Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: January 16, 2024
“The Search Party” is Hannah Richell’s fifth novel, but it was my first experience with her and I was absolutely floored! “Party” is a locked room mystery with a twist and I thoroughly devoured every page.
Max and Annie have decided to leave their busy London lives behind and start a glamping business with their adopted son, Kit. For a trial run, Max and Annie invite a group of friends, and their children, over a long weekend, in hopes of reconnecting and generating real responses about their new business venture. But a dangerous storm comes in and the group is virtually cut off from the outside world and things only go from bad to worse when six-year-old, Phoebe, goes missing. With no way in or out, the couples are forced to resort to their own devices to find Phoebe and bring her back- but, if something dangerous happened, then the one responsible has to be someone they know, someone with a dangerous past and dark, dark secrets.
I have been inundated with locked room mysteries lately, and it seems that 2024 is showing no signs of slowing down on that front, either. That being said, I have thoroughly enjoyed the ones I have read so far, and Richell’s is no exception. The most challenging part of writing novels in this trope, in my opinion, is to keep the plot line original, while trying not to exhibit too much of an Agatha Christie feel, and Richell has delivered this in spades.
The novel is narrated, in turns, by most of the adults at the resort, and it’s a great way to get to know the intricacies of their personalities and their relationships. The majority of the adults have known each other for years, and their relationships are filled with complicated secrets meant to stay hidden.
Richell provides ample twists and turns, leading to the final reveal at the end that was both unexpected and satisfying. “The Search Party” put Richell on my radar, and I will be anxiously looking forward to her future novels!

I love a good, stuck in one locale, secrets are coming out, kind of thriller. And this one delivers! There’s enough secrets & accusations to keep you flipping the pages. Some things I guess, others I didn’t. The author’s descriptions are fast paced yet still full of depth. I found it very easy to picture the place there were staying. There’s a good mix of likeable & less likeable characters. Overall it’s a really quick, fulfilling thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This is the first novel I've read from this author and I have to say that I enjoyed the author's style and pacing. The novel is mainly about a group of friends from university who reunite for a glamping weekend in Cornwall. Their 20 year friendship is put to the test quite quickly when certain events occur and when one of the party goes missing at the start of a terrible storm. Ultimately, a body is found and the characters and we are made to wonder a) if the missing person is the body, and b) if one of the group is responsible and are capable of committing a murder?

As I mentioned, I think that the novel is appropriately paced to allow for both a sufficient understanding on the characters, and to keep a hold on the reader's interest in the mystery. It definitely had me guessing whose body had been found and who was responsible. The storyline tended to throw the classic red herring that points at a specific person which I think would be obvious for most, but the final resolution was satisfying. I really enjoyed how the author was able to use to weather, while stereotypical in such mysteries, to create the atmosphere of this book.

The Search Party had suspense on so many levels - the questions just kept adding up! The character development was very well done, and the ending? Fantastic. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast-paced thriller.

In this locked room (if you replace room = camping site) thriller, four college friends reunite for a glamping weekend with their families. One child goes missing. I really liked the underlying premise being that the bonds of these close friends are tested as they start to turn on each other in confusion and suspicion. There was also more to it than just the original mystery, and I found the ending very satisfying.

This book was fast-paced and had my adrenaline pumping. I really liked how the story was laid out and that the timeline jumped from present and past, between the police interviews after the event and the weekend itself. There were characters that I liked, ones that I hated and ones that I had my suspicions over, A solid, easy thriller read that's got more than meets the eye.

The Search Party follows a weekend of "glamping" by a long-time group of friends and their families that doesn't go according to plan and ends in a way none of them expected. I enjoyed reading this novel - it was eloquently written and engaging enough to grip my attention. It's one of those novels that you swear the entire time you know how it's going to end, only to be proven wrong.

I would have loved more character development for some of the glamping attendees to really enhance my understanding of the friendships of the group.

Thanks to NetGalley, Hannah Richell and Atria for an e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion on this novel.

Pub: January 16, 2024

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada, Atria Books and NetGalley for the gifted eARC.

I really enjoyed The Search Party! I'm a big fan and regular reader of locked room mysteries and Hannah Richell has crafted a memorable story that plays with traditional elements of the genre in a compelling way.

There are lots of characters to keep track of, but once I got into a reading rhythm the POVs were clear and everything flowed smoothly. I especially enjoyed the children's perspectives - they added a richness to the story and helped bring things together. Richell spends time on plot and character development. The book is nice and twisty with good tension as the storm builds, but it does move at a steady pace as opposed to fast and furious twists at every chapter.

The atmospheric setting and the way the building of the storm mirrors key elements of the plot, really adds dimension to the story, especially at the ending.

The Search Party is really satisfying read and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys locked room mysteries!

Annie, Max and son Kip decided to move out of the big city and start a Glamping site. Kip aged 12 had had some issues in school and found it hard to socialize with other students, so the idea was to have some space, fresh air and to be able to home school Kip.

When the Glamping site was almost ready to open to the public Max decided they should invite 4 of their old friends they had known since their college days and their families. Annie was a little more skeptical but went along with it. A fun weekend so they thought.

The four groups arrived and soon the “fun” did begin! The emotions ran high, from love and happinesses to anger and hatred to name a few. There were secrets revealed and tragic events happening, all in all you could call it a disaster! But no spoilers, I recommend you read it for yourself, you won’t get bored! I give it 4.1/2,.

Book Review | The Search Party🔎

Many thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book to review.

The Search Party is a thriller that takes a disastrous turn during a glamping weekend. Annie and Max Kingsley and their troubled son Kip had made themselves at home in their recently acquired countryside property perched on the cliffs of Cornwall. They invited their old friends and their families for a weekend gathering to test their newly established glamping site for the upcoming tourist season. With multiple perspectives and a non-linear timeline, this story keeps readers on edge until the end.

Initially, I had reservations about keeping track of the extensive cast of characters, especially since many of them are children. However, this concern was unnecessary as each character has a unique personality, and it was particularly helpful that the author provided a list of characters and the families they belonged to at the beginning of the book. The narrative switches between different adults and occasionally a few children in each chapter, gradually unveiling the events of their ill-fated trip to rural Cornwall.

The story's pace is not particularly rapid, except when you are closer to the end, yet the interpersonal conflicts among the group of friends add an intriguing element. As one of the children disappears, tensions rise, and secrets are unveiled, exposing acts of betrayal. Most of the issues that arise from the story are due to the lies and secrets amongst this group of friends.

The mystery surrounding a child’s disappearance is exceptionally well-crafted. Despite thinking I had everything solved at various points, I was genuinely surprised by the conclusion. Numerous misleading clues keep the reader diverted from the actual truth.

The Search Party is a captivating book that engaged me late into the night. If you enjoy reunion thrillers, this is the book for you. Publication Date: January 15th, 2024

As someone living with chronic pain, the concept of glamping is far more appealing to me than roughing it. You wouldn't catch me doing so with people I didn't trust (or merely tolerated), but to each their own.

The secrets/plot twists are half the fun of reading a mystery/thriller. I can't say that any of them surprised me in this one, but that didn't affect my overall enjoyment too much.

The tension/setting were impeccable- and, even though I found some pov's more enjoyable than others, all of them were easy to follow.

I liked this book set in rural Cornwall, England, a lot. The concept and the storyline was very intriguing and kept me guessing throughout the whole book. I’ve read the book in less than 24 hours and especially during the 2nd half couldn’t put it down. What I particularly liked was that I thought I guessed the twist about 4 times and was wrong nonetheless in the end. A very well crafted mystery!

For the characters, this book contains too many of them to address their characteristics individually here, but what I can say is that all of them were quite well crafted and seemed suspicious enough to keep the reader guessing. I loved how they all were somewhat distinct and recognisable in their way of speaking as well as behaviour to keep them apart while reading and guessing. Although, at times, the number of characters felt as if the book could have done with 1-2 less points of views, but that was ok.

Wanted to be riveted to your seat and never know where a book is going to lead you? Then this is the book for you. Half way through I thought for sure I knew what was going to happen. Was I ever off!

A thriller/mystery set in a rural region of Cornwall with a group of friends, who really aren’t that nice to each other. What could go wrong?

If you are a thriller or mystery lover then I would definitely pick up this one!

Thank you to @netgalley, and @simonschusterca for the opportunity to read the advanced copy of this book. Thank you to @hannahrichell for writing a book I enjoyed reading.

The Search Party is a atmospheric tense read that keeps you guessing and turning those pages as quickly as you can.

Four college friends are getting together for a reunion at a remote glamping spot owned by one of the couples.

One child goes missing and the tension mounts.

Secrets are revealed.

Feelings held back for years come to the surface.

Someone is lying.

All are hiding something.

What would you do to protect the ones you love?

The story is told from multiple POVs and this works very well.

This is my first book by Hannah Richell but it certainly wont be my last.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada, Simon & Schuster for a spellbinding read.

2.5 stars
It always feels crummy to leave a lower review for an ARC, but honesty is also key. I think this could be enjoyable for someone newer to the mystery/thriller genre, but for me it felt too similar to too many other books I’ve read with nothing that stood out, or made it memorable. A group of people, all with secrets, all selfish, in a remote place when a storm comes in and they’re trapped but also trying to figure out what happened. Unfortunately I’ve read it before. For me, when I don’t particularly care for a single character and get all of the perspectives, and they’re all selfish, it takes all of the stakes out of the narrative and makes the plot plod on. I’m sad to say that this just didn’t work, for me.

Thank you to Net Galley for proving me with the opportunity to read the eARC and provide my genuine review.

📚 BOOK REVIEW

⭐️⭐️

In "The Search Party," a group of old university friends and their children reunite for a glamping weekend that quickly goes awry.

The book's prologue throws readers into the action, but the next dozen or so chapters are dragged down by a confusingly large number of characters and their mostly uninteresting drama. The story eventually picks up, though the frequent jumps between past and present made it difficult for me to get fully immersed in either timeline.

Overall, I found the book disappointing. It's more of a family drama than a thriller.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for sending me this book for review consideration.

Publication Date: Jan. 16, 2024

A twisty page turner that has you questioning every characters motive.
I really enjoyed the way the author wrote this story. With all the different POVs and time stamps. It felt like watching a movie and pulled me into the novel quickly.
I spent most of the book being like “okay it’s obvious who didn’t do it” and then thinking I knew the whodunnit and was pleasantly surprised with that last final twist at the end.
The atmospheric writing of the peninsula added to the story. It was a character itself.
Usually when children are used in a thriller plot I’m left feeling very uncomfortable, with this author however she did it in a way that the children’s trauma and roles were not a shock factor but more to move the plot along and show the true colors of the adults around them.
A really great quick read. I will be checking out more from this author

A captivating twist on the "locked room" mystery unfolds as college friends and their families find themselves isolated in a new Glamping site during a storm. The narrative weaves in an engaging exploration of the age-old nature vs. nurture debate commonly found in literature.

his is a story of a group of friends that met in college, twenty years later, meet to camp, er glamping, for a long weekend in the wilds of Cornwall England, with their significant others and children. Just below the surface tensions are boiling. Drugs, alcohol and unforeseen events cause things to get out of hand. While I enjoyed many of the characters portrayed in the book, I am not a big fan of the holding-back-of-details as plot. Though thoroughly annoyed at first, as slowing was given enough details to figure out what was going, through the character named chapters and the police interviews, I enjoyed the story and the various characters. This is a fairly quick read with a few red herrings and interesting plot turns. **** Four stars out of five!

Thank NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for this gripping, atmospheric, twisty, character-driven novel. This was one of the best family-involved thrillers I have read this year. The Search Party was well-written and packed with tension and suspense. I thought the story was well-paced, with momentum building throughout. 4.5 Stars.

Max and Annie Kingsley have left city life in London to establish an eco-glamping site on the rugged Cornwall coast. With them is their twelve-year-old beloved adopted son, who has a troubled history. They hope life in the remote countryside will be good for him. Before the official opening of the glamping site, they invited some old university friends for a twenty-year reunion and to test out the property. The couples arrive with their children. The adults realize they have changed and are now very different. They barely know one another and realize they scarcely like their former friends anymore. They carry secrets and resentments, incidences of cheating and betrayal. One has a feeling of self-importance and celebrity and is facing an ignored loan and exposure by blackmail.

Tensions rise among the adults while their children play a significant role in the turmoil. After being the victim of a fight, one of the youngest disappears. The parents react with anguish and blame. A raging storm makes a search effort prolonged and difficult. Later, a teenage girl is abducted and badly injured. How far will the adults go to protect their children?

It is recommended for readers who enjoy an intense character-driven mystery. The date of publication is January 16.

The book starts with a map and a list of characters, so you know it’s going to be a bit confusing. There are lots of POVs and the time line skips around, (I did need to reference the character list a few times at the beginning) but as we get to know the individual characters it becomes more fluid.

The book is well written and quite clever how it creates a feeling of confusion as the reader follows along with the police investigation. There are a few POVs from the children (teens), so these sections read more like a YA book compared to the other POVs.

Overall an engaging, fast-paced read.