Book Review: The Invitation by A.M. Castle

Thirteen guests. One killer. No escape.

On an island on the coast of Cornwall, cut off from the mainland by the tides for most of the day, thirteen old friends meet at Tregowan Castle for a weekend of revelry.

By the next evening only twelve are still alive.

Amongst them is a killer – but who? As a storm traps them on the island and past betrayals and grievances are revealed, nerves fray and friendships begin to fracture.

But with no escape and no way of calling for help it’s only a matter of time before the killer strikes again. And when everyone is keeping secrets, anybody could be the next victim…

Thirteen friends arrive at a remote castle in Cornwall to attend a special Halloween party. The next evening, only twelve are alive. The killer is one of the twelve but who is it?

From the first page, I knew this was going to be my kind of phycological thriller.

Immediately, I got pulled into the story as the tension and suspense continued to build.

This book is told from the point of view of various characters including Rachel, the rich hostess who has planned this special night down to the last detail. Vicky who is fighting a drinking problem and a breakdown in the relationship with her son. Gita and her husband Tom whose marriage isn’t as happy as she’d like it to appear.

All of them have secrets which means they all have motive. This made it especially hard to figure out who the killer was. Just when I thought I had an idea, something else would happen. I didn’t know who to believe and I didn’t know whether to dislike these characters or have sympathy for them. Nothing was black and white where any of these people were concerned. This was one of the things that made this book so interesting for me.

A.M. Castle builds such an atmospheric setting and the plot is developed well. I really devoured this book reading well after my bedtime as I simply couldn’t put it down. I had to know what was coming next.

As usual, I don’t want to say much else as I don’t want to end up spoiling it.

In conclusion, The Invitation is a tale full of twists and turns with unexpected events which all come together for one brilliant read. I really hope this is one thriller you’ll be adding to your book pile.

I look forward to seeing what A.M. Castle does next.

About A.M. Castle:

A. M. Castle’s latest twisty thriller, The Invitation, is already being compared to Agatha Christie and Lucy Foley: ‘Very cleverly written… genuinely jaw-dropping twists.’ ‘I loved it and look forward to A.M. Castle’s next work. This deserves to be on the bestseller list this year.’ ‘Very Agatha Christie.’ ‘One for fans of Lucy Foley.’

Before turning to crime, Alice Castle was a UK newspaper journalist for The Daily Express, The Times and The Daily Telegraph. She writes psychological thrillers for HQDigital as A.M. Castle and the London Murder Mystery cozy crime series as Alice Castle.

Say hello via Facebook, Twitter or via A.M. Castle’s website. 

Click to view The Invitation at Amazon UK. 

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Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.