As a massive fan of Jennings’ Villanelle series, I was excited to pick up another book from him. This is a very different kind of story as a wee are following a group of people who became friends because they are all fans of the same TV show and there is the mystery of a murder to unravel. The only way that this book is similar to the Villanelle books is that it has the cat-and-mouse element as the group of friends race across the country attempting to evade the law who think they are responsible for the murder; I liked and appreciated this as it shows Jennings’ range and capability as a writer.

Despite the fact that there is a murder at the centre of this story, that isn’t really what this book is about and I really love that that is the case. Jenning explores fandom and the relationship that people might have with the media that they enjoy. This is a book that is having conversations about the way that people can derive meaning from something and make it their own as well as the toxic connection that fans can have to what they idolise. These conversations are at times overt and sometimes they are in the subtext of the story. 

I really appreciated that this book contained a very diverse cast of characters and they felt wholly authentic.

The ending gave me a little bit of a whiplash as it moved significantly faster than the rest of the story. I think there is an argument to be made for this being a deliberate writing choice as it creates a deliberate sense of confusion and like you don’t really know who is lying and who is telling the truth.