The isolated manor with a murder theme has drawn me in so often. It was cute the way the game was portrayed with the clues at the beginning of each chapter but overall there just seemed to be too much going on in the book. The writing style is one of a cozy mystery series, so if that is your cup of tea this maybe the book for you.

If you like a good-old fashioned whodunnit mystery, this should probably be on your list; but warning, don't start reading late at night if you have to be up early the next day. This is a page turner

This book could not hold my interest. I kept putting it down and didn't want to pick it back up. It was very difficult to finish.

DNF -- I had a hard time getting into this, and then ultimately gave up and couldn't finish it. I found myself struggling to pick it up, and was just too bored. It wasn't fast paced or thrilling enough and I struggled - DNF.

Thank you @netgalley & publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Becca and Blake are trying to salvage their marriage after Blake's affair. He surprises her with a weekend away, which turns out to be a murder mystery weekend. She is further surprised to learn that their real-life friends Heather and Philip are also there for the weekend.

As they begin to investigate the staged murder, one of the actors disappear. While everyone is quick to dismiss her disappearance as that of a flighty young actress, Becca is suspicious and tries to get to the bottom of the case.

I wanted to love this book, but just couldn't get into it. It did get better near the end, but there were just too many characters and too much talking. It's just a matter of taste--there was nothing wrong with the story. The cocktails sounded really good. #AllDressedUp #NetGalley

A weekend away at for a Gatsby era murder mystery? Yes! A marriage in conflict with a flaky, insecure wife narrator for 350 pages? No.
This came across as whiny and silly to me. Then it got really boring. Unfortunately, this book was not for me.

I was excited to read this based on the description -a murder mystery themed weekend with an actual mystery. Very exciting! This plot had so much potential. Plus, I enjoyed the character intro "documents/bulletins" and the way the story was written.

However, although I was interested with this title when I first started reading it, I quickly lost interest. This was a DNF for me. The primary reasons were the slowness of the plot and my dislike for both MCs: Blake and Becca.

Blake and Becca’s marriage is on the rocks, but they are working on it. Blake decides to surprise Becca (a closet sleuth) with a weekend away at Millingham House. It’s a roaring twenties themed weekend, but the surprise he hasn’t told her about is that it’s a murder mystery as well. Becca dives in right away, trying to run from the issues with her marriage. When the woman of the mansion ends up dead, Becca is shocked and overwhelmed, until she realizes it’s all part of the weekend, but when one of the actress maids disappears, is there foul play afoot or is it all part of the script? Becca is like a dog with a bone, looking for clues to figure out what really happen to each woman, and as she does, she finds the answers to her own dilemma in the process. This book had the potential to be quite fun and witty, but instead Becca’s angst overshadowed much of the story. Coming across disjointed and overly ambitious, with a cast of characters that weren’t fleshed out, it was not as good as it could have been. Thank you to Bantam and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Becca and Blake are ready for a weekend getaway. With a 1920s murder mystery theme at their beautiful hotel, what could possibly go wrong?

It all starts when the speakeasy singer turns up “murdered” - Becca takes her role seriously and is intent on using the clues to figure out who the murderer could be. But when a maid comes up missing, they start to realize it might not be of her own doing and this murder mystery might not be an act after all.

A little Great Gatsby, a little Knives Out, with a nod to Agatha Christie - “This is a super-fun pastiche with a wicked smart plot peppered with clever clues and compelling characters.”

OK. This was so fun! I love murder mystery parties, and when there's an actual murder it's even better. It was filled with interesting characters, that seemed to bring their own secrets to a murder party. You read this, and not sure if it's part of the act or if it's real secrets that are making these people act the way they do.

I did not like the MC, she was all over the place. It felt she disturbed the story more than let it flow. She hates her husband, she loves her husband, she thinks there’s a killer around, she thinks someone is stalking her, she thinks it's part of the act.. I mean, it was distracting.

Overall a good story, kind of predictable but still fun. I wanted to be part of that party.

TW> lots of alcohol, adultery, murder.

2.5 stars!

All Dressed Up follows Becca, who goes to a weekend 1920s murder mystery game in the wake of her husband's cheat. Even though she's mad at him, she's determined to have a good time. Speakeasy songstress Ida Crooner is found "murdered," so the guests have to find out what happened. Becca is excited to get her mind off things, but then the actress playing Ida's maid doesn't come to the role. Becca then must assume her role as Miss Debbie Taunte to find evidence that Ida's maid might have actually gone missing.

This book quite literally was a recipe for perfection for me. A murder mystery game? A closed circle mystery? A fun little speakeasy theme? Everything was just perfect. Unfortunately, I did not feel that this book lived up to my expectations. I felt like a lot of things were going on. It was complicated to remember the difference between the people who were at the dinner party and the characters they were playing in the murder mystery game. I also didn't really care about the drama between Becca and Blake, and every time I felt like I was getting into the mystery, the romance aspects took me out. Normally, I don't mind romance in my thrillers, but since the mystery was not really connected to them, I just didn't care. I think the premise was really great, but if it could've been executed a little better I think I would've liked it more.

A group of guests go to an estate for a murder mystery party full of clues, 1920s vibe, and mystery everyone gets into their role.

When an actual murder occurs now all the clues get intertwined and you as the reader get to try to solve who killed who and with what.

While it was a great premise, I feel that it fell flat.

This book started out strong with our MC and her husband attending a surprise weekend getaway, which turns into a murder-mystery event. You’re constantly wondering what MCs husband did to land him in a pickle, and the location the story takes place is set up really well. I was taken out of the story a bit too much at times by the reading of the murder mystery scripts and characters, and we are also inside the MC’s head - a lot.

I did find the action picking up about halfway through, and the twists and turns and the actual side characters were pretty great! If you liked Knives Out you’ll likely enjoy this one!

This one started out ok and I was excited to read it, but I just couldn't get into it and ended up being distracted. So I didn't finish this one. I am sure it is great for the right clientele and the premise seemed interesting, but it just wasn't for me.

I loved the premise of All Dressed Up by Jilly Gagnon. The general storyline follows the idea that Becca’s husband surprises her with a murder mystery weekend trip. The idea seems romantic until the reader understands that Becca’s husband plans the weekend as a mistaken way to make amends for his most recent affair.

I’ve not been to a murder mystery weekend, but the descriptions of how the weekend unfolded and all that it entailed kept me reading. Unfortunately, Becca and Blake’s marital issues got in the way of the plot for me, and made this murder mystery too much of a slow burn. I ended up finishing this one through audible and I will say that the storyline translated much better through the audiobook.

Thank you to Yewon Son, Penguin Random House and Netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

A rare DNF for me. The characters never appealed enough to make me care about any of them, which wiped out the very fun element of a theatrical murder weekend with a 20s theme encasing some actual carnage. Read about a third before bailing.

A great murder mystery premise, the execution felt a bit tired and redundant. That being said, I will absolutely still give this another any try.

All Dressed Up by Jilly Gagnon is a portal to a 1920’s murder mystery game that becomes a real murder mystery. Overall this book was a miss for me and I found myself skimming through to get to the end. While the premise was interesting there ended up being too many side plots and details for me to really enjoy it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC. All Dressed Up is out now!

I couldn't help but constantly compare this novel to Clue and Knives Out, which is a good thing, because both of those stories are top-notch murder mysteries that are fun, wonky, thrilling, and engrossing. I highly encourage fans of the murder mystery to pick up All Dressed Up, it's a fun ride to be sure!

Thanks to Random House & NetGalley for a digital advance reader copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

“Becca loves mysteries. I’ll give her a mystery weekend, she’ll know I love her.” Becca guesses this is what her husband Blake decided as they drove to a remote yet stunning estate for a three-day getaway. And she also thinks it’s an attempt at an apology, as Becca has recently discovered Blake’s affair, which came out of the blue after nearly 10 years of marriage.

So we have a 1920’s murder mystery game hosted at a remote mansion with a few other couples, one of which Becca and Blake already know. Even with the marital issues, Becca decides to make the best of it and go along with the costumes, characters, atmosphere, red herrings, and the “murder” of their host. The clues come fast and furious, and everyone must team up to solve the crime, while remembering that any one of them could be the murderer.

This sounded like an intriguing premise, especially when one of the actresses playing the part of the maid disappears. Now we (Becca and I) have more than one mystery to solve. Are characters acting suspiciously because they have connections to the missing maid, or because they’re just acting the part they’ve been given in the game? Since the book is told from Becca’s point of view, I was as confused as she was: “I couldn’t even tell when they were acting, whether their dropped hints and sidelong glances meant anything or whether they were all just part of the game we were playing.”

But to make things more complicated, Becca is an unreliable narrator. Blake’s betrayal has left Becca nearly unhinged, or at least that’s how it seems. She is over-the-top jealous, unable to read normal body language clues, and is often bordering on hysterics. This leads to poor decision making, putting herself in danger as she continues to look for the missing maid (the real mystery of the weekend).

I liked the way Becca justifies her immersion in murder mysteries after learning of her husband’s affair, with “every book or episode ending with a neat resolution, the chaos safely hidden away, order restored…The setting might change, but underneath they were all the same. Something terrible threatened, but every single time there was a solution. Closure. The good were exonerated and the evil was safely tucked away, episode after episode, the unchanging cadence of it pure mental balm.” That’s why I like murder mysteries, too.

We are inside Becca’s head the entire book, which wasn’t a comfortable place to be. She seemed emotionally overwrought and more frantic than necessary, while her husband was so patient and loving and tried to placate her when he could tell she was losing her grip.

I liked the premise a lot, and the climax was satisfyingly nail-biting, but I didn’t like Becca or her angst. So I’m giving this one a 3 out of 5. Still worth reading.