What is the title of your latest release?
THE DATING GAME
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Unlucky in life and love board games designer Tilda decides to structure her own life according to a set of rules. With everything turned into a game, and a rulebook she can understand, perhaps she can finally win at life. The only problem? The other players don’t know that they’re playing…
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
THE DATING GAME is set in Monaco, which is where I currently live. It’s such a famous place but one that few people know beyond the glamour. I wanted to bring life to the ordinary in this extraordinary place. Also, the idea of placing a crime novel in one of the safest countries in the world, where violent crime is virtually zero, excited me.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
I’m not going to lie, I’d be scared to! However, Tilda is very loyal to her friends…
What are three words that describe your hero?
Fair, driven and unhinged.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I loved learning all there is about board games! There are online forums that I enjoyed following discussions on and I found the history of each vintage board game I wrote about to be fascinating.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I’m all over the place as a writer. I tend to write the beginning then jump to the ending. I always know how a book starts and how it will end. Then I write the big moments. After that I go back and write all the rest. This book did require a lot of editing, probably more than any of my previous ones, so the process was a bit different. I enjoyed working closely with my agent and editor to get it into the best shape possible.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
If I go local foods, then I love the milk chocolate brownie ice cream at Rossi Gelateria close to the Monaco port.
Describe your writing space/office!
I write at a desk in a corner of my living room (because Monaco apartments are small!). But I like to move around so the dining room table and my bed are favorite writing spots too.
Who is an author you admire?
This is hard, but I’ll pick to current favorites. I love what Katy Brent did with HOW TO KILL MEN AND GET AWAY WITH IT. It’s one of the best in the genre – so fun and refreshing. I also think anything Gillian McAllister writes is amazing.
Is there a book that changed your life?
My debut! It published in 2024 and when it sold to a publisher it turned me into a full-time author. I’ll be forever grateful.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I knew there was interest for the book from publishers, and we’d had a call with Berkley and my editor that had gone really well I thought, but when my agent called me and told me what the offer was, I was in disbelief. To have a huge offer from such an amazing publisher was a dream come true. It was August, early evening and I was on the balcony in the sun. I went to get a glass of wine and began texting all my people.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
I love book club, romcom and literary fiction. I love crime too but I’m a picky reader. Thrillers must really have something unique to hook me. And they can’t be too scary! I need to be able to sleep at night.
What’s your favorite movie?
I don’t watch a lot of movies or series these days, but I did watch “One battle after another” recently and thought that was brilliant.
What is your favorite season?
That moment before summer where it’s still not too hot and everything is green and lush.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
I’m not much for celebrations. My kids would make sure there are some presents and cake and then we might go for lunch.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
MRS. DICKENS by my friend Emily Howes. It’s such a powerful and important novel about a woman history has forgotten.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Because we have so much French and Italian in Monaco, I always choose Asian when I travel, so probably Thai or Japanese right now. And nothing compares to an Indian takeaway in London!
What do you do when you have free time?
I read and exercise. We have lots of nice walks in the south of France. I like to go away for the weekend and see new places – Europe is great for that.
What can readers expect from you next?
A hopefully equally unhinged and humor-infused thriller!
THE DATING GAME by Ally Zetterberg
In this clever and surprising thriller about the perils of modern dating and the female rage it sometimes inspires, a board game designer starts playing by her own rules, and losers won’t be tolerated.
The friendship game. The dating game. The end game. For board game designer Tilda Smith they’re all necessary steps on the path to finding happiness. And by structuring her life according to a set of rules, just like in the games that she loves to create at her job, Tilda can finally win.
The only problem? The other players don’t know they’re playing by Tilda’s rules. She’s fair. Very fair, in fact. But then one night her date pushes her too far and she gets just a bit carried away. Any player who disappoints must face consequences, right? But as Tilda finds herself transporting a body in a laundry bag, she has to question how to make the punishment fit the crime.
And now someone is watching Tilda and playing a game of their own. Will they turn the tables on her, or can she figure out a way to best them? The game is never really over until she says it is.
Game on.
Thriller [ Berkley, On Sale: September 8, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9780593956120 / eISBN: 9780593956137 ]
Buy THE DATING GAME: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Libro.fm | Audible | Walmart.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Ally Zetterberg
Ally Zetterberg is a British-Swedish writer. She spent ten years working internationally as a fashion model before turning to writing.
She writes feel-good commercial fiction. Often Sweden set. Usually with neurodivergent characters. Always warm and funny.
Being neurodivergent herself and the mother of a child with Type 1 Diabetes, she is passionate about creating relatable characters and representing those living with medical conditions in commercial fiction.
She speaks four languages and spends her days doing her best not to muddle them up.
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