SEVEN REASONS TO MURDER YOUR DINNER GUESTS
by KJ Whittle
A group of strangers find their lives irrevocably intertwined after each one receives a note at an anonymously hosted gathering with mortally chilling information.
When seven Londoners meet at a posh underground dinner party on a street “reek[ing] of disappointment,” most believe they have walked into a PR stunt. The party stops being entertaining when mysterious black envelopes appear in front of each guest containing cards inscribed with the age each person will be when they die. In a narrative that shifts among the perspectives of the seven dinner guests, Whittle creates a story that probes her characters’ psychology as it pays homage to Agatha Christie’s classic 1939 murder mystery, And Then There Were None. After three of the dinner party invitees die at exactly the ages predicted, one especially inquisitive and astute guest, Vivienne, surmises that the deaths—which at first seem tragically accidental—were more likely the work of a murderous mastermind. Her hunch only gets stronger when she hypothesizes that the anthropomorphic depictions of the seven deadly sins she saw on each diner’s card offered a clue to the identity of the “devil” committing the crimes. She and the remaining guests scramble in quiet dread to “make the most” of the time before their number is up, never suspecting that the very person they fear is closer at hand and more aware of their secrets than they could ever imagine. Readers with a penchant for colorful characters, twisty plots, and surprise reveals will find this novel of suspense especially satisfying.
An engaging whodunit that explores the deadly side of karmic retribution.