Ink Ribbon Red, Alex Pavesi
Ink Ribbon Red, Alex Pavesi
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Ink Ribbon Red
A Novel

Author: Alex Pavesi

Narrator: Dino Fetscher

Unabridged: 7 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/22/2025


Synopsis

A wickedly plotted new thriller, in which a group of friends play a deadly game that unwraps a motive for murder, from Alex Pavesi, the author of The Eighth Detective

Anatol invites five of his oldest friends to his family home in the Wiltshire countryside to celebrate his thirtieth birthday. At his request, they play a game of his invention called Motive Method Death. The rules are simple: Everyone chooses two players at random, then writes a short story in which one kills the other.

Points are awarded for making the murders feel real. Of course, it’s only natural for each friend to use what they know. Secrets. Grudges. Affairs. But once they’ve put it in a story, each secret is out. It’s not long before the game reawakens old resentments and brings private matters into the light of day. With each fictional crime, someone new gets a very real motive.

Can all six friends survive the weekend, or will truth turn out to be deadlier than fiction?

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt & Company

About Alex Pavesi

Alex Pavesi lives in Surrey, England, where he writes full time. He previously worked as a software engineer and before that obtained a Ph.D. in Mathematics. He enjoys puzzles, long walks, and recreational lock picking. His debut novel, The Eighth Detective, has been published in more than twenty languages and was picked by the Sunday Times and the New York Times as one of their books of the year.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Shelley's Book Nook on July 17, 2025

My Reviews Can Also Be Found On: The Book Review Crew Blog Anatol is turning thirty and decides to have a party at the family estate in the country. Only his oldest friends are invited. While playing a game (motive, method, death) that involves writing a story about a murder mystery, the “friends” st......more

Goodreads review by Nilufer on July 03, 2025

Okay, my bookish friends, I’ve finally finished this wild, intricate ride filled with puzzles and a Christie-style locked-room mystery! Initially, I wasn’t sure how to rate this book due to its abrupt, slightly shocking, and thought-provoking ending, coupled with its eccentric and mostly unlikable c......more

Goodreads review by Linzie (suspenseisthrillingme) on August 03, 2025

What on earth did I just read? A complex jumble of multiple timelines and POVs, Ink Ribbon Red was both highly confusing yet also intoxicating in the extreme. From the fantastic attention-grabbing start to the laugh-out-loud-funny finale, this small group of friends kept me firmly enthralled. You se......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on February 21, 2025

A group of horrible friends come together to celebrate a death and a birthday and to pass the time write murder stories and are vile to each other. There might be actual murders there might not be, and they might all be works of fiction (but I'll be honest, I didn't care!) It's a plodding and really b......more

Goodreads review by Jessica on May 11, 2025

Another intricate mystery from Alex Pavesi. I knew from his last book that I should expect something along those lines, and this is not a book for a casual mystery reader or folks who like things cozy. This book is often deliberately obtuse and wants you to be confused. Even once you start to realiz......more


Quotes

"Ink Ribbon Red is a thriller for clever people. This dark-hearted, light-footed mystery-thriller — an inspired mash-up of And Then There Were None, Clue, and Lucy Foley — plays fair, fierce, and fast: Like the what-could-go-wrong party game that goes very wrong indeed for its cast, it’s dangerous fun. Just the tonic for readers hungover on same-old-same-old crime fiction."
—A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

"Ink Ribbon Red is the epitome of the artful murder mystery and Alex Pavesi the master puppeteer of literary crime, creating a unique yet relatable cast on pages that won’t stop turning. I was utterly hooked."
—Janice Hallett, Internationally bestselling author of The Appeal

"Quirky and unpredictable, Ink Ribbon Red is a Rubik's cube of unreliable narratives"
—Martin Edwards, Edgar-award winning author of The Golden Age of Murder

“Today’s greatest exponent of playful detective fiction.”
—The Guardian