The Cloak and Dagger Club, Jackie McMahon (Review by Aura Johnson)

Rating: 3.0/5 Stars

The Cloak and Dagger Club follows Lucy Hubbard, a mystery writer who unexpectedly finds herself surrounded by the very kind of people she writes about. After the success of her first novel, she’s invited to join a private club made up of well-known crime authors. It seems like the perfect chance to grow her career, but things get awkward when she realizes her ex-fiancé, Frank, is also a member.

Before long, one of the club’s members is murdered, and Frank ends up looking like the obvious suspect. Not convinced he’s guilty, Lucy decides to investigate on her own. As she starts asking questions, she realizes everyone in the club has something they’re trying to hide. With each new clue, it becomes harder to tell who’s being honest and who’s simply good at telling stories.

This book definitely felt original, and I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Lucy was a fun main character to follow because she’s incredibly observant and always seems to notice details that everyone else overlooks. As a mystery writer, she’s constantly connecting the dots between the fictional crimes she creates and the very real one unfolding around her, which made her investigation feel believable. Of course, the police are doing their own job trying to solve the murder, but Lucy can’t help digging into the case herself. She keeps asking questions, following small clues, and piecing together information that others either missed or dismissed.

It wasn’t just about proving someone innocent or guilty—it was also about satisfying her own curiosity and filling in the gaps that didn’t quite make sense. I also found myself wondering what truly motivated the killer, because the mystery wasn’t only about who committed the crime, but why. That question kept me interested until the end, and I liked how the story slowly revealed everyone’s secrets instead of rushing to the final answer.