A Game of Lies is book two of the DC Ffion Morgan series. I recommend readers begin with the first volume, The Last Party, before starting this because that novel contains crucial relationship and character-building that will enrich your reading experience. And it is a heck of a good book on its own merit.

Everyone in Ffion’s small village of Cwm Coed has been buzzing about Exposure, the new survivalist TV series filming at the local mountain, Pen y Ddraig. Regional postmistress Ceri is taking part in the adventure, and the denizens are convinced she has an edge since she is so familiar with their district’s terrain. But their certainty of their friend’s participation turns to trepidation during the premiere episode when it is announced that Exposure isn’t about exhibiting your wilderness skills but is instead about something else entirely.

“All of you have a secret,” the contestants are told “Something you’ve worked hard to conceal from your friends and family. . . You’re not competing for cash. You’re competing to keep your secret. You’re competing to avoid Exposure. “

Written details of the secrets are kept in a secured metal box, and the contestants are to spend their time trying to figure out what the others are trying to hide. At the end of each day, the person with the fewest viewer votes will have to enter the confession pod, a dark space filled with their greatest fears: spiders, rats, rushing water, or snakes, to name a few. They can keep their secret if they can hold out for the allotted time. If they want to be set free before their time is up, they will be – but the box will be opened, and their secret will be aired on national television.

None of the contestants or unsuspecting crew are happy. Only producer Miles Young seems delighted. He has ensured the contracts include heavy penalties if the participants should opt to leave and knows none of them has the wherewithal to do so. Nor, he believes, will they want to risk that part of the penalty will be Miles telling everyone their confidential (in some cases criminal) information.

Regardless of those risks, one of the contestants escapes the encampment on the first night. He doesn’t go home, and a preliminary search of the environs shows he has headed into the deep woods. That brings Ffion and DS Leo Brady together for the search and rescue. The missing man had a history of mental illness and shouldn’t, per the terms of the insurers, have been on the show to begin with, and his wife is concerned that the threat to his privacy might drive him to self-harm. This is yet another black mark for producer Miles on a primetime broadcast that went from being eagerly anticipated to deeply disliked by the public. Viewers are still tuning in, but they’ve begun lodging serious complaints about both the concept and how it is being handled. When production property is damaged and a key player killed, the suspects are numerous – and they include the man Ffion and Leo are hunting for, who may have just been driven to a psychotic break by all that is happening,

At the end of the last novel, Leo asked Ffion to dinner via text. She never responded. He has moved on and met someone new, but it’s not working out well, and he has been trying to end that relationship. Ffion remains firmly emotionally unavailable. She’s not dating and doesn’t want to be (or so she says). Working together shouldn’t be a problem, but the two are still as deeply drawn to each other as ever and spend much- page time either mentally berating themselves for past mistakes vis-à-vis their relationship or desperately hoping the other will make the first move. We stay in that holding pattern until almost the end of the book.

Speaking of holding patterns, Ffion hasn’t changed much at all. In the previous narrative, she was a rogue cop unable to stick to procedure. As a result of her prior shenanigans, she’s having to commute between Cwm Coed and Byrndare for work since it is hoped being in the main office will encourage her to follow the rules. Nope. She often brings her ill-behaved rescue dog with her (he’s such a nightmare he can’t be left alone, nor can she find a sitter) in spite of admonishments from her boss and complaints from her coworkers. She also still prioritizes her relationships with her neighbors over any loyalty she feels to the law and has a tendency to wander off during the work day. In light of all that, her supervisor has assigned her a partner for this investigation. George is cool, calculating, and clever, and we aren’t sure exactly what is haunting her from her past that has her serving in Byrndare when she is obviously capable of so much more. I liked the addition of George a lot. She’s a great investigator and will hopefully be a positive influence on Ffion.

Leo has been all upward mobility since we last saw him. He has been promoted, changed departments, and stood up to his ex, demanding she honor their custody agreement and is loving the extra time with his son. He grew a lot in the last novel and continues to shine in this one.

The crime here is interesting, and the author does a great job of getting us invested in the contestants of Exposure. I was fascinated by their motivations, interactions, and the inevitable fallout as their secrets are revealed over the course of the show/the investigations. The book reminds us that there are actual lives behind reality TV entertainment and most of the people who sign on to do it don’t understand just what could happen as a result.

The quibbles that kept A Game of Lies from a higher grade for me are perhaps mostly due to the nature of second books in a series. We spend too much time treading water as Leo and Ffion work through the same underlying issue as last time (do they get together or don’t they and what will that mean for their respective jobs) that that portion of the story borders on boring. The village and its citizenry play a key role here, but this book assumes you already have knowledge about them from the previous one, and as a result, the characterizations of secondary players can seem shallow. The mystery is also less intense. It hinges on the malicious nature of the game show, and while I found the cast of Exposure interesting, their problems seem self-inflicted, and there are moments when I found it hard to empathize with them. The premise that they couldn’t leave due to the contracts seemed ridiculous. Given that all the promotion for the show, as well as much of the initial information participants received, had created false expectations, I struggled to believe those forms were legally binding.

That said, A Game of Lies is still a good example of a cozy police procedural. Fans of the author and those who enjoy mysteries without a lot of on-page violence will find plenty to enjoy here.