene a secret. But Oscar is the sort of troublemaking kid who soon becomes a focus of the investigation. Luke is the stand-up, rule following kind of guy who has a past which includes his kidnapping and desperate escape through wooded country. He is trying to live down his reputation as the Kidnapped Kid but he still has the skills he needed when he was younger.

Once Oscar is accused, Luke becomes determined to find out who really killed the new Mrs. Heckler. He has lots of suspects besides his roommate who worked in her office to offset some demerits. Joanna Heckler was the sort of woman who always wanted the next new man which means that quite a few of the other male teachers now appear on Luke's suspect list along with her husband.

I liked Luke's growing relationship with Pippa who is a new student at the school. She left England under a sort of cloud because she was seen arguing with her best friend just before her friend was murdered. She was blamed but not charged and has come to the US to start over.

I liked the mysterious survival skills teacher who seems to know a lot more than he's saying and who pushes Luke to recover the skills that let him survive his own kidnapping.

This was an entertaining story and well-plotted mystery with interesting characters. I hope this isn't Luke's last adventure in crime-solving.