The Murder Maze
Five years ago, Jane Patterson escaped a serial killer. Now, she’s walking into a trap.
Desperate to support her son and rebuild her life, Jane accepts a mysterious invitation promising a life-changing fortune. But the offer comes with a terrifying hook: the sender knows exactly what happened to her five years ago.
Arriving on a remote island off the coast of Wales, Jane joins three strangers who are all there for the same prize. The rules are simple but brutal: navigate the maze, and the winner takes all. But as the game begins, Jane realizes their presence is no coincidence. Bound by a shared dark connection, they must solve the puzzle of why they were chosen—before the mastermind claims them all.
- Jane - Participant, single mother
- Annie - Jane’s sister, police officer, deceased
- Andrew - Participant, bodybuilder
- Ryan - Participant, single father
- Amanda - Grace and Hope's au pair
- Grace and Hope - Twins with Down syndrome, 5
- Nathan - Amanda’s father
- Lisa - Ryan’s wife, deceased
- Christie - Participant, homeless
- Luke - Christie's brother, deceased
- Mastermind - Murder Maze creator
- Jane receives an invitation from NV Enterprises: the winner gets £1 million, and if she doesn’t attend, they will reveal what happened to her and Annie five years ago.
- Ryan’s letter claims they know he killed his wife.
- Christie’s letter claims they know what happened to her brother.
- Andrew's letter claims they know his secret.
- Jane was abducted by a female serial killer with a Gemini symbol branded on her forehead.
- Jane, Andrew, Christie, and Ryan enter the mansion and are greeted by a figure explaining the island is a fully immersive escape room: solve a murder, and the first to succeed wins.
- Each must solve a different murder—real cases closed by police but solved incorrectly, leaving the culprits free.
- Each participant ends up in a separate room with newspaper clippings about the murder they must solve.
- Christie must solve the Twin Killer murders.
- Jane must solve Shaun Willis’s murder; he died six years ago, allegedly from a drug overdose.
- Andrew must solve Lisa Neville’s case; she died in a car crash.
- Ryan must solve Luke Blake’s murder; he was beaten to death with a claw hammer. His sister was found at the scene, covered in blood and mentally unstable. She was taken to a facility but escaped before police could question her.
- Ryan recognizes Luke’s sister shown in the newspaper article as Christie.
- Andrew recognizes Lisa’s husband as being Ryan.
- Jane recognizes Shaun’s photo as the man she had a one-night stand with - Ben’s father.
- Christie interrogates Jane about how she escaped the Twin Killer.
- Jane admits the Twin Killer wanted her to kill Annie to save herself, and she did it because she had just learned she was pregnant.
- Notes in Andrew’s room suggest Ryan’s twins died in the car accident with Lisa, and he stole the ones he now claims as his daughters.
- Andrew questions Ryan, who insists the car accident was real, his daughters survived, and the newspaper reports saying otherwise are fake.
- Jane and Christie hear a scream and rush into the room to find Ryan standing over Andrew’s bleeding body, a knife protruding from him.
- Ryan, Jane and Christie explore further and discover a maze of tunnels.
- They continue and reach three doors, each of them enters a different one.
- Ryan and Jane each sees of video of Christie in her room.
- A voice tells Christie to admit the truth, and she does. At thirteen, her brother began raping her. By fifteen, she became a gambling addict. When their father died, Luke dropped out of university to care for her, but she continued gambling. The night he discovered this, he tried to rape her again, and she killed him in self-defense.
- Ryan has one minute to tell his truth or Christie dies.
- Ryan insists he is not hiding anything and Christie starts choking on her own blood and dies.
- Ryan and Jane continue and return to the house’s main hallway.
- The figure reappears - it’s the Twin Killer, Amanda.
- Amanda reveals Grace and Hope are actually her daughters.
- The twins were stolen from the hospital after birth, and after years of searching, Amanda finally found them with Ryan.
- Amanda enlisted Nathan’s help to punish everyone who led to her twins being stolen by Ryan.
- Ryan remembers the truth; Lisa was still pregnant with his twins when she died.
- Amanda reveals Andrew caused the car accident that killed Lisa.
- Andrew is brought in; Jane and Ryan are shocked he’s alive.
- Amanda clarifies that Christie was raped by her father, not Luke, and that Luke fathered Amanda’s daughters.
- Amanda tells Jane she must kill Andrew to claim the money and protect her secret.
- Jane attacks Andrew and suffocates him.
- Amanda declares Jane the winner of Murder Maze.
- Nathan drives Amanda, Jane and Ryan back to the main island where Jane is free to go and Ryan is turned over to the police.
- Jane returns home where her mother tells her that Annie gave birth to twin girls two months before dying. Both had Down syndrome and died from delivery complications.
- Jane suspects Amanda lied and that Grace and Hope are Annie’s children.
- Three months later: Ryan is in a mental hospital on suicide watch after being arrested for kidnapping and found mentally unfit.
- Jane visits Ryan, explaining she adopted Grace and Hope - they were Annie’s children, while Amanda’s twins died at birth.
- Jane gives Ryan a packet of gum he requested due to his severe latex allergy, common in gum.
- Amanda’s daughters were suffocated in utero, but Nathan bribed doctors to say they survived.
- The DNA test Amanda had was faked by Nathan.
- When Jane showed Amanda proof of Nathan’s actions, she had him arrested.
- Jane is raising Ben, Grace and Hope while Amanda supports the girls financially.
Jessica Huntley delivers a relentless, fast-paced thriller that truly never stops moving. The writing is sharp and the character development is excellent, making the stakes feel deeply personal as the plot unfolds. The twists come so often and quick that it’s nearly impossible to find a natural stopping point once you start reading.
While the surprises are expertly crafted, there are so many of them that it almost feels like twist fatigue sets in toward the end. There are also a few lingering threads that feel like minor plot holes rather than intentional ambiguity. For instance, the meaning of the note discovered near the end remains frustratingly unclear - it's hard to tell if it's a subtle clue that I missed or narrative oversight.
Despite the small gripes, it is a fantastic recommendation for anyone who loves locked-room mysteries. If you enjoy that sense of high-stakes isolation and a plot that constantly pulls the rug out from under you, this is a must-read for your collection.
- Andrew - Dead - Suffocated by Jane
- Christie - Dead - Killed by Amanda via airborne poison
- Ryan - Unknown - Last seen planning suicide with latex-containing chewing gum
- Amanda - Alive - Keeping an eye on Jane while she raises Grace and Hope
- Jane - Alive - Happily raising Ben, Grace and Hope with Amanda’s financial support
- Nathan - Alive - Imprisoned
- Murder
- Blood
- Fire
- Discussion of suicide
- Pregnancy
Publisher: Nielsen UK ISBN
ISBN: 9781916827134
Publication Date: March 1, 2025
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
