Invitation to a Killer

by G M Malliet

Crime writer turned sleuth, Augusta Hawke finds herself drawn into her second mystery when a celebrity doctor is found dead at a party she is attending!

Callie Moore is no ordinary aspiring writer. Notorious wife of a Washington lobbyist, Callie believes no publicity is bad publicity and that publishing her scandalous memoirs will help her achieve her heart's a diplomatic posting. She just needs crime novelist Augusta Hawke to be her ghostwriter.

It's hard to say no to Callie, but Augusta does agree to attend her dinner party. The guest list is impressive, and it's Augusta's chance to meet celebrity doctor Doc Burke. But before Augusta really gets a chance to chat with the famous humanitarian, the evening ends in his untimely death.

Signs point to a heart attack, but Augusta isn't convinced. Especially when his niece tells Augusta about the mystery woman who claimed the doctor's remains.

Augusta decides to host a writers' retreat and invite all the suspects, most of whom are connected in some way with writing. Isn't that what Agatha Christie would do? But the remote lodge soon becomes snowed in and the group starts to crack when it becomes clear the killer may not be finished killing. Can Augusta flush out the culprit before anyone else gets hurt?

240 pages, Paperback

Published November 28, 2023

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do enjoy the character of Augusta Hawke and how the author uses stream of consciousness to reveal her thought processes. The book was very interesting until the end which became a bit of a muddle. During what was suppose to be a great reveal, what happened to the garden shed theory? Suddenly Augusta switched to a new method of attempted murder and no one noticed? Thank goodness for the epilogue which clarified a few things, but also presented a third theory as to how the initial victim was murdered.

There were a lot of strange coincidences in this book, way more than was reasonable. Also some strangely ineffective red herrings like the gun and switched passports. At the end, like Augusta, I fear the author was a bit pushed to finish the book. In general though, Augusta is great fun and I look forward to her next adventure.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where to start? I liked the first books by this author, but the Augusta ones are not very good. Overly complicated. Ridiculous characters and maybe I missed something but I thought her agent’s name was Ali? But in the Epilogue she is Holly! I’m glad I didn’t buy the book.