The Game She Plays

A Novel

by Siena Sterling

On Sale: 06/06/2023

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The Game She Plays

A Novel

by Siena Sterling

On Sale: 06/06/2023

Format:

Amazon Indigo

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About the Book

From the author of Tell Us No Secrets comes a twisty new novel. A young American woman is thrust into the closed social circle of English aristocrats, but beneath their charm and glamor lay secrets and dark betrayals that follow them—and her—around every corner. Perfect for fans of Lucy Foley, Sherry Lapena, Ruth Ware, and Gilly MacMillan.

To everyone else it was “just” a weekend house party—complete with a pheasant shoot, inside jokes, and after-dinner games. But for American Nicola Harris, swept off her feet by aristocratic Englishman James Shuttleworth, the weekend is her first chance to penetrate his close-knit circle of posh friends—people with names like Badger and Trez, people who will soon have the titles of Earl and Countess. Nicola is eager to fit in, but she can’t seem to navigate this insular world, where everyone speaks a private language and secrets are hinted at behind the jolly jokes and witty barbs.

Just as Nicola begins to feel welcome, Juliet arrives. Mysterious, stunning, charismatic Juliet is also James’ first love—the one who left him heartbroken ten years before. Juliet holds the men in thrall and the women under her spell. And although it seems she can do no wrong, outsider Nicola senses something poisonous in her presence, something that sparks insecurity, jealousy, betrayal, and violence. Because Juliet is a champion game-player, able to lure you into her circle by finding your most vulnerable spot....and when the game she plays turns deadly, everyone is a suspect.

Critical Praise

“Masterfully told… With its fast-paced writing and intriguing storyline, this is a tough book to put down.” — Bookreporter.com on The Game She Plays

“Fans of Ruth Ware will love The Game She Plays. Pour your favorite beverage and settle in for a delicious master class in manipulation, as Nicola meets her new man’s upper crust friends in an English manor house. What could go wrong, right?” — Wendy Webb, author of The Stroke of Winter

“The Talented Mr. Ripley meets The Guest List in this slow-simmering psychological thriller full of scheming, manipulation, and murder among the English aristocracy. Part love story, part seething tale of lives unraveling, and part scathing indictment of the unearned privilege that insulates the wealthy, The Game She Plays unfolds like a clever chess game: all calculated moves and ratcheting tension until a final violent strike.” — Ashley Winstead, author of The Last Housewife

"Set in 1970 at a girls’ boarding school in Lenox, Massachusetts, Sterling’s novel is both a gripping psychological thriller and a not-so-nostalgic look back at a time of massive social upheaval. . . Both evocative and provocative, Sterling’s blend of thriller and coming-of-age tale is deeply affecting and full of unexpected twists." — Booklist (starred review) on Tell Us No Secrets

“A slow-burn psychological thriller filled with well-developed characters that builds to a satisfying, if unsettling, conclusion. Sterling is a writer to watch.” — Publishers Weekly on Tell Us No Secrets

“Tell Us No Secrets, the debut novel by American journalist Siena Sterling, has all the ingredients for a slow-simmering stew of teenage angst that will leave readers relieved that they are no longer in high school.” — Crime Fiction Lover on Tell Us No Secrets