I had a very difficult time getting into this book. There were a lot of characters and too many POVs. This made it confusing to follow the story line. Since this will be a series with DC Morgan, maybe the next book will be better.

DNF at 46%. The story is just too slow and I was incredibly bored. There are also WAY too many characters to keep track of and what everyone was doing and where they were.

There were a lot of secrets and twists and turns in this story that kept you guessing right up until the end. Both major characters were majorly flawed which only added to the story. I am looking forward to the next installment of the Leo and Ffion story! I recommend this novel. #TheLastParty

The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh is the first in the DC Ffion Morgan police procedural, taking place in Wales.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Sourcebooks Landmark  and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


Series Information:
DC Ffion Morgan works out of her home-town of Cwm Coed, on the Welsh-English border. Her boss is DI Malek, but they rarely meet, and she has a lot of freedom.  She doesn't always do things by the book. After separating from her husband, she moved back in with her mom Elen and younger sister Seren.  A year later, she is is still there.


My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Rhys Lloyd is having a New Year's Eve party which should bring together the residents of the nearby village of Cwm Coed, with the residents of his new vacation homes, which he dubbed The Shore.   The community has not been appreciative of his new enterprise up to this point, and things must change.

But the next morning, Rhys is floating in the lake during the polar bear swim.  Suspects abound on both sides of the lake.  Rhys may not have been the great guy he professed.  Apparently he has many people who wanted him dead.

DC Ffion Morgan will have to work with the nearby English police department to solve this murder.   But working with DC Leo Brady could prove interesting.  They already have history.  As well, if Ffion's secrets come out, her entire life may blow up.


My Opinions:
There were plenty of suspects, and lots of twists.  I can't say I really enjoyed the constantly changing time-lines and multiple story-tellers.  Normally that works really well, but for some reason this time it annoyed me.  Probably because there was so much repetition.  So between that and the fact that the pace was quite slow, it seemed like a long book.  However, the plot and mystery elements were wonderful

Topics include rape, manipulation, lies and secrets. A lot of people were just so arrogant, feeling they were better than others, more deserving.    But there was also a real theme of family throughout.

Character-wise, I absolutely loved Ffion.  She has so much strength.  I am not sure I agreed with all of her decisions.  Although I am not sure if Leo will be in subsequent books, he quickly grew on me, and I loved how he gained strength as well.  I really hope he will be in the next book.  Among the many suspects, some of them I felt an emotional bond with, and others I hoped would be the killer.  Good writing can have that affect!

So, bottom line...I will definitely be reading the second book in this series!

While I did enjoy the writing and the clever twist at the end, I found this book to be way too long for what the story was telling. I think its because the author added way too many side characters who could have done the deed and all these characters boggled down the actual mystery. It just stopped mattering to be because there were so many people and so many stories within the story to keep up with. Had a few of these side characters been eliminated from the story and we stuck to just a few of the important ones then I think the story would have had more appeal to me.

I received this book as a free host copy for The Gloss. This was a fun read that left me guessing all the way through. I enjoyed the characters and setting of the book and found that it was brought to life very well. This was my book club's first read of 2023, and I feel it could be a favourite read of the year.

I wanted to love this book, but I just really struggled to get into it. It almost felt like "yet another police procedural" without a plot that was particularly original or engaging. That said, I know many readers who adored it, so maybe it's just me!

This is another great Clare Mackintosh book! A thriller that is faced paced and keeps you guessing. The night of the party a guest ends up dead but who did it? It's a small town and everyone knows everyone. I really enjoyed this thriller and recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC.

This was my first book by Clare Mackintosh and will not be my last! I am already eagerly waiting for the next in this series! I totally fell in love with the setting in The Last Party and the whole atmosphere was the best. The mystery was wonderful and even though there were a lot of suspects I was able to keep a handle on all of them through out the book. Can't wait to read more about Ffi and Leo. I also listened to the audio and the narrator was perfect. If you're in the mood for a good murder mystery, this is the one for you!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Publication date: 8 November 2022

Clare Mackintosh's books are excellent; I love everything she's written and think she is only comparable, in today's British crime writing, to Lisa Jewell and Gilly Macmillan. This story, apparently the first in a planned series, takes place on New Year's Eve in Wales, with flashbacks and flashforwards to the lead-up and aftermath of a drowning in a lake. Rhys Lloyd, a famous opera singer who has developed a handful of expensive properties on his family's lakeshore land, was disliked by everyone. Detective Constable Ffion Morgan is partnered with an English Detective Constable, Leo Brady, from the Cheshire Major Crimes Unit. They've met before, as the reader discovers, but now they have to work together to unravel the crime in Ffion's small town - where her neighbors and even members of her family, including her estranged husband, are suspected. This is completely chock-full of unforeseeable twists and turns, as with all of Mackintosh's books, and the characters, especially Ffion and her family, are incredible - flawed, human, memorable, enigmatic, realistic. A fast-paced, attention-grabbing summer read; I'll continue to read whatever she writes. 4 1/2 stars.

*I was pleased to receive an advance copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for an early release copy of this novel. If you like British police procedurals, this book is for you. It's important to note that it's not a "thriller" and is much slower paced. I thought it was well written and it kept me guessing. I really liked the female lead Ffion and I'm happy to hear that this novel is the first in a series (of at least 2 novels).

This was a fun whodunnit - with a diverse group of characters who almost all have a reason to have "dunnit" - including one of the detectives working the case. The writing is excellent - providing an excellent sense of place and atmosphere without going overboard on the descriptive language. Most importantly it's got a couple of interesting main characters in this first book in a planned series - characters that make me look forward to the next book in the series.
Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

This was much better than I thought it was going to be. Plus the cover was so good! Who does not love a book with rich, entitled people behaving badly? These types of people are bound to have enemies because they lack compassion and empathy. The murder that resulted at a blowout party led to an in depth murder investigation.

I loved how to two two detectives and how they interacted with the characters that were in attendance at the party the night of the murder. It felt like I was along for the ride. There were a few plot twists that were predictable BUT who I thought was involved was wrong, so I liked being wrong in my guess.

Overall, I think this was a totally decent read and recommend it. I would definitely read more from this author.

Thanks to Netgalley, Clare Mackintosh and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Already available.

[It was okay]
The writing and narration of the audiobook was great. Personally, I thought there were way too many characters. I did like the two main characters (detectives) but didn’t care for many other characters. The storyline was a bit too long and dragged on a bit. I did really enjoy the ending but the book overall was just okay for me.

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for providing a free advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank You to NetGalley for ebook ARC.

This is the first time I've read Clare Mackintosh. The book is a slow burn. It can also be a bit confusing as sometimes there are too many details that it felt like a tangent. It definitely has some twists and turns and surprises. I loved the characters and will be reading more of the DC Morgan series.

Reading Between the Wines book review #60/115 for 2023:
Rating: 3 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: The Last Party
Author: Clare Mackintosh
Available now!

Sipping thoughts: I was pretty confused most of this book with the characters and just was not into it much. Then the twist in the middle got me reinvested. I was able to finish it and liked the ending but I had to press on pass the slow burn for the first 35% of the book.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @SourcebooksLandmark for an advanced copy of @TheLastParty.

#TheLastParty #ClareMackintosh #SourcebooksLandmark #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

My mind is officially blown after reading Clare Mackintosh's "The Last Party" which contained more plot twists than I thought possible. Overall, an amazing read!

I did not finish this book I couldn’t get over how slow and unproductive it was sorry this one was not for me

Everyone here has secrets and some are worth killing for. Twists and turns galore, this book will keep you up at night so you can finish. A Clare Mackintosh great.

I really wasn’t into this in the beginning, but it got a lot better. there’s a twist about halfway through that I did not see coming and I was totally hooked from there. I was a little disappointed in the end twists around who did it. overall, this was a decent thriller, and I’ll probably continue with this series around the same detective as they come out because I feel slightly attached to this little Welsh town and its people now