Rock Paper Scissors

Rock Paper Scissors, published by Flatiron Books in 2021, is the fourth novel by British author Alice Feeney. Feeney conceived the plot during two winter trips to remote Scottish highland sites much like the book’s fictional Blackwater Chapel. Like her previous thrillers, this mystery contains multiple plot twists that play on assumptions about who the heroes and the villains are. Intricately written in short chapters with multiple narrators and points of view, the book is labyrinthian, containing surprises as well as some false detours en route to its conclusion. The screen rights to Rock Paper Scissors, like two of Feeney’s previous books, were picked up within a year of its publication, in this case by Netflix to develop a series. In addition to being a Book of the Month Club Selection and a Fall 2021 Publisher’s Weekly Top Ten Mystery, the novel was a Summer 2021 Crime Reads Most Anticipated Crime Book. A former writer and editor for the BBC’s news and fiction development departments, Feeney brings her skills in pacing and engaging to her novels. This novel uses minimal foul language and contains no graphic sexuality or violence except for references to past violence, death, murder, and animal abuse.