Book Description 

Knives Out meets Saltburn in this wickedly plotted thriller, in which a group of friends play a deadly game that unwraps a motive for murder, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Alex Michaelides.

Anatol invites five of his oldest friends to his family home in the Wiltshire countryside to celebrate his thirtieth birthday. At his request, they play a game of his invention: Motive Method Death. The rules are simple: Everyone chooses two players at random, then writes a short story in which one kills the other.

Points are awarded for making the murders feel real. Of course, when given this assignment, it’s only natural for each friend to use what they know. Secrets. Grudges. Affairs. But once they’ve put it in a story, that secret is out. It’s not long before the game reawakens old resentments and brings private matters into the light of day. With each fictional crime, someone new gets a very real motive.

Can all six friends survive the weekend, or will truth turn out to be deadlier than fiction?

My Review 

The big premise here is that the characters are participating in a game where they each write a story involving one of the characters killing the other. The conceit here is that these fictional stories blend with the real narrative, making it impossible to tell what is really happening in the story and what is another entry in their little game. 

Generally, these people are all awful to each other— even when factoring out the fake murders— and they don’t even seem to like each other very much. They are also harboring some pretty big secrets. Perhaps that’s what makes it so easy to blur the lines with the murder stories and make them appear more plausible. 

I would recommend Ink Ribbon Red, although not as enthusiastically as some of the other books I’ve read this year. The English country house setting is reminiscent of classic tales from the mystery genre, and the revelation of big secrets kept me hooked. 

I received a digital ARC of this book from Henry Holt & Company