Book Description:
Andy Crowl barely knew his recently deceased cousin, Craig Moore, so he’s especially surprised to be named as the sole beneficiary in Craig’s will. Not that there’s much to inherit: just an empty bank account and a run-down house.
Once Andy arrives in the town of Mortom, however, he’s drawn into his puzzle-obsessed cousin’s true legacy: a twisted and ominous treasure hunt. Beckoned by macabre clues of dead rats and cemetery keys, Andy jumps into the game, hoping to discover untold wealth. But unsavory secrets—and unanswered questions about Craig’s untimely demise—arise at every turn, leading Andy to wonder if he’s playing the game…or if the game is playing him.
Something’s rotten in Mortom. And this dead man’s game might not be all that Andy is doomed to lose.
My Thoughts:
Andy and his sister Kate turn up in small town Mortom to sort out legal stuff after cousin Craig’s untimely death. Both Andy and Kate are wanting to get out of the small town as quick as they can and back to normal civilisation, unfortunately for Kate, Andy gets wrapped up in some sort of weird treasure hunt and refuses to leave until he finds all the clues.
You would have thought the first clue of finding a dead rat would have sent Andy running for the hills but he is as intrigued as the reader as to what could possibly be at the end of the hunt. Over the course of the story, it is obvious that Craig was quite a strange man and along with finding clues, Andy and Kate start to find out more than they had bargained for.
I felt quite sorry for Kate as she never wanted to come to Mortom in the first place, but after missing the funeral she felt she had little choice but to accompany her brother not realising that both their lives could be at risk.
Andy is like a typical treasure hunter, he is absolutely obsessed with getting to the bottom of the clues and finding the supposed hidden treasure, and is very much determined to not be beaten by a cousin who he couldn’t really stand as a kid.
Mortom is quite a dark story which is full of suspense. It’s an enjoyable read that I devoured in no time at all, as like Andy, I had to know what was at the end of it. As to what’s at the end of it, well you will need to read it and find out for yourself if Andy manages to solve the hunt and to whether what’s at the end is worth all that him and his sister Kate have to go through. Personally I think it was.
My thanks to the author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Goodreads rating 4/5 stars.
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