Mostly Murders

The prize is rumored to be cash—millions, if you believe it. But word to the wise: If you enter, you have to play or risk being deleted.

Many thanks to S.C. Godfrey for this ARC.

Academic puzzle lover Zoe Wilder is in Madrid for a cryptology conference and has just broken up with her controlling and condescending boyfriend, Eric. In the spirit of her newfound freedom, she decides to enter the Enigma Challenge, a shady puzzle competition with a big cash prize. But the Enigma Challenge is far more dangerous than Zoe could imagine, and soon she finds herself targeted by thieves and murderers, on a mad dash across Europe with the irresistible but mysterious hacker Dane Seaver.

An action adventure thriller set in various cities in Europe. This could easily be a movie with its fast-paced action, memorable city backdrops, steaming hot romance and intense action scenes. If you prefer your thrillers to be realistic and grounded, this isn’t for you. This is a book for readers who are happy to suspend disbelief to read a story about an unassuming main character facing dark forces with seemingly unlimited resources, encountering shady individuals, seeing some beautiful sights in Europe and running into an extremely handsome stranger who insists they must work together.

This is also a book about puzzles and cryptology, with many references to various different ciphers, decryption algorithms, and famous solved and unsolved ciphers and puzzles. Zoe even refers to studying ciphers in literature, an interesting subject that I wish we heard more about in the book! Unlike Zoe, I personally prefer word-based puzzles to ciphers and math, but I appreciated the way Zoe walks the reader through the puzzles, explaining the decryption methods she uses.

From cute and cozy dinners in Barcelona to violent encounters with psychotic criminals, Zoe is on a wild ride, and you can join her in her adventures when The Enigma Challenge releases on August 11, 2026.

Thriller – Action – Mystery