My Review of A Game of Lies, the second of three books I’m reading this season with reality TV settings. Do I sense a trend coming? Let’s discuss this book, which is a standalone mystery in the D.C. Morgan series by Clare Mackintosh.
Overview of A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh: Jen’s Quick Take
- Yes, another book set near Cwm Coed, a town on the Wales/England border
- Yes, more family and relationship drama
- Starring Dave, an anxiety-stricken rescue dog who won my heart
- A very well-plotted police procedural
- And, yes, as I mentioned, a Reality TV setting
Summary: A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh
Published on April 30, 2024 by Sourcebooks. Thanks to Sourcebooks for providing an advance review copy which I gratefully accepted under FTC guidelines.
Book two in a police procedural series set in small town Wales and featuring a sharp-tongued female detective.
Review of A Game of Lies
After reading a string of stressful mysteries with animal abuse, child abuse, bullying and footnotes, I opened up this police procedural with a sigh of relief. I find procedurals so soothing.
In my review of the prior book in this series The Last Party, I explain why I take full credit for getting her out of the suspense lane and into police procedurals. (Probably not, but … maybe?)
I’m always looking for great UK-set police procedural mysteries with female detectives. And there are some great ones, like the Prime Suspect series by Lydia LaPlante and the Vera Stanhope series by Ann Cleeves. I haven’t read the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths, but I want to try it. If you have other recommendations for me, leave them in comments!
In any case, I find DC Ffion Morgan very entertaining. Like Val McDermid’s Karen Pirie, she’s unconventional and underestimated. But while her methods may get her in trouble at work, they work!
The premise of A Game of Lies is a fun one
There’s a reality TV series called “Exposure” filming in the rugged mountains of Wales. The show’s name is a double entendre. The contestants are roughing it AND unbeknownst to them, the production team has found a secret each of them is keeping and which could be exposed over the course of the show. (Sounds a little like Snowflake Mountain on Netflix which I recommend!) Then one of the contestants disappears!
The mystery in this book is really well-plotted. There are a few new characters including Dave the Destructive Farting Therapy Dog.
And YES there is more of Ffion & Leo’s very awkward romance. I think you could read A Game of Lies if you hadn’t read The Last Party, but I say read them in order.
If you like a well-written procedural with humor and characters you’ll love, you’ve got to try this series!