For once, I thought to myself, I was going to read someone’s book club selection when it was actually chosen. Whether it was Oprah, Jenna Bush, Reese Witherspoon or the local library, there had to be one current title that appealed to me. The Club by Ellery Lloyd (Amazon) was right up my alley.

“There’s no place like Home . . .

The Home Group is a collection of ultra-exclusive private members’ clubs and a global phenomenon, and the opening of its most ambitious project yet – Island Home, a forgotten island transformed into the height of luxury – is billed as the celebrity event of the decade.

But as the first guests arrive, the weekend soon proves deadly – because it turns out that even the most beautiful people can keep the ugliest secrets and, in a world where reputation is everything, they’ll do anything to keep it.

If your name’s on the list, you’re not getting out . . .“

The Club is just the type of mystery I like. It’s sort of a mystery in the style of Agatha Christie with multiple characters, but set in modern day. The story is told from many viewpoints, much like a Lucy Foley books, which I love, and also with the addition of a Vanity Fair article at the end of each chapter. There are two timelines the reader is following, which is a common way to construct a mystery these days, and the authors have done that quite well.

Everyone profiled has something to hide, and on the whole, no one is likeable, so I couldn’t really connect with anyone. There’s some fun in trying to figure out which real life celebrities the characters are based on, but I’m so far removed from the current “it” crowd that I wouldn’t know who half the people are anyway (even though I devour People magazine every chance I get.)

My problem with the book is that it seems every possible plot twist was thrown in, and it does not make for a cohesive mystery. I think the multiple POV actually hurt the story. And the ending was kind of convoluted. Normally I’m in sync with Reese’s Book Club selections, but this one didn’t hit all the cylinders for me. I liked the book, but it’s definitely not one I’ll return to in the future.

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