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  • Published: 23 June 2025
  • ISBN: 9781529939071
  • Imprint: Century
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $34.99
Categories:

This Is Not a Game

  • Kelly Mullen




Gilmore Girls meets Knives Out. A deliciously smart locked-room mystery featuring an irresistible grandmother and granddaughter sleuthing duo.

Introducing your new favourite whodunnit. Perfect for fans of Gilmore Girls and Knives Out.

'I adored this deliciously twisty and wickedly sharp murder mystery' Lucy Clarke
'A thriller with a twist!' Cosmopolitan
'Slick and witty' Daily Mail
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Two unlikely detectives. A killer cocktail of suspects.

A Gibson martini garnished with three silverskin onions is 77-year-old Mimi’s favourite cocktail. It is best served with a crossword puzzle, not as an apéritif at Jane Ireland's extravagant auction party.


But given Mimi has been blackmailed into attending Jane's event, at a grand old mansion on Mackinac Island (Michigan’s answer to The Hamptons), there are worse drinks she could spend an evening sinking.


Thankfully for her, she's roped her granddaughter, Addie – who is escaping the heartache caused by her manipulative ex-fiancé – into accompanying her. While Addie spots celebrities and socialites in the manor's labyrinth of dark rooms and Mimi wonders how to confess the real reason for her presence at the soiree, a scream pierces the air.

Jane is dead.


And when a second body turns up, Mimi and Addie soon become the unlikeliest of sleuths in a race to narrow down the suspects.


In a house that contains as many secrets as the people within it, it’s going to take more than a Gibson to survive the night…
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Praise for THIS IS NOT A GAME:

'Agatha Christie brought bang up to date in this innovative and funny spin on the classic country house murder. I adored Mullen’s intrepid sleuthing duo and loved unravelling this locked-room mystery with them' Clare Mackintosh

'Miss Marple meets Only Murders in the Building, this is a proper old school murder mystery brought bang up to date by Kelly. Entertaining from start to finish' Jennie Godfrey

'A stunning read. So gripping and atmospheric, I barely made it out alive' Steve Jones

'A zippy, witty and delightful game of twists, featuring a wonderful new puzzle-solving duo guaranteed to win your heart' Chris Chibnall

'A wonderfully vibrant take on the classic whodunit, This is Not A Game tackles the locked room mystery with warmth and humour, serving up a crime solving duo that I couldn’t stop rooting for. After finishing the book, I was craving three things - a visit to Mackinac island, a Gibson, and more from author Kelly Mullen!' Kristen Perrin

'Mullen’s debut introduces us to a sparkling new crime-fighting partnership: acerbic septuagenarian Mimi and her smart-as-a-whip granddaughter, Addie. In This Is Not A Game, the pair find themselves trapped together on an island mansion as murders ensue. Crackles with wit and cosy crime goodness' Vaseem Khan

'Mullen debuts with an impressive closed-circle whodunit' Publishers Weekly

The Bookseller's '10 Titles not to miss in April' pick

  • Published: 23 June 2025
  • ISBN: 9781529939071
  • Imprint: Century
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $34.99
Categories:

Praise for This Is Not a Game

Slick and witty

Daily Mail

Mullen debuts with an impressive closed-circle whodunit

Publishers Weekly

A thriller novel with a difference

Cosmopolitan

Fabulous, over-the-top fun

The Guardian

Locked room murder mystery at its best

The i Paper

Thrilling and heartwarming... This Is Not a Game is a playful mix of classic whodunnit and modern wit stirred to perfection

Criminal Element

Despite the title, this is absolutely a game from the first word to the last

Kirkus

A fun, atmospheric debut with sharp humour and classic whodunnit charm

Dead Good Books

A quirky variation on Golden Age locked room mysteries with a modern zest of eccentricity and humour, US author Kelly Mullen’s debut is very much a crowd pleaser in the mould of the KNIVES OUT movie series

Crime Time

A grand finale reveal Poirot would be proud of

Woman & Home

'Slick and witty.'

The Daily Mail
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