She loves to play games, but not when it comes to murder.

Wren Winters is a businesswoman on a mission, juggling an alumni event for a rising game designer while keeping her late husband’s retail store alive. With RSVPs pouring in and her cranky landlord threatening to bulldoze her shop for high-rise apartments, Wren’s plate is full—but she’s no stranger to overcoming challenges. From economic slumps to vandalism and vicious online rumors, Wren has always found a way to persevere.

But nothing could prepare her for what she finds one fateful morning: her landlord murdered, her store turned into a crime scene, her only employee under suspicion (and hiding something), and a missing piece from an unreleased game.

Now, with her store’s future hanging by a thread and the stakes higher than ever, Wren must channel her puzzle-solving skills like never before. Can she and her friends follow the clues, clear her employee’s name, and crack the case before it’s game over?

Solving a murder can get dicey.

Wren Winters is thrilled when her gaming group is invited to join the town’s new superstar streamer Noelle Williams for a live demo—after all, a little publicity could put Wren’s board game shop, the Cardboard Sheep, on the map. But moments before they go live, Noelle collapses on camera, and by the time Wren arrives at her house, Noelle is dead and the police are swarming.

Detective Greene, who still remembers last summer’s murder at Wren’s shop, is back with questions—and suspicions. As Wren and her friends reel from the shock, secrets about Noelle’s life emerge: relentless online harassment, jealous exes, and a sister desperate to pull her offline. Then another member of the group falls ill with similar symptoms.

With danger closing in and a game board full of suspects, Wren refuses to sit on the sidelines. She’s determined to solve the puzzle before her friend’s game is over for good.

Wren Winters and her friends road trip to an annual gaming convention anticipating a fun getaway, not danger and a dead body.  

It’s been two years since game store owner Wren Winters’ husband died in a mysterious road accident, and she finally feels ready to attend the industry’s biggest gathering. She’s a little spooked because the event was where her husband had sent her a final text claiming he’d discovered something unexpected, but Wren is determined to push aside her doubts, purchase new games for her store and have fun.

Instead, she and her gaming group stumble onto a famous cosplayer strangled with her own lanyard, and the police are side-eyeing Wren. Then the threats begin, and Wren uncovers a new lead on her husband’s death. Surely, she can piece together what happened to Marcus at this very convention, despite the danger lurking around every corner. But the clock is ticking to solve the murder before weekend ends, when all the suspects will scatter like pieces swept off a board. Will she be able to trap a murderer before she becomes another victim?