Fatal Foul Play is a standalone locked room/isolated classic style murder mystery by David S. Pederson featuring an isolated setting and a group of friends, at least one of whom is a murderer. Released 12th Nov 2024 by Bold Strokes Books, it's 242 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.
Isolated lodge setting, group of 8 friends (including ex lovers, frenemies, and two couples), and a debilitating snowstorm sets the stage for murder which only happens around 80% into the book. (There's a prologue murder which isn't really discussed much until the denouement). Although the characters' ages are firmly in the middle aged (40-60) range, they act and think like young adults. There's so much drama and relationship re-hashing that it was frankly a bit of a trial to get through.
The mystery itself is competently constructed and does eventually tie up all the loose ends, including the prologue political murder/suicide which seemingly has no relation to the plot of the novel. It's told in third person, but the characters are so interchangeable that it's very difficult to keep them straight. It might be worthwhile to have a scorecard to keep track of the dramatis personae, since there are only 8 principal players.
Three stars. It's full of drama and snark, but the author does get to a resolution in the end. Potentially worth a look for fans of gay friendly classic form mystery.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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