Lead Review (Everyone in the Group Chat Dies)

• Book: Everyone in the Group Chat Dies
• Location: Crowhurst
• Author: L M Chilton

Review Author: tripfiction

3.5*

This novel follows a similar format to L M Chilton’s other storylines: to wit, a heroine (in this case Kirby), whose social circle is decimated by a murderer, has to track down the perpetrator before they cause further mayhem. The police, generally, prove incompetent.

There is a bit of history in the village, in that 30 years ago a serial killer was responsible for the death of several teenagers and echoes of those crimes feel alarmingly pertinent in the present.

Kirby is part of a flat share in Crowhurst, it’s all very basic and grubby. Of course, they have a group chat and a lot of their time is spent on sending messages. One of the group has sublet his room to Esme, apparently, and then she disappears. In fact, she is dead. Fast forward one year and text messages from Esme start to appear…

The storyline follows a well-trodden path, which clearly works for this author, so it can feel a bit samey to other novels in his oeuvre. As a reader, the trajectory will feel familiar, which sometimes is a comfort, in that you know what you are getting.

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