Could You Survive Midsomer? by Simon Brew

 

Could You Survive Midsomer?: An interactive novel by Simon Brew.

Published 30th September 2021 by Octopus Books.

From the cover of the book:

Can you avoid a bizarre death in England's most dangerous county?

All is not well in the beautiful county of Midsomer. On the eve of its first Villages In Bloom competition, a man lies dead, smelling of damson jam. Who could have done it?

Well, that's where you come in. Step into the shoes of Midsomer CID's newest recruit, choose your own path and decide which way the story goes.

Will you get to the bottom of the mystery? Will you bring the perpetrator to justice? And perhaps most importantly of all, could you avoid an untimely, and possibly bizarre, death... will YOU survive Midsomer? Your task is to make the right choices, solve the case and - most tricky of all - stay alive!... Good luck.

An official Midsomer Murders Interactive novel set in ITV's most celebrated and murderous county.

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I love a bit of Midsomer Murders, although would definitely not want to live there, so was really keen to try out this all new interactive novel set in England's most dangerous county!

The story revolves around Midsomer's first Villages in Bloom competition, and begins on the eve before the event gets underway when Old Norton resident Peter James Maddock, one of the competitors, is found murdered in a most unusual way.

As the reader, you play the part of a new detective on the Midsomer police force and it's your job to direct the course of the investigation into Maddock's death. You do this by choosing different options at the end of each scene, depending on how you wish the case to proceed. The options include things like choosing to question a particular character, or examine a location linked to the crime, based on what you have discovered or your investigative hunches. Each decision you make takes you to a different numbered scene, sometimes forward in the book and sometimes back, until you have run out of available options and are directed to the relevant section at the end to find out how successful you have been in solving the case - there are various levels of success, and it is even possible to become a victim yourself, which is rather exciting.

Channelling my best John Nettles as Midsomer's DCI Tom Barnaby (my particular favourite), I took a stab as seeing if I had the detective skills to solve the murder of the mysterious Peter James Maddock in this rural hotbed of murderous mayhem myself, and I had a great time doing so. This book is such fun, and I found it really enjoyable deciding what sort of detective I wanted to be; who to question and when to question them; which locations to give the once over; and which leads to go with. It's very easy to follow the story through the book and highly entertaining choosing what to do next, even if you have never watched Midsomer Murders, but I think it helps if you have some sort of notion about how the Midsomer yarns typically play out. The characters are authentically Midsomer types too, with plenty of simmering spite, village gossip, and secrets to be discovered behind the twitching net curtains, which all adds to the charm.

So, how did I get on with the detecting lark? Am I destined for a career defending the thin blue line, a job confined to base making the tea, or did I end up six feet under? Drum roll, please... well I am happy to report that I did not do too badly at all. I did manage to find out the identity of the murderer, although was unable to charge them as they unfortunately died in the course of the investigation (oops), but I did close the case, with a few other lines of enquiry that needed following up. My recommended course of action was: 'Further training required, but a good candidate for future promotion', which I am pretty happy with for a first attempt, and I am looking forward to having another go to see if I can do better next time.

This is the kind of book that you can read lots of times - with 219 different scenes included and a myriad of paths to follow in undertaking your investigation. It's intriguing playing the investigating game on your own, and I think you could also play with a friend or two by discussing what you discover as you go along and hammering out theories about the whos, whys and wherefores of the case too.

If you are a fan of crime stories, especially cosy crime, you are bound to enjoy this book as much as I did - and should you have a loved one who is partial to these things then this would make an ideal gift for them. In any event, it is an absolute must for lovers of good old Midsomer Murders!

Could You Survive Midsomer? is available to buy now in hard cover and ebook from your favouirte book retailer.

Thank you to Cassell for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Simon Brew is the former editor and founder of Den of Geek - the popular culture news and reviews website. He is the author of three books including Movie Geek, TV Geek and The Secret Life of the Movies. Simon is also the founder of the magazine and podcast Film Stories. He lives in Birmingham, UK... not far from where Midsomer is filmed.