CAN YOU SOLVE THE MURDER?

A Choose Your Own Adventure–style novel for willing and agile grown-ups.

Bigwig British housing developer Harry Kennedy has taken a header from the top floor of Finchcote Manor, headquarters of the Elysium health spa. But the fall hasn’t killed him, because he’d already been stabbed to death with a garden fork. The police detectives sent out to investigate are Sgt. McAdam, a Scot recently transferred from Northumbria, and a DCI identified only as “you” who has to make a lot of consequential decisions. Will you join eager but inexperienced Constable Zwale in interviewing the suspects or let him do it alone? Are you more interested in talking with Elysium owner Stephen Cheong, Member of Parliament Carla Nesbitt, or Flora Kennedy, Harry’s wife, who can now abandon her divorce proceedings and enjoy her status as Kennedy Homes’ sole proprietor? How important is it to gather information about Harry’s alleged harassment of receptionist Jennifer Watts, masseuse Alina Martinescu, and their coworkers? How intent are you in gathering information about motives and opportunities? And how much time and effort are you willing to spend trying to decipher the three coded messages Harry left behind? Every decision leads to a fork in the road, and most of these forks lead to false accusations that will mark defeat. The result is a more elaborate version of the board game Clue that’s as interactive as readers who don’t play video games are likely to find. Once they’ve identified the killer, Johnston invites them to compile their scores based on which clues they’ve followed.

Though the suspects aren’t much more personable than Colonel Mustard or Mrs. Peacock, the target audience won’t care a bit.