“Master Class – Blood is Thicker Than Ink: A Gripping Mystery by Stefanie Hasse”

The author Stefanie Hasse has written the prelude to a dilogy with “Master Class – Blood is thicker than ink”, so that this book can be read without prior knowledge of other works by the author.

blurb:

Actually, Riley was looking forward to the writing competition at Masters’ Castle. Eventually, she finally meets her online writing group there in person and comes closer to her dream of becoming a writer. But then someone anonymously submits stories about Riley to the jury, with secret details of her life. Who is behind this? Does Killian Masters, judge and son of the hosts, have anything to do with it? As the stories grow more ominous, Riley finds himself in danger.

Personally, I have not yet read Wer by Stefanie Hasse, but the blurb of this work made me curious. So I went into this book with no great expectations and was pleasantly surprised.

At the beginning of the book is an overview showing the members of the LetterBattler. Some essential information about these is also listed. This helped me personally, especially at the beginning of the book, to sort the individual characters and thus to keep a better overview.

Hasse’s writing style is very pleasant and light. The book is easy to read and you are immediately drawn into the story. I also really liked the location where the action took place. I could imagine everything well, the author manages to skillfully draw these images through words.

Since this is the first volume in a dilogy, the first thing to do is to get to know the characters. I personally found this a bit difficult at the beginning, I had a little trouble sorting them and keeping them apart. But this has subsided as the story progressed, so that I was then able to completely immerse myself in the story. Overall, I found the plot quite appealing. It’s about a group that only knows each other from the Internet, and they share a love of writing. They gave each other advice and support, building a close friendship. This writing group entered a contest and was subsequently invited to a writing contest at Masters’ Castle. As a reader, you are there when the group gets to know each other in real life for the first time. But of course this is not so easy, because there are other guests present and it is important to recognize the friends from the writing group. You notice that certain prejudices have been built up, since you have known each other anonymously so far. Of course, these are not always the case and it is quite difficult to recognize a person from what is written. There are also points of friction, getting to know each other in real life is something different if you only know each other on the Internet. Here I found it really interesting to read about the difficulties that arise when people who are actually familiar are suddenly a bit strange.

The story is told from Riley’s point of view. She is a rather anxious young woman who often has self-doubt. Riley grew up quite isolated and is treated like a raw egg by her mother. As a result, she could not really develop and is sometimes a bit clumsy, also in her social behavior. I enjoyed following Riley’s development. You also learn more and more about her, learn something from her childhood and what shaped her. A subliminal threat is discernible. Strange coincidences occur during the writing contest and Riley seems to be the center of it. Like a jigsaw puzzle, one learns small fragments of connections, only to question them again shortly afterwards. Tension is created in a variety of ways, creating a real suction effect. As a reader, you dive deeper and deeper into the story. The story turns out to be more multi-layered than initially thought.

I also found the small intermediate chapters interesting, which are written from the point of view of the antagonist. Here you can diligently puzzle along and ponder which connections are probably being addressed.

In the end, one initially thinks that certain connections have been clarified. Only to have to realize that a lot is different than you thought. A nasty cliffhanger makes you want to keep reading.

All in all, the author Stefanie Hasse really entertained me with her opening volume “Master Class – Blood is thicker than ink”. I found both the characters and the story appealing, so I was deeply drawn into this story. I would like to give 4 stars for that.