CBR 16 Bingo – Scandal: A year ago, there was a scandal at the Scrabble competition that resulted in death…
The book follows Najwa Bakri, a Scrabble champion who was best friends with the former “Scrabble Queen,” Trina Low, before her mysterious death a year ago at the Scrabble tournament. Najwa is simply trying to move on with her life and get closure, but the other competitors are seeking to take the spot of Scrabble royalty and be the next reigning champion. However, when Trina’s Instagram starts posting again, and there are cryptic messages about the circumstances of Trina’s death, the secrets must be revealed and the passed unveiled.
I picked up the book hoping for a fairly easy, but engaging read and it gave me just that. It was a pretty quick read, but it was interesting and made me want to keep reading. The characters were well-developed, and the mystery was really interesting and immersive, and really got you invested in the mystery. While I found some of the drama to be unnecessary and not super interesting, the book as a whole was enjoyable and gripping.
I also enjoyed the writing style and the way the author used Scrabble to help propel the mystery, not just as the setting. Overall, great book, and I really enjoyed it. I have read better, but it was still pretty good and was exactly what I was looking for when I was trying to find a mystery that was a fairly easy read. 3.75 stars, pretty good, would recommend but probably not read again.