‘The world’s most beloved literary characters.
The gilded opulence of the Roaring Twenties.
A murder that scandalises high society.
And a clever young woman of unusual persistence…
Be ready to re-think the world of Gatsby.‘
– The Gatsby Gambit
[ About The Gatsby Gambit ]
1922: You are cordially invited to summer at the Gatsby Mansion in West Egg, with the most illustrious – and the deadliest – guest list.
Freshly twenty-one and sporting a daring new bob, Greta Gatsby – younger sister to the infamous Jay – is finally free of finishing school. An idyllic summer stretches ahead of her at the Gatsby Mansion, the jewel of West Egg.
But when Greta arrives at the secluded white-stone estate bathed in the late-afternoon light, she finds she isn’t the only visitor. Jay is hosting an intimate gathering of New York’s fashionable set: Daisy and Tom Buchanan, along with his brother Edgar, Nick Carraway and Jordan Baker.
That evening, the guests enjoy a candelabra-lit dinner party. That night, they dance to the lilt of the gramophone. The next morning, one of them is missing.
Murder has come to West Egg, the warm breeze tainted by scandal, betrayal and secrets. Turning sleuth isn’t how Greta meant to spend her summer – but what choice does she have when one of them could be next?
[ My Review ]
The Gatsby Gambit by Claire Anderson-Wheeler published April 3rd with Renegade Books and is described as ‘a deliciously unputdownable whodunnit perfect for fans of The Christie Affair and Miss Austen Investigates.’ I am delighted to be sharing my review with you all today as part of the blog tour celebrating the book’s exciting release.
Greta Gatsby is thrilled, but also a little nervous, to be returning to West Egg after completing finishing school. Her brother Jay has built a palatial property on Long Island and Greta, now at twenty-one, is looking forward to spending some time with him and enjoying the sea air and his companionship. But Jay Gatsby is not one to linger for any great time in his own company and Greta soon finds herself surrounded by his old friends, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker and Nick Carraway. Greta craves peace, time to relax and read a book, but Jay and his friends love to party hard and play hard, so Greta has little choice but to blend in and observe.
But when they all awaken the following morning, it is discovered that one of their party is missing. As the search is undertaken, it’s not long before a body is found and their lives are immediately all thrown into disarray. On initial investigation it appears as a suicide but, from the beginning, Greta is convinced that there is something untoward about the circumstances surrounding this discovery and decides to carry out her own search for the truth.
As the days pass, suspicions are raised and fingers are pointed. Each guest had a potential motive but had they the nerve to pull off such a brutal act? Greta fears for her brother’s innocence and safety, Jay is all she has left in the world. He has worked very hard to achieve respectability but Jay knows that this is all just a fragile show, like a deck of cards that could collapse at any moment. He has always strove to protect Greta but now this eco-system he has built could be on the verge of imploding.
Greta loves to read a good mystery novel, in particular Agatha Christie, so her mind is fine tuned to observing and staying silent when required. She is fast at sensing when something is off and she is calm in the face of hysterics and anger. Biding her time, she starts to pull together a theory of what actually happened that night but will her sleuthing be more of a hindrance to the police investigators or could Greta possibly be one step ahead? There is a potential murderer on West Egg but who could it be? And more importantly, who might be next in the firing line?
The Gatsby Gambit is a really fun reimagining of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic, The Great Gatsby. Claire Anderson-Wheeler had read the original book many years ago and was always struck by the class divide and the overindulgent excessiveness of the characters – ‘while I always love the Fitzgerald novel, I wondered what would happen if the rough justice of a murder-mystery novel were to pay a visit’. Through the eyes of a young woman, the opulent lifestyle is peeled back, revealing something much more disconcerting hiding in the shadows. Gatsby, The Buchanans, Carraway and Baker are all slightly altered, immersing the reader into a similar yet alternative West Egg, creating an almost sliding doors effect. Lush and entertaining, The Gatsby Gambit reads like the lovechild of Christie and Fitzgerald, a truly delightful and charming golden-age murder mystery.
[ Bio ]
Claire Anderson-Wheeler grew up in Dublin, Geneva, and Brussels. She studied Law at Trinity College, Dublin, and holds a Masters in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. She works in Publishing in the US and this is her debut novel. Claire first read The Great Gatsby on holiday when she was fourteen, and has revisited it often since. She currently lives in Boston with her partner.
Sounds like an interesting take on the original. I am always cagey about messing around with classics though. I think its the 100th anniversary of its publication this year.
It’s a fun read Lucy. You just need to park the original story a little.