I enjoyed listening to this murder mystery story, set in the 1920's, and the narrator was very good. The story is about Inspector Danilov and Sergeant Stratton, who are investigating the death of a woman in Shanghai, as well as other murders which take place. I found it all very enjoyable, as it has a great story, with interesting characters, as well as a lot of secrets and suspense. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

I much prefer books set in the present day in the UK, and didn't realise until I started listening that this one is set in late 1920s Shanghai. I also didn't realise that it was the third in a series! However none of that stopped me from enjoying this police detective story which had Sherlock Holmes vibes.

The book is well written and well plotted and true to the book's title, the killer is indeed playing a murderous game with the two detectives. There are twists and turns galore, and the murders are horrific and macabre.

M J Lee brought 1920s Shanghai to life for me, and the characters, especially Danilov and Strachan are well drawn and both likeable.

I do feel that I missed out a little on Danilov's backstory by not having read the first two books in the series, but will be putting that right asap.

The narration by Dallin Bradford was perfect for the book.

This book has a good plot with plenty of action that kept me interested throughout
The storyline is well formed and plausible and well worth reading
Thank you netgalley for a pre publication copy of this book

This was well narrated and an interesting story.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

2.5/5 stars

The mystery was decent but I didn't find it engaging. A supposedly dead criminal has returned and is targeting people close to the protagonist, Inspector Danilov who works in Shanghai. I found the book (or the characters) laced with sexism; the way some characters described female dead bodies or the main character constantly complaining about his daughter's cooking. Well if it sucks so much, then cook it yourself. The book has some surprisingly gory scenes. I couldn't have completed this book if it wasn't an audio book. The narrator did a good job embodying all of the characters.

The audio book was amazing, although some parts were a bit slow and the narrators voice turned me off from listening for a while.

Over all, it is a great novel, and a quick one too.

.I wasn't aware this was a series but don't let that deter you as it was easy to pick up and once I got into it I really enjoyed this audio book

Following a kidnapping a badly injured woman is found with a message for a Inspector Danilov.
This leads to a series of murders and Inspector Danilov and Sergeant Stratton are on a deadline to stop more deaths but the killer is loving the game and despite the clues the murders start to stack up.

Then it gets personal

I enjoyed listening to this audiobook it was well read and well written. Totally enjoyable

I received this audiobook from the publishers via Netgalley for a review

This is the Third book in the Inspector Danilov series. I have read the other series that this author has written but have not read any of this one. The storyline is based on events that have happened in a previous book, but easy enough to work out though I would’ve liked to have read this series from the start . The narrator was ok though he didn’t really attempt to change the tone for the different characters but otherwise easy to listen to.

Bodies are being found over Shanghai and the only connection to them is Inspector Danilov; but with clues of poetry being left in the newspapers a game is being played.

Is Danilov smart enough to work out what the game is?
Or will he be too late and lose everything he loves?

This book made my stomach churn, my toes curl and my fingers tingle; Lee writes the most horrific torture methods, I couldn't handle it!

I'm a quesy person as it is and at points I had to stop.
This doesn't mean it isn't well written, it means Lee has a brilliant imagination and does a great job bringing the readers in.

It even made me question the choices if I was put in the same position.

This is the 3rd book in the series, and I really wish I had read the previous ones as it was obvious that it followed on and you did end up missing a lot.

It's a serious I would pick up, but adding a bit of something happy in between.

This murder mystery is set in Shanghai between WW1 & WW2. I understand that it is the 3rd in a series - I haven't read the others so cannot comment on continuity etc, but review this as a standalone.

When a women is found with thousands of razor-blade cuts to her body and shouting the name of Inspector Danilov, he and Sergeant Stratton are drawn into a "game" where a serial killer is determined to play with Danilov & his method of solving crimes. As the number of corpses increase, Danilov realises that there is a personal connection ...

The storyline is fast-paced, unusual and engaging, but the narrator didn't work for me - he attempted to differentiate the characters but this resulted in one of them sounding whiney. In addition the accent was a little too "RP" for me. For instance the word coughing came over as "cuffing" and it just made it hard for me to engage with as it felt disconnected from the story. Hence the 3 star rating.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this audiobook free via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the author & publisher for the opportunity to listen to it, all opinions are my own.
#TheMurderGame #NetGalley

I tried with this one but life is too short to carry on listening to something that keeps making you cringe. I wasn’t keen on the narration but could have coped if it weren’t for the writing itself. I know it is set in the 1920s but using outdated phrases like half-caste in the narration is unnecessary. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a Scooby Doo mystery with phrases like I’ll get you for this ‘if it’s the last thing I do’. I listened on as the story was promising but, in yet another moment of despair, I gave up and deleted the title

When Inspector Danilov and Sergeant Stratton are called to attend the death of a woman on the streets of Shanghai they do not have any clues to who has committed the murder but as time goes on the number of people murdered mounts up. Danilov has also to contend with internal politics within the Police as well as trying to investigate these murders which turn out to have a personal connection to him.
I enjoyed listening to this audiobook it was well read and well written. Totally enjoyable

Very clever puzzles! Very annoying characters. I was so happy with how the story managed to progress but I felt that the characters were what was lacking. Hasn’t enticed my to continue with this series after this book.

Narrator 5 stars

Story 4 stars

Wow! This was dark and twisted!

This is the first time I've heard of this series or author and it was easy to pick up. The story is your worst nightmare. AND THAT ENDING!!!!
Definitely want to listen to the first book.

3.5 This is the 3rd of the Inpspector Danilov mysteries and I have not read the first 2 installments in the series and do wonder if I would have enjoyed this more if I had read the first 2 books. There was a lot of background information on recurring characters which I assume would have been covered in the first instalments and might have made me more sympathetic to certain characters.

The book is set in Shanghai in the inter-war years but for some reason a strong sense of place didn’t come through for me, although I found some details, such as the international zones into which Shanghai was apparently split, very interesting.

For me, the biggest issue in terms of the novel was that I just didn’t engage with the character of Danilov, although I found his sidekick, Strachan, more sympathetic. The other members of the police force also seemed like stereotypes and not terribly credible characters. The plot was initially quite interesting but was drawn out for too long and somehow lost credibility, especially in how the other members of the force were supposedly responding. I also became irritated with quite a lot of repetition. Strachan is always thinking about food and going home to an empty house since his mother died - fine if we delve a bit deeper into his psyche but we don’t. Women from the Caucuses have cat-like eyes we are told on several occasions, Danilov’s daughter calls Strachan “David” - possibly surprising the first time but hardly worth mentioning with surprise more than once, etc.

I was lucky enough to receive an audiobook ARC of this and so want to mention something about the narrator - I’m not sure where he’s from and although there are occasional strange pronunciations, eg everyone seems to corfff a lot, rather than cough, it’s mostly fine. However, the author is unusually specific about where minor characters are from and when the narrator was attempting these it was unintentionally hilariously bad.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Saga Egmont Audio for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I received this audiobook from the publishers via Netgalley for a review. Really enjoyed this audiobook. A very good murder mystery between the two world wars in China mainly Shanghai. The narrator really got the feel of this audiobook.

Wow, what an emotional ride!

This book grabs you fast and draws you in.

I connected with the protagonist and was drawn into the story within the first few chapters.

The book has a solid story, which is fast paced, with good scene setting and an interesting back story.

The story has murder, mystery, suspense and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was perfectly narrated which only added to the experience.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Hello!
I'm very sorry, I must've requested this by accident, and won't be able to read/review it.
I apologize once more,
Thank you!