Unfortunately, you can only be surprised by the plot of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None once. For those, like me, who long for a similar plot, there is the new locked room mystery, You Are Fatally Invited.

Six authors, all with secrets to hide, are stuck on an island and the bodies keep piling up. The architect of the setup may, or may not, be among the island’s guests. His accomplice has her own secret murder plan. Then someone surprising is found murdered. Could there be another guest with his or her own vendetta?

You Are Fatally Invited is a hoot! I did have some problems initially with remembering each author’s backstories. Many seemed very similar and only one, the elderly Cassandra, had a distinctive voice. However, by a quarter into the book, their actions within the book began to make them easier to remember. Despite this minor issue, the plot is such fun! It reminds me of all the classic mystery movies I’ve loved. It’s Clue but without all the French farce running around action. This book is more of a homage than a parody.

There are quite a few twists in the plot, which I loved. And a rather workmanlike conclusion, which I didn’t. I recommend this book for Agatha Christie fans, just don’t set your expectations too high. 4 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for providing me with an advanced review copy.

Absolutely loved this book. Deadly and intriguing interpretation of Clue. I appreciated the tropes alignment too. Excellent for book club discussion. Only minor things is that I think the book could have ended without the last chapter and epilogue, but that's being not picky and I still loved it.

I snuck this one in as a last minute February read. I've got mixed feelings. I liked the "Clue" structure of the plot. Starting with the map, it was clear that we would be looking for a resolution with a whodunnit, with what weapon and where. That morphed into whodunnit, what was their 'secret' occupation, and what sin were they being punished for.

I had a lot of trouble keeping all of the characters/voices/"sins" straight. The introduction of excerpts from the characters' books only made things more confusing. (As the body count mounted, it got easier.)

I thought the "reveal" was clever, and surprising. The author did a good job of tying up some loose ends that had bothered me. I was sufficiently surprised by the twists to feel like the read was worth it in the end.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book started out a bit slow but ramped up at the midway point. It’s a locked-room / Christie-esque thriller with a unique twist that kept me guessing.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book was SOOO good! What a fun, wild ride! You Are Fatally Invited takes And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie and several other well-known thriller/horror tropes and tips them on their head. This story truly kept me guessing until the very end, and I read it in a day! So, so good, and definitely one of my favorites of the year!

A delightfully twisty debut thriller! I loved watching Clue as a kid and this gave me similar vibes with characters that aren't quite who they say they are, secret passageways and questionable past of all involved. Thank you Random House Publishing Group Ballantine and NetGalley for an ARC!

I always love a locked room mystery and this one was executed very well. I liked the way the author played with different thriller tropes and tied in elements from Clue. This was all around a fun read!

You are fatally invited is a strong debut by ands piliego. Mila is a hired host for the mysterious author Alastors writing retreat. Mila has never seen alastor and has only communicated in writing with the anonymous writer. Mila agrees to host a writers retreat for Alastor and 6 famous authors are invited to attend on the mansion on an isolated island for a weekend of collaboration, learning, and games. Mila is tasked with executing the plans, but is there for her own reason-she labs to murder one of the authors. However, as the weekend begins, an author falls dead, but not the one Mila planned. Suddenly, Mila realizes she’s is playing a very different game and must try to navigate the tropes of a locked-room murder mystery to survive. Each of the authors has something to hide and all have been chosen for a reason-who will survive the weekend and who is the mysterious alastor pulling the strings?

I really enjoyed this book! I love a locked room mystery as it is, but sometimes find them to execute the trope well. Piligeo crafts a well executed and tightly wound mystery with hidden identities, a creepy isolated setting, gory deaths, and an impending sense of dread with a building claustrophobia. This has come the closest to invoking Christie’s and then there were none than any closed circle mystery in the modern era. Short chapters will keep the readers turning the pages and the mystery builds to a twisty (but fair) denouement. The points of view are constantly shifting between the authors, which can make it somewhat harder to follow at times. That does not hinder the enjoyment of the plot or atmosphere though for this worthwhile debut!

Thanks to the publisher for the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A perfect thriller all wrapped up. The characters were a dislikable, the story was suspenseful, and it was all tied together so nicely with a dash of revenge and redemtion.

3.5 stars

✨ This book has much to recommend it, and I think many will really enjoy it. It was a bit of a slow burn for me, and I struggled to connect to the characters and narrative at times. But all in all, this was an enjoyable read. I will definitely read this author in the future.

🌿Read if you like:
✨Locked room setting
✨Isolated settings
✨Cat and mouse
✨Multiple points of view
✨Books about books
✨Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE
✨Clue

Six prominent mystery writers are invited to a private island by an anonymous author, J. R. Alastor, whose works are well known even if he isn't. And each writer is hiding a secret. This book is a wonderful debut by author Ande Pliego. It's a little bit Agatha Christie locked room, a little bit Clue, a little bit Puzzle Box, and a whole lot of fun.

The book starts slowly, and you might be confused by some of the names (Ashton is so close to Alastor, and Ashton is also called Ash and Carter), but hang in there - once it gets going it never lets up! There are a lot of characters, but each chapter is titled with the writer's name who is narrating. Sections are broken down by descriptions of mystery writing tropes, giving you a little prelude to what follows. Each night there is a different game/puzzle, organized by Mila, Alastor's assistant. She's been given an agenda, with no idea of the outcome. As the story proceeds, we see that Mila might be an unwitting player in the game, as are each of the writers.

And as one of the character's t-shirts reads, "Don't annoy the writer, they'll put you in a book and kill you.".

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an advance reader's copy.

This was such an exciting and thrilling read! This book was recommended to me by quite a few people and I’m so glad I gave this a read.

When a group of best selling thriller authors get invited to an authors retreat by another famous author, how can you pass up the opportunity? What they thought would be a relaxing writing retreat, quickly turned into a deadly gave of Clue.

Each author had committed some sort of crime or sin that they were keeping a secret from one another. I honestly had no idea who to trust and who did what. Right when I thought I knew who put together the whole game, there was another twist that took me by surprise.

It’s so hard to write this review without giving any spoilers. Towards the last 20% of the book I kind of started putting some of the puzzle pieces together and I was so thrilled with the way this ended.

This will have you on the edge of your seat and wanting to finish in one sitting. If you like a sort of “who done it” thriller, please give this one a read! I promise you will not regret it.

Thank you to NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group for the chance to read this book!!

That was a REALLY GREAT book! A lot going on, a lot of people to follow up on at first but it's pretty easy to follow and it was a very fast paced read for me, kept me hooked from the beginning and I thankfully had a sick day today to get through it all in one sitting. Not sure how I would have gotten through my day if I actually had to put it down, honestly, that was one of the best 5 stars I've read in a while. An even better it's a new author's book debut from what I hear,So someone else to follow up on in the future and hopefully get to read some new material! So tired of all these books coming out with the same plot over and over, so when an original Idea shows up I'm all for it! I especially loved the ending, the "interview" for the new book at the end! I think the author should take that and make it into her next book! I would love a follow up on the retreat, Obviously their not gonna follow in Alastor's footsteps... or are theyyyy????

You are fatally invited was a four star read for me. Full of twists and adventures. A whodunnit on a writers retreat gone wrong. This gave me an Agatha Christie vibe and I loved every second.
I was on the edge of my seat at every page turn.
Just when you thought you figured it out, you were lead into another direction.
This is a must read!
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC! This excellent debut is sure to delight any fan of thrillers and is an exceptional take on the genre. I thoroughly enjoyed this and found myself unable to put it down once I finally made time to read it. It’s a bit slow at times with a lot of characters, but it’s well worth the read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for the ARC!

This was such a fun read. Locked room mystery a-la-Clue. Each character has a shady past and backstory to them, and there are mysteries layered within the mystery. Who is our host? Who screwed Mila over all those years ago? And what did all these authors do that someone wants them dead now? Definitely kept me guessing til the end!

Six authors are invited to a private island for an exclusive writing retreat hosted by a world-famous author no one has ever laid eyes on…but were they invited for a writing retreat, or were they invited for revenge? 🩸

3.5 ⭐️ The scene was set from the very first page because the book includes a map designed like the board from the game Clue which I thought was great fun! There are a lot of characters to keep track of (6 authors, 3 staff members, 1 elusive host) and you had chapters from the authors as well as chapters named after the sins they committed that landed them in the situation. Even with really short chapters, I did find myself flipping back a lot to remind myself whose POV I was in, so it was confusing at times. My only complaint is that the book had a lot going on and it took on a smidge too much. The locked room mystery had a lot of moving parts and was enough on its own in my opinion, so the small romance and the book within a book elements weren’t necessary. With all of that said, I stayed up way too late to finish the book because it really does hook you in if you can suspend disbelief.

My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for a complimentary advance copy of this eBook, out now.

I had a lot of fun reading this twisty murder mystery book. It was so meta! All the alluding to the different characters secrets and pasts kept me guessing the entire time and I definitely wasn't able to predict the twists, but I would have liked more breadcrumbs to get there myself. I also felt like it was pretty dark and would have liked a bit more humor and a bit more romance played up on the sidelines. Overall entertaining read but I wasn't incredibly invested in the characters.

What a ride! I really enjoyed the vast cast of characters, and how they all had distinct voices. There were so many twists and turns, and just when I was certain I knew who the killer was, that person would die!

This was a perfect book! I love murder mysteries and I love the board game Clue, well this book melds them together for loads of fun. I love the mixed media aspect, with a map of the house in the front and letters and such.

It was the perfect mix of suspense, and tropes! I could guess some of the things that would immediately happen next, but not the ending which thrilled me to no end. After reading, I also picked up the audiobook with a full cast! Amazing as well, and may I suggest picking up both? Reading and listening were two different but both amazing experiences with this book. I've never recommended both the audiobook and the physical book before but this book warrants it!

My first five star of 2025 I believe! I highly recommend!

I will be looking for more from this author.