Fabulous Reads: Celebrity-inspired murder mystery fizzles

The Club, Ellery Lloyd, Pan Macmillan, ISBN: 9781529039511

BROTHERS Adam and Ned have built an exclusive club for the rich and famous. At the start of the book, they are about to launch the newest luxurious, private and highly coveted island resort – however, things quickly turn south as a body is discovered floating off shore.

I had high hopes for this Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick by husband-and-wife authors Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos (aka Ellery Lloyd), however, it left little to be desired.

The book is, without a doubt, a slow-burner with loads of world building. The first half of the book is cumbersome, and I nearly gave up on finishing it.

The narration jumps between several characters and flips between present time and a timeline that leads up to the deadly series of events.

Slowly, as we are introduced to each character, we learn about their motives and potential involvement.

There were a number and twists and turns, and I did enjoy uncovering how the characters’ lives were secretly intertwined.

However, I struggled to connect with most of the characters. There were only two that I found myself empathising with, but I was not emotionally invested in any of them.

The book is seemingly a critique of the world of champagne wishes and caviar dreams and how easily power, money and/or fame can be abused.

But other than social critique, the book does not add much.

There were also some questionable aspects to the book’s plot. However, there was nothing about this book that captured me. – Mariclair Smit 2/5 stars

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