Since he was a child, Morgan Sheppard always wanted to be famous. It didn’t matter for what as long as he was recognized and adulated. When he was eleven-years-old something happened that put him on the spotlight and now, many years later, he is the famous presenter of a detective show. Spending his days popping pills and not caring about other people’s feelings, Morgan wakes up one day chained to a hotel room. There are five other people in the room, they don’t know each other and they don’t know how they got there, but the biggest surprise is the murdered body in the bath tub. A man wearing the mask of a horse appears on the screen of a TV to explain that they are all in the room of a hotel in central London. One of them is the killer and if Morgan manages to find out who it is in the next three hours they will all be free to go. If he doesn’t, the hotel will explode killing everyone inside it.
Morgan has recognised the man in the bath tub, he is someone who had been important for him for many years, and even the other people in the room all seem to have a connection with him. After making sure that there is no way out, Morgan starts the investigation, but his mind can’t focus as he struggles with his drug addiction and regrets from his past, and things get out of control as suspicion raises among the other “guests”.
This is a fast-paced novel, everything happens in a few hours, with flashbacks and memories that take the reader back in time to discover what happened that led this five people into this room. A real-life Cluedo with touches of Agatha Christie – although with a more claustrophobic atmosphere since much of the action happens inside a hotel room and, at some point, in a vent – this is an edgy and gripping read which I was surprised to discover is a debut because it’s very well-written and carefully plotted.
I’d like to thank Orion for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange of an honest review.
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