Hide & Seek: A Murder Mystery

Thomas Kaplan-Maxfield
Kepler Press (2011)
ISBN 9780971377073
Reviewed by Leslie Granier for Reader Views (9/11)


“Hide & Seek” is a murder mystery that is basically divided into two parts. In the first section, socialite David Draper is introduced to actress Melanie Carson. They date for a few months but David suspects she has been unfaithful to him and murders her in a fit of rage. Although a thorough police investigation is done, the murder is not solved. The second part of the book takes place about six months later. David’s sister signs up David and their aunt to attend a murder mystery weekend in which the attendees try to solve a pretend murder that takes place at their hotel. However, when the game begins and the “corpse” is revealed, the physical resemblance to Melanie is obvious. The clues left in her hotel room are also amazingly similar to what was found in Melanie’s apartment. This leads David to suspect that somebody is trying to reopen the investigation into Melanie’s death.

The author does an excellent job with the characters, both in terms of their diversity and in the way in which he utilizes them. At first it appears that the hotel guests are random people interested in spending a fun weekend solving a pretend murder. However, one by one each guest is revealed to have known Melanie in some way. This raises David’s hopes as he now sees an opportunity to try to pin her murder on one of the other guests.

Author Thomas Kaplan-Maxfield employs many unique methods to set the plot of this book apart from most other murder mystery novels. One interesting concept he utilizes is revealing the murderer early in the story but keeping the identity of the person doing the new investigation secret. Already knowing who did it allows the reader to follow a different track--finding motives and interrelationships. The plot takes several unexpected twists and a few other surprises are included as well. The reader is allowed into the deep recesses of David’s mind as the story unfolds. It was interesting being able to intimately follow his feelings and thought processes as circumstances changed.

“Hide & Seek” is an excellent book for an adult audience. It contains the elements of murder, deception, infidelity, and so much more. There were occasions when I had a little difficulty deciding if comments made by the characters were referring to Melanie’s murder or the hotel murder mystery. Somehow, I suspect that was the author’s intention.

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