Death Wasnt Invited

I love to play hidden object games; I find them a nice way to relax after a busy day. I also love to read for the same reason, even a crime story can be comforting in its own way. Death Wasn’t Invited by Carlene O’Connor combines the two as it is a ‘cosy’ crime caper based on the June’s Journey games. How can O’Connor incorporate the game mechanics into a story about murder on the Seine?

June Parker was a nurse during the Great War, it was a harrowing time, but also a time of great adventure and friendship. June now lives in 1920s Paris where she meets friends and enjoys being young and free. One adventure is to sneak onto a paddle boat sailing on the Seine to celebrate the engagement of two Parisian families; old and new money, but what starts with frivolity, ends in murder with a boatload of suspects.  

Using an existing IP to launch a book series is a two-edged sword. There is an inbuilt fan base and world building, but you can be a slave to what the fans expect from the story. I had not played the June’s Journey games but have since and O’Connor does a great job of getting a sense of the games but also producing a coherent and entertaining crime story.

You do not need to have played or even know what the games are to enjoy Death. The book works perfectly in its own right. We are introduced to June and her on and off again handsome pilot friend Jack, we then meet friend of Jake, Nate. We then get on the boat full of suspects and clues. And there are a lot of clues, they appear all over the place, kind of like a hidden object game.

O’Conner does not outright say that this is from the game, but the way that some of the clues are found feels like a hidden object game. There is even some fun to be had when one clue is found buried in the ground next to a fountain and June asks who would expect a clue to be found there. This is just the type of place you would find a clue in the game.

The good thing about Death is that if you remove all the trappings of the IP, it is a solid and enjoyable crime thriller. O’Connor paints a heightened version of 1920s Paris, one that you would like to visit, but with less murder and no knowledge of the encroaching rise of fascism across the continent. This is a joyous book, a lighter tale of death. It evokes your Agatha Christies and other historic crime stories. I would recommend this book not only to fans of the game, but any reader that likes a well thought through and entertaining cosy crime book.