4.5* --> 5*

One word : brilliant! What? You need more words to convince you to buy and read this? I’ll try but it won’t be easy as this latest instalment in the Ruby Preston series totally blew my mind. It’s that good, people!

Someone’s playing a rather macabre game, a murder game. You know, in case you missed that from the title. 😉 When a woman goes missing, a countdown is set in motion and the killer will leave clues in the form of pictures : alive, tortured, dead. Ruby and her team find themselves in a race against the clock when a second woman goes missing.

These acts are reminiscent of a serial killer’s work ten years ago. To find answers to her questions, Ruby sets out to meet him in prison. But this notorious killer may just be playing a game of his own. Will he help Ruby? Or is she putting her own life in danger?

These two killers, the original one and the copycat, are by far two of the most disturbing characters I’ve ever met. Talk about chills running up and down your spine. Murder Game is one dark and intense ride and had me guessing until the end. I had no idea who was responsible for these murders and when the killer was finally revealed, I think my eyes popped out of my head. Utterly blind-sided! Love it!

As always, Caroline Mitchell gets the balance between Ruby’s personal and private life spot-on. Her relationship with Nathan continues to fascinate me and I can’t wait to see how things will develop in the future. Can there ever be a happy ending for them? Or will Ruby have to make a choice? These are important questions, people, and apart from the brilliant crime fiction aspect of these books, it’s why I keep reading. And you should too. At the risk of repeating myself, if you’re not reading this series then you are missing out!

Edited to add this is apparently the last book in the series. Shows how much I know.