This review is written with thanks to the publisher for my copy of Play Him Play Her which I read through the TBC Reviewers Group.

Blurb:

Secret Window meets Deep Water in this “irresistible domestic drama” (Booklist, Utah) from the award-winning author of No Good Lie and the Detective Temeke Crime Series, in which a woman’s death reveals the perilous sacrifices an actor makes—and the secrets he keeps—in the pursuit of fame.

If all the world’s a stage, who can you really trust?

Celebrity actor Zane Osborne plays London’s renowned plastic surgeon and secret serial killer, Ethan Holloway, in the hit series Play Him, Play Her. Zane’s wife Lilja, former chef and 39-year-old mother, simply wants to live out her dream of starting a restaurant. None of the perks of fame make up for Zane treating her coldly, drinking too much, and neglecting his family. When Lilja discovers Zane is having an affair with his assistant Nic, the polished facade of their life splits wide open.

Zane’s process of method acting has often resulted in the entanglement of his life with Holloway’s, and as the lines between reality and script blur beyond recognition, Zane loses sight of not only who he is, but what he has done. When Nic goes missing after his birthday party, a popular podcast speculates Zane is the prime suspect. As Lilja fears for her and her daughter’s safety and Zane struggles to detach his identity from his character’s, they will have to discover if it’s possible for Zane to play an adulterer and a serial killer without becoming one himself.

Told in dual points of view, PLAY HIM, PLAY HER combines the toxic relationships of The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins meets the propulsive suspense of A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight.

Review:

I was attracted to Play Him Play Her by the premise as it seemed like a slightly different way to approach the subjects of infidelity and serial killers, which are highly common in the crime genre. I must admit that it took me longer to get into the narrative than I expected, but Claire Stibbe is a very clever writer and I loved the way she used different techniques such as a dual narrative, a diary and snippets from social media to build a picture of Zane and Lilja’s life for the reader.

The strength of Play Him Play Her is its characters. Both Zane and Lilja are really well developed characters and it was fascinating to be able to get inside their mindsets and try and work out what was happening. I also loved Bizzy, who seemed astonishingly level headed given her circumstances and did make some great observations.

As the novel reaches the ending, it does explode into life. The pace increases and there is a lot of tension as everything comes to a head. I wasn’t expecting the ending and I did enjoy reading as everything unravelled

Play Him Play Her is available from Amazon.