Title: In the Hall with the Knife
Author: Diane Peterfreund
Publication Date: October 8, 2019
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Format: Physical ARC

Click For Goodreads Summary

A murderer could be around every corner in this thrilling YA trilogy based on the board game CLUE!

When a storm strikes at Blackbrook Academy, an elite prep school nestled in the woods of Maine, a motley crew of students—including Beth “Peacock” Picach, Orchid McKee, Vaughn Green, Sam “Mustard” Maestor, Finn Plum, and Scarlet Mistry—are left stranded on campus with their headmaster. Hours later, his body is found in the conservatory and it’s very clear his death was no accident. With this group of students who are all hiding something, nothing is as it seems, and everyone has a motive for murder. Fans of the CLUE board game and cult classic film will delight in Diana Peterfreund’s modern reimagining of the brand, its characters, and the dark, magnificent old mansion with secrets hidden within its walls.

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“Frankly, Scarlett, I don’t give a damn.”

Except I do. Obviously. About this book, I mean.

I was first introduced to Clue during my teen years, and guys, I fell in love hard. I’d played the game since I was little (and was horrible at it, but after watching the movie, I feel like I was really the best cosplayer and everyone else who was succeeding just didn’t get it). The characters always spoke to me. Probably because we are all equally hopeless at murder.

So when I stumbled across a YA book based off the game/movie, I knew it was clearly written just for me, being the Clue and YA lover I am. What a perfect gift!

In the Hall with the Knife is a perfect blend of nostalgia and something new; taking old, beloved characters and serving them up in a setting the next generation of readers can love, but with the humor we’ve come to expect. Oh, and murder. Don’t forget the murder.

What I really wanted out of this book was nostalgia, and on that front, it for sure delivered, while also creating a unique version of Clue that a younger generation can enjoy.

Also, this review will be littered with Clue GIFs, because if you can’t use them now, when the heck can you use them? You’re crazy if you think I’m missing this opportunity.

❧ Teenage me would’ve devoured the crap out of this SERIES (because holy Batman, yes, it’s going to be a series).

Adult me? Enjoyed it, didn’t love it, but also isn’t the target audience. I totally realize that. But I know that younger me, who would’ve been the perfect reader for this, would’ve devoured it. The character struggles are very geared toward that age and were, I think, highly relatable for teen readers. Not so much for me, but again, I’m so old that I once hunted mammoths in my youth, okay?

The humor from the original was still present, but boiled down to more YA appropriate things, and everyone had secrets, just like the original. It was fun trying to guess what everyone was hiding and what their motive might be.

❧ There are so many little nods to the original series, and the characters retained little obvious quirks of their old personalities, with something new brought to the table.

I mean, we know the original adult versions well by now, right? I think we can assume we’re on a first-pseudonym basis by now. So meeting them in the book, I didn’t know what to expect, but I could definitely see a bit of their original personalities shining through, albeit applied to a younger character and a different situation.

❧ The book ends on a cliffhanger, which could be good or bad, depending on your preference. Personally, I’m looking forward to the second one!

There’s no doubt that this book is focused more on the characters and their own struggles and secrets than the murder mystery. While I wasn’t overly interested in these, the note that it ends on did grab my attention, and I look forward to the next book and finding out what happens with this character in particular. So for me, the cliffhanger sort of opened a new chapter that the second book will explore, and I’m all for it.

❧ It takes a considerable amount of time (about a third of the book) for the murder to actually happen, which means there’s not a whole lot of hook and draw to the beginning of this unless you’re really invested in the characters.

I mean, yeah, okay, there was the nostalgia, which is why I picked it up, but as an adult reader, I didn’t find the characters that interesting. Certainly not as interesting as I found the adults back when I was a teen. Now that the roles are reversed, I didn’t figure I would love the teen versions the same way. I’m old and jaded. There’s no helping that.

A lot of the book focuses on the personal struggles of the characters, and that seems to sort of overshadow the murder mystery plot. And honestly, I just didn’t find their personal dilemmas all that interesting. I came for the whodunnit, and I was honestly hoping for a bit more of that and a little less teen drama.

❧ The murderer was kind of obvious (I guessed almost immediately who it was and was right), and there was no “well, they all could have done it” element in this book.

Which was a shame, because that was my favorite part of the movie, was that everyone was equally guilty or at least had the potential to be equally guilty. That was the point of the game and movie! This book suffered from too many point of view characters for that, because it obviously limited the potential murderers. Of course everyone was just accusing others, but since we’re in their heads, we know who it isn’t. Which made it all too easy to guess just who it was.

❧ The reveal was a definite letdown, and I didn’t understand the character’s motives.

I can’t really go into it because of spoilers, but there was obviously a build-up to the reveal, and then … it fizzled. It happens sometimes, but boy was it disappointing here, in particular. Even worse, the murderer’s actions after the reveal didn’t make sense with their character for the entire previous part of the book. So while I could buy their motive, their actions just confused me and I couldn’t reconcile the difference in personality pre-reveal versus post-reveal.

❧ There were A LOT of characters, and they sometimes went by their first names, sometimes by their last, so it was hard to keep track of sometimes.

“Peacock,” for example, is a nickname for Beth Picach, which I thought was an interesting take on it, but it still made it really hard to remember who was supposed to be who. There are six different point of views in this book, and the jumping back and forth was a little confusing. I definitely felt like the perspectives could’ve been pared down to just a few without losing anything, and probably even strengthening the mystery.

Chat With Me

Are you a fan of Clue, the game or the movie? What’s your favorite part? Orrr what’s your favorite Clue GIF?