<b>Note:</b> I received an advanced copy of this book from Bookouture via NetGalley.

Two Couples. Three Secrets. One Murder. In a beautiful house surrounded by woodland, the Drayton family and their dearest friends are enjoying dinner together. The wine is flowing, the meal has been lovingly prepared, and it’s going to be an evening none of them will ever forget…

I really enjoyed reading about the different characters' backstories and the author did a good job having the reader second guess the intentions of everyone involved. You never really can get to know a person and their personas might be deceiving. I liked delving into the interconnecting stories to get to the bottom of a murder and the outcome.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for this arc. The story started out great, and even though I figured out who had done it, I liked that there were subtle clues and red herrings throughout. The problem for me was I didn't like any of the characters and never engaged with the writing, which at times was great but other times it was not. This made it hard to stay with the story. I think people who like a lot of twists and surprises would love this book, it just wasn't for me.

Holy Wow!! I loved this book from page 1 to the last page. So many twists, turns, , thrills and an absolute rollercoaster. I definitely recommend!!!

Thank you to the NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this twisty book.

All thoughts and opinions are my own and are not influenced by other reviewers

Maybe, as a parent, you are biased. Isn’t your child, the cutest, the best, the loveliest creature in the whole wide world? Of course, they are. Sometimes there is more to it than they eye can see. But if is good or is it bad?

The author really highlights how manipulative and deceptive people can be. Is it nature’s fault or is a tragic event from the past the trigger?

I was totally absorbed from the beginning. My brain was doing overtime. I was suspecting some people, but I was not convinced for 100%. It was a bit too obvious perhaps. So back to the drawing board and trying to put 1 and 1 together. Was my result 3 as it usually is or did I come up with 2 this time? Well,… my grey matter did function very well this time. Shocking 😉

This is a great story that I enjoyed very, very much. Secrets are coming out left, right and centre. My jaw did not seem to leave the floor for a very long time. 😊

Dan is a wonderful detective. I think he is one of the gentlest ones I know.

It’s truly terrible how one act can cause this string of events. 5 stars

Thank you

When I requested this book I had no idea it was part of a series but it read well as a standalone.

This was a great domestic thriller with lies, deceit, twists, and red herrings. A couple of the characters were a little obnoxious but otherwise it was a great cast. An entertaining and mysterious read.

So happy I finally got to read this author. Her Detective Dan Riley series has been on my radar forever. The Night of the Party is part of that series but I honestly had no idea when I started reading it. But I think it read fine as a stand alone.

Two couples. Three secrets. One murder. Sign me up.
I love dysfunctional families almost as much as I love small town settings. This was the perfect fly on the wall experience. You got just enough dirt on everyone to make them all suspects but not enough to be fully convinced. All the secrets, manipulations and poor choices/decisions really made me feel better about my own family. The characters and the execution just all worked for me and I really enjoyed it. A highly entertaining and totally bingeable read. I would definitely consider reading the whole series.
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I found some of the characters a little annoying, especially the very naive mother, who seriously seemed to think her daughter was an angel.

It was hard to figure out who was telling the truth, and which bits were reality which was good and it kept me guessing, at 63% I still had no idea who did it. It all tied together nicely at the end too (I hate books ending on a cliffhanger)

Wow what a brilliant explosive book I just cannot speak highly enough about the author and the book itself. It had everything I wanted and had me hooked from the very first page which is a must for me, it just got better and better with great well described characters and I couldn't stop reading.

I particularly enjoyed how each chapter left you just wanting to read more and this book is definitely in my top ten reads for 2021.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this fantastic book which I can recommend, 5+ stars from me.

I love Dan Riley in my head I imagine him to be like a younger Richard Armitage, he's very hot and also extremely good at his job. I love how his character is developing nicely through the series.

In his latest case he has the unfortunate job of solving the murder of a teenager girl, her family are heartbroken, who would want to harm their daughter? But as he learns more about the victim he discovers a number of suspects, even some in her own family.

This book really keeps you guessing about the culprit, so many arcs to this story. Loved it.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Evie and Tom and Jim and Una are longtime friends who get together at Evie and Tom’s house for dinner. Evie and Tom’s bright and beautiful high school aged daughter, Libby, performs some music for them and then leaves to spend the night with a friend. But she never returns and soon her body is found in the woods. Who would have wanted to kill her?

4.5 stars.

Turns out pretty much everyone in the book was keeping secrets and the that kept me really interested in getting to the bottom of who killed Libby. I though this one had a lot of twists and turns and so many potential guilty parties that it kept me guessing. This is my third book from this author and while detective Dan Riley has appeared in all of them, I don’t feel like he or his back story are a main focus so these can easily be read out of order. I have enjoyed all that I have read from this author and look forward to reading more from her.

This is a book which is very fast paced with a lot of twists. It is a good light read with characters which are interesting. It finishes weakly in my opinion, though quite a few other reviewers do differ.

Evie is proud of her daughter Libby, who is always well behaved and gifted (she plays the piano). Brandon is Libby’s step-brother and there is an air of tension between them. Evie regards Brandon as being a difficult step-son though she tries her best to get along. On the night when Evie and her husband Dan are hosting their friends Jim and Una for dinner, Libby leaves the house saying she will be watching a performance with a friend. Evie loses contact with her and she is later found dead, brutally murdered. It turns out that Libby lied about going out with a friend, who denies she was to meet her.

As the story progresses, secrets which many of the characters including Libby held to themselves are revealed. There are a lot of twists and I loved how especially Libby’s character was revealed. However, the large number of twists right till the end also meant a not very serious tie-up of all ends (such as forensic evidence). I was also ok with that as it was engrossing and moved very fast. The end however was very contrived and extremely weak.

My rating: 3.25 / 5.

This book was so much better than I originally expected! I was expecting a run-of-the-mill thriller with somewhat stilted dialogue and twists you see coming from a mile away. This book had a very good plot with lots of unexpected twists, but my favorite part was definitely the characters. Every one of them had an interesting hook that made for cliffhangers at the end of every chapter and never a dull moment. Once I started reading, I HAD to be reading this at every free moment. I even pulled it out discreetly on my phone at a formal work dinner! I found the development of Libby through the viewpoints of the other characters a fascinating and original way to develop a character, as well as the overall mystery. I hugely enjoyed this book and I may go through this author's backlog and read EVERYTHING, because honestly they all sound amazing. Highly recommend to anyone who loves character-driven thrillers.

Wow another brilliant book by this author. Loved the family dynamics and the flawed characters . Great writing and story to keep you guessing throughout. I suspected the ending but there were still enough twists and turns to keep me turning the pages long into the night . Definitely a 5 star read from me . Can’t wait for the next

I’d give this 3.5 stars as it was an easy read with some good twist. Two families get together for an evening full of wine, food, a whole lot of secrets, and one brutally murdered. It will keep you guessing until the very end. This is my first book by this author and although I only have it 3.5 stars, I will definitely be reading more of hers. Thank you #netgalley for an advance copy of this thriller.

This is a great read that is well written and grips the reader right from the outset. It was tense, suspenseful and twisty and I couldnt predict what was happening, nor did I know what to believe. Well developed characters that really add to the storyline. I really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. Without giving anything away, it starts with a murder and the rest of book is centered on trying to figure out who did it, while also uncovering major secrets that the victim was keeping. It features DI Dan Riley, who has been in other books by this author, and is a likeable and credible character.

The style of the writing is engaging, where it goes back and forth between before and after the murder to paint the picture of the events leading up to it. It was a little slow moving at parts, but kept me interested throughout. I figured out who really did it before the characters did, but felt that it was set up well. I felt legitimately sad after it was over upon because so many of the things that happened could have been avoided if people had admitted fault or talked issues through. It was a solid 3 star book until the end but the feeling it left me with bumped it up a star.

Overall, good book with well-drawn characters and good twists, that left me thinking about it after it was over. I'd recommend to those who like mysteries and police procedurals. Thanks to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Night of The Party

It took me awhile to decide if I wanted to rate this a 2 or 3. I'm ultimately rating a 3 because the twist at the end was pretty good. However I thought the book was super dramatic, and certain things were over dramatized.

This is the first time reading a book by this author and it was a pretty simple read. I was unaware this book was part of a series when I started it, but I think it could stand fine as a stand alone. I believe the summary was more interesting than the book, and it's for that reason I rate it a 3.

A great read which I thoroughly enjoyed. I liked the structure, the characters and the plot of the book, which is well written. Full of deceit, intrigue and twists.

It’s the first book I’ve read from this author, I will be adding others to my reading list.

Thanks to Net Galley and Bookouture for access to the advanced copy.

Wow, I loved this one.

Really readable from the first page and really interesting. Everyone had secrets and they were juicy and intriguing.

I figured it out near the end but it took nothing from the book and it was fun to try and work it out.

Everyone is going to be talking about this book! So good!

The Night of the Party is a psych thriller that just as easily identifies as a crime thriller. The plot centers around a chilling crime. While the police try to figure out “whodunit,” deep secrets come to light, and nobody is safe from shocking revelations.
The blurb pretty much tells the reader what the catalyst event is. "A beautiful girl will be dead by the end of the night.” Kind of gives it away. There is only one character who fits the bill, Libby, the reader instantly knows who the victim is.
Evie, Libby’s mom, is the most sympathetic character. First, there is the shock of her daughter’s death. Then, the investigation reveals more than she ever could have imagined about her family and closest friends.
She is hit from all sides and tries to find her footing. I felt sorry for her. But I was also a little incredulous that she was oblivious to what was going on prior to the incident.
The author does a good job of building the tension and casting doubt on certain characters’ motivations. This is especially true with Libby.
Through flashbacks, the reader learns just how Libby’s mental state plays a part in the events that follow. Turns out that there is a lot more to Libby than meets the eye – and much more than Evie knows.
Her father, Tom, on the other hand, seems to have a better idea of Libby’s frame of mind. I’m not going to tell you why. But it is another example of how far Libby’s mental state has taken her down a dark path.
There are a few aspects of the book that don’t work but that is probably personal preference. For example, the author tells the story in a realistic way. Information that one character knows stays with that character until they tell another character.
Within an investigation, that makes sense, because there is no reason for others to know something without someone telling them. However, recounting the information each time it is shared sometimes bogs down the plot. It is repetitive.
Additionally, Una seems like a superfluous character. She is part of a twist toward the end, but she doesn’t have much to do otherwise. Her part could have been more fleshed out.
I do think the author does a great job of making the connections between the characters. The web is complicated and realistic. Although, I did guess a few of the twists early on.
Maybe that is because I read a lot of books in this genre. I always try to outguess the author. Other readers may not see it coming.
Ultimately, The Night of the Party explores how well we really know the people closest to us. In this case, the answer is not at all. 3.5 stars rounded up to four.
I will also say that this book is not unlike her previous books (see: The Stranger's Wife). But for some reason, it does not have the "Dan Riley" identifier, even though he is the investigating officer. Not sure why that is.