A Game of Deceit by K.A. Davis is the story of one woman’s fight to discover the truth behind her husband’s sudden disappearance and the possible link to her father’s disappearance so many years ago. Kathryn Landry is a successful interior designer until one day when she arrives home to discover her husband, Neil, gone. His clothes and things are gone. Something’s fishy about him leaving as his important medication is still in the bathroom. She reports him missing and she is quickly pulled into a web of lies and mistrust that she doesn’t know who she can truly turn to. First, John Selton, a client and a private investigator, starts investigating Neil’s disappearance and Detective Mike Williams, who was a young detective who handled her father’s disappearance and doesn’t trust John. Both men try to sway Kathryn to his side, but who can she really believe? Will she find out what happened to her husband and her father?
A Game of Deceit is a fast paced story of cat and mouse as Kathryn finds herself in the middle of a sinister plot. I enjoyed every step as Kathryn wondered who to believe and trust. I was with Kathryn as she wavered between John and Mike. The ending! I totally didn’t see coming. Looking back over the clues, Ms. Davis does a great job at setting the final showdown between Kathryn and the story’s villain, who I cannot give away. The book also leaves it open for a sequel as not all has been revealed yet. If you have mystery and thrillers, you will enjoy A Game of Deceit. I highly recommend it.

A Game of Deceit
is available in paperback and eBook

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book. Kathryn Landry's world comes crashing down when her husband vanishes the same way her father did 20 years ago. A detective (who just so happens to be the same detective who investigated her fathers case) is assigned to her case. Other characters are introduced along the way. I was disappointed over this book. I found the heroine to be weak. I did not like the book and skimmed through the pages.

Overall a great, suspenseful read. Part of me wanted to shake Kathryn and some things were easy to figure out. There were some real jaw-dropping twists and well-written. The characters are well-written as is the scenario that Kathryn finds herself in. Definitely a non-stop read!

Kathryn Landry is the owner of a successful interior designer business in Newport Beach, California but her world turns upside down when her husband Neil vanishes. Kathryn sees similarities to Neil's case with the unsolved disappearance of her father 20 years earlier. Kathryn is skeptical that Detective Mike Williams will be able to find Neil, since he failed to find what happened to her father so many years ago. When one of her clients, John Selton, offers to help investigate, Kathryn agrees.
But as she begins to search through Neil's belongings, Kathryn finds a novel manuscript and is shocked to find signs that Neil was planning on leaving her with another woman. Caught up in a complex web of betrayals and deceit and with both Mike and John vying for her love, Kathryn does not know who to trust.

This was a thrilling debut novel, and is highly recommended.

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Could history be repeating itself? Kathryn Landry’s father disappeared years ago and now her husband is missing. What she can’t believe is the detective that couldn’t find her father is leading the case to find her husband. Secrets and lies come together to make a dreadful game of deceit. Kathryn doesn’t trust the detective so she throws herself right into the middle of the investigation. Her friends are worried, the detective is trying to keep her safe but she won’t rest until she finds the truth even if the truth could kill her.

To call this story chilling is an understatement but that is the word the quickly comes to mind when I think about this book. More than a few times I had chills running up and down my spine while reading it.

I immediately connected with Kathryn. Her marriage was comfortable, each doing their own thing, not necessarily romantic, but to arrive home and find her husband gone was surprising. Then she started to notice some things that just weren’t right. She had to report him missing. The shock she felt when the detective arrived was felt right from the pages. That and a client stepping in and wanting to help her too was truly not expected. It was a very unusual triangle, but that was when the story became “unputdownable”.

Ms Davis has written a thrilling novel full of suspense and mystery, greed and jealousy, fires and horseplay, (critical threats to real horses), hidden bank accounts, murder, betrayal, lies, secrets, DECEIT, and to someone it is all just a game. The pace is fast, heart pounding and at times I found myself almost unable to catch my breath. I cannot believe this is her debut novel. It is so well plotted and written. The dialogue is perfect. The characters are fully fleshed out, some are conniving and scary while some very helpful and just plain nice, but all of them are unique.

I loved this book, it was an emotional ride for Kathryn Landry and for me the reader as well. This story is a must read for suspense lovers.

K.A. Davis is an author to keep our eyes on. I am excited for her next novel.

p.s. This author is a foodie and unlike most suspense thriller novels this one comes with recipes at the back of the book.

Normally when I write a review I try not to give too much away as I want others to read the book for it's own merits, this will not be one of those reviews....SPOILER ALERT: I was so frustrated reading this book. I cannot express how angry Katherine's "damsel in distress" routine made me! She was clearly leading on both male leads and then pushing them away when it didn't suit her. I get it, your husband disappeared so don't go on a yacht cruise or spend the day at the beach with one guy who is in love with you and then not expect him to try something. I only finished reading this book in the hopes that she would finally stop being so wishy-washy and I must say I like how it ended however I wish the character was a bit stronger. It was clear to anyone that John was a snake through the whole book. Who was he to get upset if she was talking to the police. As an abused woman (from her marriage) she should have seen this and not wanted to spend time with him alone anyways.

Game of Deceit is a well written mystery.  Kathryn made for an interesting main character and it was easy to empathize with her dismay as events unfolded and with her conflicting feelings about the two men vying for her affections.  As I read the book I found myself  framing hypotheses and then revising them again and again, flip-flopping in my suspicions right along with Kathryn as the story progressed.  The pace was good and  held my attention throughout, although the resolution felt a bit rushed and was somewhat vague regarding the motivation of the main villain.  All in all, an admirable debut by a new author.

At its best moments this is an exciting, page-turning thriller. However, the main characters were a bit flat -- not fully developed. Some things were too coincidental or didn't make sense to me. (i.e. Her business didn't seem all the successful. How is it that she was so rich?) Kathryn was way too passive, a victim all the way through to the end. She didn't really grow or change.
The author seemed confused about what kind of book she was writing. Why was there so much about Rett's Syndrome and recipes that had nothing to do with the plot? Was this supposed to be an action-suspense novel or a cozy? It didn't fit perfectly in either genre but seemed to be an awkward hybrid. Despite these problems, Davis is a talented writer however and I will look for her next book.

I started reading this book and I thought I knew where the story line was going, but every time it turned out there was a new suspenseful twist to the story. K.A. Davis has definitely become on of my favorite romantic, suspense, mystery writers. The strength of friendship is shown to be a very important part of Kathryn's life especially after her husband mysteriously disappears on day only leaving mystery, and intrigue in his wake. Did Kathryn really even know who her husband was? Would it be to late to find out, and does she even want to? maybe within all the turmoil she will find where she is meant to be and who she is.
Thank you NetGalley and K.A. Davis for allowing me to read and review another fantastic book.

A real page turner couldn't put it down characters are well developed and the plot moves along nicely

A Game Of Deceit
K. A. Davis
5 Stars

Synopsis:

A father’s disappearance never solved, a mother’s secret taken to the grave, a daughter deceived…

Kathryn Landry thinks her life is just about perfect. She is the owner of a successful interior designer business in Newport Beach, California, and she has an attentive, supportive husband. But her world comes crashing down when her husband, Neil Landry, vanishes without a trace… in a situation almost identical to the disappearance of her father twenty years before.

With her father’s disappearance still a mystery, Kathryn is skeptical that the detective assigned to her case will be able to find her husband. Determined to uncover the truth, Kathryn is plunged into a world of politics, high-priced call girls and wealth. As she begins to search for her husband, a decades-old secret her mother took to the grave threatens to destroy all she holds dear. Caught up in a web of betrayals and deceit, and not knowing who to trust, Kathryn must find a way to survive as she discovers the past has a way of repeating itself.


“In A Game of Deceit author K. A. Davis offers up a taut, edge-of-your-seat suspense novel that will make you lock the doors, close the blinds, and wonder who you can truly trust. Don’t miss this great debut from Ms. Davis.” – Paige Shelton, New York Times Bestselling author of the Farmers' Market, Country Cooking School, Dangerous Type, and Scottish Bookshop mysteries.

“In A Game of Deceit, K. A. Davis has crafted an emotional suspense with a taut, satisfying ending that should delight any fan of Mary Higgins Clark.” – Daryl Wood Gerber, Agatha Award-winning author of the Cookbook Nook, French Bistro Mysteries, and Cheese Shop Mysteries, and the stand-alone suspense novels, GIRL ON THE RUN and DAY OF SECRETS.

“Sly, sexy and spellbinding, A Game of Deceit grabs you in the first chapter and doesn’t let you go until its breathtaking finish. Debut author K. A. Davis creates a riveting tale of betrayal, family, suspense and murder.” – Jenny Kales, author of The Callie’s Kitchen Mystery series

"A Game of Deceit is a marvelous read packed with action, suspense and intrigue. I couldn't put it down!" – Catherine Bruns, USA Today Best Selling Author of the Cookies & Chance mysteries (Goodreads)





Review:

The characters are well developed and well rounded. Katherine is a strong gutsy woman who does not let anything get her down. Except when her husband disappears, that has thrown her for a loop. This is the second person that has disappeared from her life: her father disappeared about twenty years ago. She cannot believe that it has happened to her again. But she is not totally alone. She has her assistant, Marianne, and her husband, Richard, to help her try to get her life back on track. And she also has her client/friend, John, to help her. He just so happens to be a private investigator. She is very upset when she learns that the detective who was on her father’s case is also on her husband’s case. He could not find her father, she does not have high hopes of him finding her husband.

The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and through much of the books, I felt like I was right there, watching all the action taking place. She is also very talented in creating suspense and tension with just the written book. I found myself swiping pages late into the night, when I should have been sleeping. I felt the tension rising with every chapter I finished. I could feel her frustration not knowing what happened to her husband and not knowing who she could trust. There were quite a few viable suspects and enough clues to sift through that it was difficult to figure out the mystery. I narrowed it down to four likely culprits (I know that is not very narrow) and I was not even right!

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted suspense thriller. It is hard to believe this is the debut book for this author, It is good enough to have been written by a well established author. I am eagerly looking forward to reading more of this author’s books.


*****Through August 15th, 2017, 100% of the net sales from this book will be donated to rettsyndrome.org*****


I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. I would like to thank NetGalley and Cinnamon and Sugar Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book is a little different from the cozy mysteries I read so often and hold dear. But when I heard fellow mystery blogger, Kim Davis, of Cinnamon Sugar and a Little Bit of Murder, had written a book, I knew I had to give it a try. If the book was half as good as the baked goods that she posts to her website, I knew I was in for a treat.

Game of Deceit is a stand alone novel (even though if the author wanted, she could totally tell more of the story, I think we’d gladly take it!) that follows Kathryn Landry. Kathryn has a great life. An interior design business she loves, a husband, a devoted assistant, and financial stability. But pain and sorrow lurk beneath the surface of Kathryn and her life.

When her husband disappears, very similar to the way her father did many years ago, the pain and sorrow that Kathryn had been able to keep so hidden comes back. And she is determined to get to the bottom of, not only her husband’s disappearance, but what really happened with her parents as well.

The Suspense Was Fun!

As a person who traditionally reads cozy mysteries, it was fun to change things up a little bit. The author didn’t follow the traditional cozy roadmap, which made for an exciting read. You just didn’t know what would happen!

Twists and Turns That Keep You Guessing

This book kept me guessing. Just when I thought I knew where things were going, I’d be thrown for a loop. This was a book that I didn’t even try to guess as I read. I just sat back and let the author take me for the ride.

The Ending Leaves You Wondering

For a stand alone mystery, it left me with enough questions I’d love to see a sequel that follows up on a few things. If this is the only book, I also do enjoy doing my own speculating as to how things play out. I think it says a lot for a book and characters when you keep thinking about them and wondering what they are up to after you turn the final page.

Thrills, Suspense, and Mystery.

A Game of Deceit has it all. This would be a great one to read on a rainy weekend or on a chilly Saturday morning in front of the fireplace. Kim Davis has a hit on her hands and I can’t wait to see where her writing takes her from here.

You come home and in a moment see that your life has changed forever. Can you handle the dark and the loneliness that is going to follow? Is the past circling back to the present?

Kathryn Landry, oh honey I loved ya like a sister and at points wanted to shout at you! Now that I have that off my chest, she was a good, strong character but had some moments that will make you want to scold her. I know she is grown. Kathryn is also about to relive every dark corner of her life, and some new ones are to emerge. It is intense, and quick to the pace that I enjoy as a reader, the entire book flows from scene to scene, and has a reader coming up for air at the very end. I really liked all the side characters and there was enough deflecting to make a reader want to write them all up as suspects. It was a brilliant first book.

I really enjoyed how well the author had me second guessing myself. Usually, in a mystery you get your suspects and dig into your convictions of why they did it. In this book, you are thrown for loops and turns that make you breathless, and eager to know who did it. I was surprised and not, in the end. It was more of hearing the details that gave me such a shock. I love the way we coasted into a nice calm ending, it was like the perfect storm.

I received a pre-publication electronic copy of this book from NetGalley.

Other reviewers have given adequate plot synopses and I won't repeat their efforts. I will say that the book kept me turning pages, interested enough to find out how it was all going to turn out, but I found a number of jarring factors that kept throwing me out of the story.

Like some other reviewers, I was not convinced of how the protagonist acquired her apparent wealth. Her design firm appears to have only one client, albeit one with buckets of money to spread around, but I found the constant references to expensive brands off-putting. I especially did not care for the heroine more or less being "bought" with a designer handbag and sunglasses by one of her male suitors. I also disliked the gaping unplugged plot hole of we, the readers, never finding out whether the financial issues caused by identity theft were ever resolved.

I also did not appreciate the occasional intrusive information dumps about the need to raise funds to combat a rare disease. While I'm sure it's a worthy cause, surely there was a better way to make the reader aware than two characters stating the pertinent facts to each other, when they both already knew those things. This was not a believable conversation at all.

One of the protagonist's male suitors is much too persistent. He does not respect her boundaries--and she keeps allowing him to cross her boundaries. This decreased my liking and respect for the character even more.

And about those male suitors--they are pursuing her aggressively, even though to their knowledge, she is still a married woman! (Her husband has disappeared, and no one knows whether he is dead or alive.) Not exactly heroic behavior.

This author has enough skill in weaving her plot that I might look at her future books. But I sincerely hope that she learns from the mistakes she made in this one.

This book gets a one star review and it only gets that because the premise was intriguing. Father and husband BOTH disappear 20 years apart. Could the two events be related? Well of course they are. Unfortunately the heroine was so annoying and the writing so pedestrian, that it was all I could do to finish the book. I confess I sped-read the middle.section. Someone should tell beginning writers that not every noun requires precisely two adjectives to set it off -- Soft buttery leather, juicy ripe strawberry. And peppering your descriptions with brand names is so trite. If the plot had been halfway plausible, I may have forgiven these writing shortcomings, but the melodrama of this overwrought plot definitely led to the negative review. The recipes at the end only trivialized the story even more. I'm afraid this author should stick to her blog.

Kathryn is the main character in A Game of Deceit by K. A. Davis. From the beginning there are unbelievable scenes between a police officer and someone who is reporting their husband missing......who under normal circumstances wouldn't accept a missing report from someone for 24 to 48 hours, nevertheless for one who seems to have packed their belongings and fled. I would say this is more of a YA novel except for the behavior of Kathryn. She lets men walk all over her wishes and acts too subservient including letting her husband control her weight by getting her on a scale twice a day. I was given an early copy to review.

Fast-paced, intriguing mystery. Enjoyable setting as I am familiar with the Orange County, California, area in which the story takes place. The fires, the upscale clothing, cars, etc., all add interest and realism. Some areas were neatly summed up and resolved, while others were not. They were insignificant to the overall story and not necessary to be wrapped up neatly and resolution explained thoroughly. I look forward to reading more by this author.

what a great book!! i would have read this in one sitting if i could keep my eyes open. so many lies and twists... who do you trust?? it fast paced and exciting!! thank you to Netgalley and IBPA for a copy of this book to read and review.

Kathryn has been through it before, first her father went missing 20 years before and now her husband goes missing just as suddenly. Why is it happening again? How suspicious can things get? Who will find the answer the P.I. or the detective? Why is her life in danger? So many questions, so much action, and a plot of interesting proportions.

Mystery... Murder... Secrets... Suspense... Everything you want in a great book!

A GAME OF DECEIT by K.A. DAVIS is fast-paced, absorbing, and full of deceit. I had a hard time putting this book down... it kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved every minute of it!

Kathryn Landry's father disappeared 20 years ago without a trace and now her husband has disappeared in the same mysterious way. In the blink of an eye, Kathryn's world has been turned upside down. She has to find her husband, he's the only family she has left. The same detective that was on her father's case 20 years ago is now on her husband's case. What are the odds of that? Can the 2 cases be connected? Nothing is as it seems. Kathryn has no idea who to trust. Watch it all unfold in this riveting mystery full of twists, turns, secrets, and lies. It definitely keeps you guessing until the end. A great read that I highly recommend!

I want to thank NetGalley and IBPA for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.