Wicked

by Joanne Fluke

In a remote country house, a writers' group turns into a workshop for a killer, from the New York Times bestselling author.

When Eve Carrington is chosen to participate in an exclusive writers' workshop, she knows it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For one month, she will live, write, and share her work with nine other aspiring authors. The top three will get a chance to be published. But when the building they're staying in isn't ready and Eve sees the old mansion they'll be moved into, she starts having second thoughts.

Not only is the mansion isolated but the deadlines are tight, the pressure intense, and the competition incredibly fierce. Her biggest rival, Angela, is writing a murder mystery based on the workshop and its participants. It's a brilliant idea. Until life begins to imitate art-and death begins to knock out the competition . . .

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Horror, Cozy Mystery, Young Adult, Mystery Thriller

Audible Audio

First published August 28, 1996

About the author

Like Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke grew up in a small town in rural Minnesota where her neighbors were friendly, the winters were fierce, and the biggest scandal was the spotting of unidentified male undergarments on a young widow's clothesline. She insists that there really are 10,000 lakes and the mosquito is NOT the state bird.

While pursuing her writing career, Joanne has worked as: a public school teacher, a psychologist, a musician, a private detective's assistant, a corporate, legal, and pharmaceutical secretary, a short order cook, a florist's assistant, a caterer and party planner, a computer consultant on a now-defunct operating system, a production assistant on a TV quiz show, half of a screenwriting team with her husband, and a mother, wife, and homemaker.

She now lives in Southern California with her husband, her kids, his kids, their three dogs, one elderly tabby, and several noisy rats in the attic.

Series:
* Hannah Swensen

Reviews

[Tonya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read

This book was OK. It did keep me reading, but it read more like a Young adult book than an adult suspense novel.

[Krystle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great and unique premise. However, like her other series, it suffers from unnatural dialogue and an unbelievable plot.

[Stacy · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I was a kid, there was an author named Christopher Pike that wrote books for tweens/young adults before it was actually a genre. Back when bookstores would have one rack between little kids' books and adult books and it had the little fiction that was being targeted at my age. So much of what was there for us was old stuff ('classics') or Sweet Valley High so I loved Christopher Pike for that 'not ready for Koontz and King' stage of my life.

Had I read this book then, I might not have hated it. Had I read this before Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, I might not have hated it.

I read it now, however. And I hated it.

And I'm irritated that I read the entire thing just to see if she matched the plot twist that made Christie great. Should have just quit reading 10 minutes in.

[Mary (Biblophile) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was rather disappointed in this mediocre mystery. The characters were lifeless, the dialogue juvenile, and the mystery pretty easy to solve. Since the ending was a cliffhanger, one assumes they'll probably be another. I expected better from this author.

[Lisa Reads & Reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too improbable and juvenile. Writing was amateurish, too. Ugh.

[Kendrea Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thriller that will grip you until the very end!

Wicked is one of the best thrillers I have ever read. The premise is much like Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, but Joanne Fluke takes the idea to a completely different level. I won't say much more about the story because I don't want to give too much away. However I will say that I was kept guessing until the very end. Like any good suspense thriller, the story doesn't end with the big reveal of the killer. The entire story was fantastic, but the ending was so deliciously unexpected. My only regret is the book had to end. I would've gladly kept reading to see what happened next.

[Sherri Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a GREAT, quick read! It kept me guessing in places - though I kept thinking I had it figured out, it would make me doubt myself and then it would take me in a whole other direction! I enjoyed the fact that the characters were well-written and fleshed out so that I could imagine each one - particularly when they met their doom! ;-)

I'd recommend this to mystery fans - definitely worth the time!

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot is awful! No educated bunch of young single adults would stay in a house where some had died unexpectedly - even if they were quarantined - they would leave or one of them would leave and go for help without a second thought. And the ending was totally unsatisfying!!

Joanne Fluke should stick to her Hannah Swensen series, which are fun reads!

[Shannan Wade · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a super lame attempt at a mystery. It was pretty apparent what was going on from the beginning. The main character was highly unlikable.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good suspense novel that was a throwback to And Then There Were None. Good characters and I was kept guessing as to who was behind everything.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel that the description of this book does it a great disservice. Based on the description I expected an adult thriller akin to one by Ruth Ware or Alice Feeney. What I got was a book written for a teen audience in 1990s when it was originally published. It seems to be a mix of murder mystery and cheesy horror movie plot. Heavily skewed towards cheesy horror.

The writing style is fairly simplistic but reminds me of books that were being published for a teen audience back in the 1980s when I was still a teenager myself. The Young Adult genre has improved vastly since then.

Honestly if I had been reading this by myself I would have DNFed by the end of chapter two. However, I was reading this as a buddy read with my friend Terry who introduced me to Joanne Flukes Hannah Swensen series. Our library had just gotten "Wicked" in audio and I made the mistake of assuming it was a new release. I knew that Joanne Fluke originally wrote horror and thought it would be fun to read.

One of the characters in the book is writing a murder mystery based on Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None". This clearly is meant to bring the readers attention to the parallels between "Wicked" and "And Then There Were None". It would be easy to then assume that " Wicked" will continue to parallel "And Then There Were None" but it really does not. I believe Fluke was trying to be clear that she had borrowed the basic ideas of setting and plot from Christie but as I mentioned earlier. "Wicked" seems to be more a cheesy horror novel than a true murder mystery. There were a few plot points that I would normally have said were not believable. But they actually made it feel even more cheesy horror like and I eventually appreciated being able to poke fun at them, instead of being annoyed by them.

In terms of Horror I think the scare level is pretty low. And there are no graphic descriptions of gore.

I think this would be a good read for a young adult looking for a very mild horror novel. Or someone wanting a book that reminds them of the cheesy horror films of their youth.

I would rate this 3 1/2 for plot/story rounded up to 4 stars because I enjoyed the nostalgia I got when listening to it.

[Erica Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not good. Every single character was insufferable, and honestly pretty dumb. So many eye roll choices being made. The time period was somehow both 1950 and 1990? Both "classic values" and a fax machine. The dialogue was not remotely how humans talk. The "out" the author used to wrap up the plot and get to the epilogue was so clearly a "I need some way to move this to the next section" device and not thought through from the beginning. This is a no from me.

Also the lack of copy editing - the first movie they watch is changed in a few pages. I felt like the assignments changed and were not explained at all.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was bloody awful!

[Kaylee · Rating 2 out of 5]

very funny that the author mentioned the willing suspension of disbelief bc i was not willing. this was bad.

[Meagan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept. Writing is mediocre at best.

[Geri · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was okay. Not what I expected from Joanne Fluke.

[Keesha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty good once you were able to get over the fact that people were dying and no one went to the police. It flowed well and kept my interest. I did not try very hard to guess who the killer was since I figured it would come down to the three main characters, but it did turn out to be the person I first thought it would be. I also liked the transformation of Eve, who started out to be very shallow, arrogant and not serious about the project but turned out to possibly have found her calling as a writer. Good effort.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

SPOILERS!!!!

I would have thought even under quarantine once the first person was killed I would have hopped in my car and drove to the police, beeped my horn and talked through the window. That's what bothered me the most. The kids just piled up the dead ones in the cooler and continued on writing their stories. Selfish. They didn't want to fluke out and lose the opportunity to get their story published.
Otherwise I enjoyed the read. Even though I was sure I figured out who done it.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whenever a book keeps me guessing until the end, it deserves at least 3 stars. Overall, it was a good story... I truly kept going back and forth on who the murderer would be! Some of the dialogue and characters were too corny for me... and Eve's character was a little confusing how she changed so much in such a short time period.

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a hard one. The story was good even though it wasn't an original idea. However, I had a real problem with the characters. The way they handled things was unbelievable and dumb. I only kept reading to find out who done it. :-) I usually like this authors book a lot more.

[Moni Novak · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so bad. I couldn't believe I was reading it. I like Joanne fluke. But this book was so bad I couldn't believe it was her writing. I kept thinking it was written for gradeschool kids. I was so disappointed. It's not like her Hannah Swinson books which are fun and interesting.

[Delissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me a while to get through this book. There were massive plot holes and so much implausibility that it was a struggle to complete. The premise was good but the execution was awful, which is a shame since I’m a huge fan of the Hannah Swenson series.

[Patty McReynolds · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too improbable

I was really disappointed with this book. Not like the Hannah books at all. I would not recommend it to anyone.

[Chris Snider · Rating 3 out of 5]

I....I ....What can I say, but this is the most bizarre book I've ever read. I probably have more criticism for this than any book I ever read. First of all it seems like it was written for middle grade students especially the dialogue. The main protagonist is very unlikable. Even though I love her I've seen people complain that Hannah Swensen is unlikable, but Eve makes Hannah look like mother Teresa. She's a spoiled rich girl, jealous and self centered. There is a part, I kid you not where after two of her friends got murdered that she raided there closets and took their clothes to wear because they were Sorority Sisters and they owed her. Her character development is that of a professional wrestling Face turn. the bad guy does one good thing and suddenly you need to forget they burned down an orphanage. I've seen videogames where the main character started as kind of a selfish bitch, but by the end you could tell they truly changed, This is not the case. Also, every single person in this book is an idiot! They make the dumbest decisions at the worst time! Three people have been murdered and one guy decides "Hey, I'll play a practical joke and cheer everyone up" Who does that? The Joker maybe? Then there's a part where they're dedicated to protecting Eve since she's supposed to be the next victim, then when they think someone else is in trouble " Hey, we need to split up and find her" just like in Scooby Doo. There is a scene I literally had to stop to laugh at where the killer explained a scream as she saw a mouse and ran onto the fire escape. she dropped ketchup and that was the blood trail they thought they saw. I...I just can't. Then when one girl actually comes up with something smart realizing she wasn't wet, even her hair. The guy is just like "Oh, stop trying to borrow trouble" and they snuggle. The climax....Well, there really is no climax, no final battle at all. It was like the author said " Screw this, I'm tired of it. I'm ending this." Eve jumps from a balcony into a pool, she surfaces and there's her boyfriend and suddenly there are cops, paramedics and reporters too. ZERO explanation of how the killer was caught. I will say that the plot was interesting and what kept me reading. I had only read Joanne Fluke's Hanna Swensen books and wanted to try her other stuff. If this was any indication, I'm DEFINITELY sticking with the Hannah Swensen books! I gave this 3 stars and many will think I was VERY generous

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not only is this a poor rip off of Agatha Christie (which is acknowledged in the book), the premise is preposterous. 10 people are quarantined at a writers conference. After a writer dies/is murdered (not giving anything away...very clearly a book about death/murder) and the telephone lines are out, no one leaves to get help. No one does anything except move the body to a large freezer! I mean, seriously. If this was the 1920s, I might have bought this premise. But in the modern world, it just doesn't fly.

And as "the plot thickens", still no one leaves to get the police. No one.

The only reason I gave her two stars is, I read Fluke's baking mysteries. In those, the relationship between the characters is saccharine, disgustingly sweet and impossible (imagine Little House on the Prairie tv show without Nellie Olson ). This book has some characters who actually have some depth...that is, in this very short book they don't love each other. I had to give her credit for characters that are not one-dimensional (okay, not three-dimensional but it is an improvement.

[Lacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have enjoyed Joanne Fluke's cozy mystery series, and when I found this book, I decided to give it a read. Being a writer myself, I liked the idea of a writer's getaway type thing where you get to just write. But maybe not the whole dying part. I'd rather live, thanks.

But I did enjoy the book. Great twists and turns, and I grew to like Eve. Though at the beginning, it did read to be like a Young Adult book and I didn't like her character, she did grow on me. I liked the premise of someone's story being behind the deaths.

I'll definitely stick reading to her cozy mysteries, but I might jump into one of her other thriller/mystery books to see if I like any of them like I enjoyed this one.

[Sandra Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such an interesting book. I enjoy Joanna fluke and was excited to see a new book. Eve is a sorority girl who decides to go to this writing convention with her boyfriend. This convention has 10 people total and 3 would get their book published. Angela a beautiful rich girl, Ryan and Eve, and 7 others stay in a mansion. This book is a lot like Agatha Christie and then there were none. Not a bad version but I did feel each victim could have been prevented. I know it’s a story but common sense did not seem present but then again if it was they probably wouldn’t have been murdered. I will say I grew to like Eve and Ryan though they did annoy me at times.

[JoAnn W. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wicked by Joanne Fluke was an easy read clocking in at just a few pages over 300. I enjoyed the light hearted fun this book presented in the face of such horrific circumstances. I feel this story could have had potential, but there were just to many flaws and plot holes to enjoy. I noticed quickly that I couldn’t tell the characters apart, and there are so many.. Each character became a blur and a name and in the end, even their names began to blur. Another problem I ran into was that It felt much too unrealistic to me. The actions of these educated characters were so unbelievably, I just couldn’t take the story seriously.

⭐️⭐️ out of 5⭐️’s

[Britny Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's nothing I love more than a murder mystery in the style of "And Then There Were None." While I don't think anyone could ever top Christie, I have read some pretty good versions. This was not one of them. Again, I loved the premise. The plot and the setting were great. I just didn't like the actual execution. It was overall pretty predictable. The characters were weak, stupid, and constantly making poor decisions. Their reactions to the murders were so unbelievable. I cannot believe that they would just stay there and keep writing. Worst of all was the dialogue. It was just so cringy at times. No one actually talks like that. The ending wasn't terrible.. but still kinda unbelievable.

[Mollie T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stepping away from the Hannah Swensen mysteries, Joanne Fluke presents a story with an intriguing premise that unfortunately feels too far-fetched to land. While the concept was a new experience for me as a reader, the execution lacks the realism needed to stay immersed.
​The narrative struggles with believability, particularly when characters continue their normal writing routines and respect a quarantine while murders are actively occurring. Additionally, the sudden, expert-level understanding of multiple personalities feels forced. While it’s an interesting experiment for Fluke, the lack of grounded logic keeps this story from truly working.