I found this very pedestrian and dull, and didn't manage to finish it. I wasn't interested in the characters and the writing was quite clunky, I thought. The dialogue in particular was very laboured and yawn-inducing. I couldn't lose myself in the story as I just couldn't get past the bad writing.

I was rather expecting an edge-of-the-seat read with this one, and it certainly was at times – but it also turned out to be something a little different, and that only made me enjoy it more. The set-up is classic thriller territory – Kathleen is frightened, feels in danger from one of her close friends, and the morning after a house-warming party is found dead at the foot of the nearby cliff. At the party, she shared her fears with Beth – but none of the detail, only that the threat came from one of the friends present at the party. When the police investigation concludes that her death was suicide or a tragic accident, Beth can’t let things lie – she becomes obsessed with her pursuit of the truth.

I think “obsessed” really is the right word – she alienates most of the people within their circle of friends with her doubts and accusations, causes issues within her marriage, and receives threats herself that would make a lesser person give up and leave things well alone. The absolute joy of this book, for me, was in the relationships and interactions between its well-drawn characters – and that element of not knowing who is telling the truth or who you can trust gave every exchange a really intriguing edge.

Another real joy was the setting – the Isle of Wight, the clifftops at Freshwater Bay, the walks Beth takes with her dog, the fictional village of Castleford with its tight community. Despite the open spaces – beautifully described – there’s an all-pervading sense of claustrophobia too, that sense of no way to escape, the feeling that the whole tight-knit community is turning against her.

It’s not fast paced – I suspect that those who look for chills and thrills might not find them here. But I’m not that way inclined, and the way the story built and the secrets were slowly revealed was something I really enjoyed – beautifully crafted, character driven, and it really hooked me right through to its unexpected ending. A definite recommendation from me, and I’ll be really looking forward to reading more from Mary Grand…

(Review copied to Amazon UK, but link not yet available)

This story is more noir crime than the murder mystery I was expecting. In keeping with the murder mystery genre, there is a cast of characters with the motivation for murder and secrets. This story also has an element of psychological suspense increasing the level of menace.

The opening scenes at the house party flag up that Kathleen has secrets and that someone is using these against her. She's troubled but anxious to talk them over with Beth her lapsed best friend. Patrick Kathleen's partner interrupts their conversation. The next morning Kathleen is dead.

Beth feels she owes it to, Kathleen, to investigate her death, and this leads to deceit, danger and eventually the discovery of the murderer in their midst. The island setting makes this atmospheric. The suspects' closeness makes this intense. No one is reliable, and the undercurrent of danger is strong in this story.

This story makes the most of its unusual setting with an intriguing plot and mysterious characters.

The House Party was, unfortunately, so slow paced that I had problems staying interested in the plot and my investment in the characters was also sadly lacking. That said, reading is very subjective so I know a lot of people will enjoy this dark, twisty domestic noir. Thank you to Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read this; it is always highly appreciated and I'm sorry I did not like this more.

Beth and Kathleen are close friends living on the Isle of Wight. At a gathering once evening Kathleen appears troubled and Beth reaches out to her. Kathleen says she is frightened of someone who is at the gathering and has more to tell but will tell Beth more the next day when they are alone. The next morning Kathleen is found at the bottom of the cliff from her garden apparently having fallen and is now dead. Her beloved chickens are out- something she would never ever do. Beth thinks there is more to her death than an accident possibly chasing a pet. She talks to her husband Sami who it appears has his own secrets involving Kathleen so she is now not even sure that she can trust her own spouse. After a short time Beth finds out a little more about Kathleen and when she feels threatened herself it is Sami that she turns to. A complex plot and one to keep the grey matter active in a very good way. I liked Beth’s determination and tenacity in facing her friends whom she suspected in different ways. A brilliantly clever read and one to remember.
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(Amazon done- misfits farm)

Who can you trust? As a house party for their group of friends ends, Beth sits with her best friend and party hostess Kathleen looking out over the sea. An obviously troubled and frightened Kathleen confesses that one of their friends has done something terrible, something that she witnessed. When she confronted that person, she was told that they knew that she also was hiding a guilty secret. Beth urges her to confess the truth and assures her she will help. Just as Kathleen is about to reveal all, she’s called back to the party. Early the next morning, she texts Beth that she will meet her at their yoga class and speak to her afterwards. Minutes after that text is sent, she falls to her death off the cliffs behind her house.

Since the police seem to think Kathleen’s death resulted from suicide or an accident, Beth begins to investigate on her own out of loyalty to her friend. There is no lack of suspects. They include Kathleen’s husband Patrick and her doctor William, wife Imogen and daughter Elsa. And Beth worries about her husband Sami’s behavior. There is also the mysterious Alex, a recent widower and Sami’s co-worker. Beth is pulled ever deeper into a dark mystery as the secrets of Kathleen’s life are uncovered.

The House Party is a fast-paced suspenseful mystery. It’s a guaranteed page turner with an ending you won’t see coming. This is a 5 star read!

Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Mary Grand for this ARC.

I almost gave up on this who done it but I did finish it with a little bit of skim reading I have to admit.
There are so many red herrings I lost interest in trying to get to the bottom of the puzzle.

I have followed Author Mary Grand for five years now, and I jumped at the chance to read an advance review copy of her latest book, The House Party. Her earlier books featured intimate portraits of characters that I bonded with and still remember. And this mystery also features Ms. Grand’s insightful and deft touch with her characters.

Why does life always seem to be fine, until it isn’t? Main character Beth lives on the lovely Isle of Wight with her kind and hardworking pharmacist husband Sami, two teenage children, and a darling pet dog. All seems well and normal- daily life is busy, sometimes the kids do something eye-rolling, maybe she and Sami aren’t quite as star-crossed as they once were, but no worries.

Until Beth and her family go to a house party with their close friends. They are there to celebrate the new and fabulous house built by Kathleen and Patrick. The evening takes a surprising turn when Kathleen privately confesses to Beth that something sinister is happening. Someone knows Kathleen’s secret. Early the next morning, Kathleen is found dead below the cliffs of her property.

Beth can’t believe that Kathleen would have harmed herself. Beth begins to observe the families that were at the house party. Altogether, there were only 11 (forgive me if I didn’t count right!) of them. Is one of them the killer? Will more people die?

This book has a quiet, slow-moving plot which I found made it all the more suspenseful, creepy, and tingly. The House Party is filled with real characters, and lovely scenes of the Isle of Wight.

Everyone has secrets, right? Who knows yours?

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for a digital advance review copy. This is my honest review. Highly recommend.

This was a domestic mystery that I had high hopes for. This book seemed to lack something. The pacing seemed off, at some points it dragged on and at others there seemed to be a lack of detail.

I found it quite predictable, which was disappointing.

So the first problem about this book? I went into it thinking it was going to be a whodunit, party atmosphere kind of mystery. It wasn't. While there was a house party, and the victim did reveal information during it, the rest of the story does not take place during said party. This was a little misleading to me and kinda turned me off in the first few chapters.

This is definitely a mystery though, and not a thriller. While this is not a bad thing, I do have to bring it up in case you were expecting something else. It is a domestic, drama, mystery for sure. The pace is a little slower than I like and it was hard to focus on the story as my mind kept wandering to other things. But then again, I am kind of a thriller junky.

But this book is definitely for you if you like cozy mystery novels!!!

This is a great story about friendships and secrets, I really enjoyed the twists and the ending, I didn't see it coming, it was a good book. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read it,

This is the first book I've read by Mary Grand, and I'm delighted to have started with such a strong, well-written and pacy story.

Did she slip - or was she pushed?

This is the concept behind the story after Kathleen is found dead at the bottom of the cliff near her home only hours after confessing to her friend. Beth, that she was afraid of one of the guests at her house party that night.

First assumptions are that it's a suicide, but Beth is not convinced. Without wanting to draw attention, Beth tries to fathom out what happened to her friend. With so few guests - and all of them good friends - at the party, Kathleen's accusation that someone was threatening seems unbelievable, but still Beth cannot agree that her friend would have killed herself.

The mystery unravels as Beth suspects everyone, and their behaviour only spurs her on. So many have secrets they want kept private, but one person has an even bigger secret ...and Beth risks her own life to uncover it.

A hugely entertaining mystery, paced perfectly to allow the reader to work through the clues with Beth. So many suspects, so many possibilities, and oh, so many secrets.

#netgally #honestreview #mystery

I would give this book 3.8 stars. It is a good read, till the very end I had no idea of what is happening, the story told well. But let me just tell you everything from the beginning. Can you imagine your close circle? Now imaging one of your friends kills another and you have to figure out who did this. Messed up, twisted story.
I think there should be more development into secret messages and phone calls other than that-pretty good read!

An amateur sleuth determines to discover who or what killed her best friend. If you like a good page-turner with plenty of twists and false leads set in a small island community where everyone knows everyone else and everyone has a potential motive, then this one is for you.

Many thanks to Boldwood Books and Netgalley.co.uk for my ARC.

This book blew me away. It meet all my expectations and then some. Absolutely will read more by this author

A decent mystery thriller. However, I don't feel this stands out from the rest of similar genre and premise. I did finish the book and liked the twists throughout.

While the premise of this book was interesting, I found it lacking. I just didn't click with any of the characters found some situations to be a bit farfetched.

This book was a really great page turner. I liked all the secrets and the way Beth didn’t know who she could trust. Throughout the novel I had my suspicion on everyone at least once.

I don’t know if it’s just me or the books that I’ve read lately, but I find that most thrillers are really slow paced and hard to get into. This wasn’t any different. It took me like a third of the book before I was hooked. At some places the story got slow paced again and I found it hard to focus on the story.

The House Party by Mary Grand is full of lies, red herrings, and false leads that satisfied my puzzle-loving soul. To further add to the mystery, the story contains a cast of characters full of secrets just waiting to be revealed in their own time and place, while the ebb and flow of suspense creates a jaunty pace to the story. I wish the characters had been a bit more developed to allow me to care about the impact of the murder on them as well as their secrets, and that the gothic-type style had been more fluid and natural. However, the conclusion is satisfying with an excellent wrap-up, and all of the secrets revealed, allowing the characters to pick up the pieces and move forward.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first book I have read by this author and it certainly will not be the last.
The story follows Beth and starts at a party for her and her friends at her best friend Kathleen’s place. Beth and Kathleen have become estranged of late but as the party winds up and the circle of their close friends enjoy the evening Kathleen confuses in Beth that one of them has been threatening her, refusing to say who. The next day Kathleen is found dead, her body found as is fallen or jumped from a cliff by her home.
Unlikely detective Beth feels strongly that Kathleen was murdered and in turn tries to discover the truth.
I found the story well written and pacy. It was believable and I enjoyed the characters.