Author: Carlene O’Connor 
Publisher: Random House Penguin
Price: $18.99 USD (Paperback) 
Date Available: March 17th, 2026

Death Wasn’t Invited is a murder mystery novel based off the point-and-click mobile game June’s Journey. The novel was written by Carlene O’Connor, acclaimed author of the Murder in an Irish Village series and the County Kerry Mystery series. While I was not familiar with either the game it’s based off, or Carlene O’Connor’s previous works, I came to appreciate the intriguing mystery, fun characters, and high society politics of Paris. These necessary elements of a good whodunnit are plentiful in this story.

Synopsis

June arrives in Paris in 1922 to meet up with her friends Jack and Nate. After a joyous reunion, Nate encourages June and Jack to sneak into an engagement party on the steamboat La Sirene du Flueve. The marriage is between two of Paris’s wealthiest families – the Auclairs and the Picards. Unbeknownst to June and Jack, Nate reveals that he used to date Elizabeth Auclair, and objects to the wedding. That is, until the lights shut off and Nate is murdered with a weapon belonging to Jack. A Parisian detective known as Inspector Laurent shows up and arrests Jack for Nate’s murder. June must work to clear Jack’s name, and find out who the killer is before they strike again.

The Mystery

The circumstances of Nate’s murder struck me as quite elaborate at the beginning. Nate’s death required for Jack’s knife to disappear off his person, the steamboat power below deck to be shut off, and for Nate to get stabbed off course. Not to mention that many items went missing in the hour or so before Nate’s demise, and a magician who may have been poisoned. My first thought was that this was completely implausible: how could a single killer do all of that? My second thought was that of conspiracy – that it had to be a whole group of people responsible for the murder, who didn’t want the marriage to go through. But despite my skepticism (and without spoiling anything), the story came through at the end, and I found myself both surprised and satisfied by the complete explanation.

The trail of evidence that June follows is similarly exciting. Throughout, she is forced to make trade-offs about what leads to follow, some of which end up costing her dearly. The evidence we get ranges from peculiar curios hinting at backroom, high society engagements, to the social dynamics and vices of the Auclair and Picard families. June has to constantly balance currying enough favor with various Auclair and Picard family members, with snooping around to get information. My personal favorite were the investigations she made involving the Chocolate shop. June’s investigation, in total, is fun to follow.

The investigative part of the story is not without its flaws, however. There are many points where June tries to disguise herself from people that already know her and are keeping an eye out for her. Those people then promptly catch her being somewhere she shouldn’t be, and then proceed to do nothing about it. This happens even with characters with criminal persuasions who have threatened her in the past. This dampened the tension for me at times, when I felt like June was not at any risk, even when she should have been. Her persistent and ineffective reliance on disguises also frustrated me.

The Detective

Despite those critiques, June is an effective detective for the most part. She showcases a talent for deduction, people management, and lying when necessary. Her ability to form long-term friendships and relationships with many of the Picard and Auclair family members helped her get into places where she wasn’t supposed to be. She’s witty and charming throughout, and she has great banter with quite a few of the other characters, especially Jack, who she has confused feelings for. Even so, I didn’t feel like I got to know June as well as I would have liked to. Her previous credentials as a detective, as well as her background as a whole are rather unclear. We know that she served as a nurse in the Great War, but it’s unclear what she has been doing since then. By her behavior, she has evidently been a detective, amateur or official, for some time. But she never leans on any of her credentials to gain the cooperation of the Parisian authorities, or to keep Jack out of jail. I would’ve liked to know more about her background, and how she came to be the capable detective that she is, if mentioned only in passing.

The Suspects

Jack, June’s Love interest, is an amicable and charming character. It’s interesting to watch him try to keep his spirits up and try and prevent June from getting herself into trouble on his behalf throughout. He and June knew each other as he was a fighter pilot back during the war. There’s never any question about Jack’s innocence. Even so, through the circumstance of him sneaking aboard, being a stranger to the families, and having his initials on a murder weapon, it’s understandable how the crime got pinned on him by the Parisian police.

The man in charge of that official investigation, the one who quickly jumped to the conclusion that Jack was responsible, is Inspector Laurent. I found him to be a delightful character throughout the story. His initial conclusion of Jack’s guilt, as I mentioned earlier, made sense, as he simply didn’t know Jack. His honesty, competence, and level of corruption remain a question and an obstacle for June for much of the story. He’s also suspect, as we learn that he has an eligible niece that he at one point wanted to marry off to the Picards.

Many of the Picard and Auclair family members are colorful themselves. Elizabeth Auclair, the fiancée, was not enthusiastic at all to see Nate interrupting her engagement party and trying to get her to call off the wedding. Even so, she had conflicted feelings about the marriage and whether to go through with it. Reginald Picard, the man she is marrying, is shown to be an unfaithful scoundrel, and yet also guarding of Elizabeth and similarly displeased to see Nate appear.

Some of the other suspects include Genevieve, the performer at the party on the Steamboat who Reginald seems overly fond of. There’s also the fact that Nate recently came into some mysterious and sudden wealth. Perhaps someone intended to claim that money from him?

Conclusion (4 / 5 Stars)

Overall, Death Wasn’t Invited is a great murder mystery. The story kept me guessing throughout as new clues surfaced. The suspects and airheaded members of the two families are fun to watch interact, and June is a likeable and competent detective. The biggest weakness of the story is a lack of tension and consequences at times, but even so, it’s not enough to dampen the quality of the story. Overall, this book is a good pickup for any lover of the genre.

Featured Image Credit: June’s Journey | Official Site