You've Been Summoned by Lindsey Lamar Published by Experiment 42 on February 27, 2024
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Mystery
Pages: 365
Format: eARC
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A suspicious host. A skeptical guest list. A historical manor. Everyone’s hiding something. It's up to you to solve the mystery in this interactive puzzle.
During a long weekend in March, a group of twentysomethings from Virginia meet for an overnight costume party. For their venue, the host has rented the historical Sophomore a place where the most prestigious socialites of the 1940's and ‘50s partied until the celebrity owners mysteriously went missing.
The event began innocently enough: cocktail toasts, elaborate costumes, and exchanged pleasantries. But at the height of the party, Jane Parks notices her twin has vanished from the scene. It isn’t until Jane finds her sister’s body that the real guessing game begins.
That’s where you come in. It’s up to you, detective, to expose a present-day link between the victim, the guest list, and Sophomore Manor’s unsolved history.
This interactive novel casts the reader as the detective. With integrated clues to examine and entangled interviews to analyze, the reader must make a case in this whodunit novel turned criminal investigation.
You’ve Been Summoned’s setup reminded me a lot of the board game, Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated, mixed with Clue. It’s designed to be interactive, casting you, the reader, as the newest employee at PI, Inc. Apparently they’re a bit short-staffed, so you’re assigned a case right from the top. You have all the files regarding the incident at Sophomore Manor at your disposal – to be read in the suggested order. You also have several historical items from the 1940s when Mary Sophomore and her twin sister also went missing. You do receive some helpful pointers from the boss along the way.
The case you’ve been asked to look at involves Sillian Parks. She was throwing a party with several friends and her twin sister, Jane, at the Sophomore Manor, when she went missing. She was eventually found, but comatose, and foul play was suspected. It’s up to you, the reader, to put all the information and clues together to present your recommendation as to who should be arrested. Then you get to read the actual solution and see if you were – I wasn’t.
This is a fun book. Even though it does have a clever gimmick, the mystery is put together well. Both timelines were interesting, and while none of the characters is likable, I was interested in what happened. I don’t think want to read this type of interactive book often, but as a one-off it was enjoyable.
About Lindsey Lamar
Lindsey Lamar is a mystery writer in her twenties from Austin, Texas. She also writes reflective essay pieces on Substack.
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Thank you for your kind words and for reading the book! I’m glad you enjoyed the experience 🙂