The problem with telling tales is that you might get caught out by the twist: pre-order the most original literary thriller of 2025, from the author of the sensational Eight Detectives"The master puppeteer of literary crime" JANICE HALLETT"Today''s greatest exponent of playful detective fiction" GUARDIAN**********Six friends gather at a country house for a birthday weekend. They decide to play a game.All six names go in a hat. Choose two, and imagine one murdering the other. Write it down. Type it up. Read it out.Points are given for making the murders sound convincing.Of course, when given such a task, it’s only natural to use what you know. Secrets. Grudges. Affairs.But once you’ve put it in a story, that secret is out.So with each fictional murder, someone gets a motive for a real one.Which leads to the most important question:When a real murder comes, will you be able to spot it in time?********** Praise for Alex Pavesi''s sensational bestseller, Eight Detectives…‘One of the year''s most entertaining crime novels’ Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month‘So, so clever . . . Agatha Christie would take her hat off to this one - bravo!’ Sarah Pinborough‘A wonderfully tricksy debut and a loving tribute to the golden age of crime fiction’ Mail on Sunday‘A box of delights . . . Pavesi''s revelations are completely unexpected, right up to the end’ New York Times