The Game is Afoot

Coming July 8, 2025 from Berkley / Penguin Random House!

A clever and hilarious new mystery about a mother who thinks she has to do it all—even solve a murder—from the author of It’s Elementary

After rage quitting her job, Mavis Miller finally has time to get all the rest she’s been putting off. Or she should have the time. Hypothetically. Except she’s taken on a new role: Supermom. Her hours are filled with chauffeuring her daughter, Pearl, around to her extracurricular activities, somehow ending up class mom, and…investigating another mystery?

When Coach Cole, the director of the kids’ soccer program, drops dead on a sunny Saturday morning, no one suspects foul play. However, the police soon discover something suspicious left on the field, making it clear that someone had it in for the coach. But who? Sure, parents got mad when he made their precious star athletes sit on the bench, but not that mad.

Mavis is determined to find out, even if it takes her into the dark, dangerous underbelly of gentle parents and MLM girlbosses. Plus, it’s an easy distraction from everything else going on. Like the panic attacks she keeps brushing off. Or the fact that she’s unemployed and totally lost as to what her purpose and path in life should be. And then there’s her ex-husband who’s back in town and doing everything she’s ever wanted, just as she’s beginning a new relationship. Mavis knows a murder investigation probably isn’t the self-care she needs right now. But how exactly are you supposed to take care of yourself when you don’t even know who you are anymore?

Pre-order a signed and personalized book (that comes with an exclusive notepad and sticker sheet, while supplies last!) from Reparations Club and Bel Canto Books

Praise for The Game Is Afoot:

“Bryant at once gently lampoons momfluencers, “pushy MLM girlboss[es],” and other modern parenting stereotypes while granting those same characters agency and complexity. Mavis’ witty, increasingly manic first-person-present narration lends a solid sense of stakes to the multifaceted plot’s assorted mysteries, and her burgeoning love triangle injects a fizz of romantic tension. Laugh-out-loud humor shares the page with candid conversations about race and mental health…This is a series with legs. Madcap suburban intrigue with a soupçon of self-help.”
–Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A fast-paced, warm portrait of a devoted mother trying her best, this novel ends on a cliffhanger, suggesting a third series installment is in the works…A must-read for fans of It’s Elementary, but newcomers will also enjoy meeting feisty Mavis.”
–Library Journal

“Mavis’s witty, freewheeling narration is filled with barbs (she notes that the duties of a “team mom” include “sending out surveys about team colors and then choosing what she wanted all along (aquamarine)”), and Bryant stuffs the plot with keen observations about contemporary parenting and school politics. This is a breezy good time.”
–Publishers Weekly

“Intrepid Mavis is a funny, smart, realistic parent and sleuth. Bryant’s series is a welcome addition to the genre.”
–Booklist

“When is a cozy so much fun that you need to put down everything you are reading (or streaming) to just enjoy it? When that book is written by Elise Bryant, author of It’s Elementary… Fun and fearless—with an occasional anxiety attack—Mavis is the perfect character for 2025.”
–First Clue Reviews

“Blending wit, warmth and a well-measured dose of chaos, Bryant explores modern motherhood, identity and anxiety while keeping the mystery tight and twisty; a cozy crime for the overextended and underestimated.”
–The Seattle Times