I really enjoyed the Last Party and the author's ability to tap into local politics and gentrification while keeping the audience guessing as to who did it. I loved the twists and all of the quirky (and unpleasant) characters. The secondary characters were just as engaging and the main characters. I also appreciated the multiple perspective that the novel provides. Overall, a really enjoyable read.

I’m a huge fan of domestic thrillers so this was right up my alley! I really enjoyed HOSTAGE by this author so I was excited to read her newest! I loved all the shady characters and it had a great twist! I’d definitely recommend.

Rhys Lloyd is dead, but when everyone around town had a beef against him and wouldn’t mind him dead, how do you find the killer?

Typical police procedural, however the police have very little clues or evidence and tend to go off their feelings and hunches more than actual facts. Everyone gets taken into custody at least once, but that doesn’t mean the police can get it right.

Secondary timeline starts moving backwards, away from the crime, however follows numerous different characters and suspects. There are so many people and so many perspectives it’s a little hard to keep track of at times. Never mind all of the affairs and secrets between the characters, it’s impossible to keep track of at times.

The book was also at least 100 pages too long. With no evidence and such a long book, not much really happens for the majority of the story. It’s long, slightly boring, and a little sloppy with the intertwining off all of the characters lives.

A twisty plot and a long list of suspects. Gripping. I am happy this is a series and will be looking forward to the next installment.
Many thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love a good whodunnit. This novel hit the mark for me. I did end up figuring out what was going to happen but not until the book was nearly finished. I was invested fully in what happened to Rhys Lloyd and was thoroughly satisfied with the ending of this one.

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. This book drew me in right from the first page with the funny sense of humor and kept my interest until the very last page. I am truly looking forward to the next book in the series as it was such a good read. I highly recommend this book to anyone!

This was a stunning start to the DC Morgan series. Clare Mackintosh takes her time to introduce Ffion and the locale of Northern Wales. While investigating the suspicious death of Rhys Lloyd, the not so golden boy returned home, we meet what seems to be an average group of people. The little town Cwm Coed though will shock you with the secrets hidden behind its serene landscape.

I loved this deliciously twisty and suspenseful whodunit. Told from multiple points of view, we are introduced to a new gritty detective and an intriguing cast of characters- and I’m all here for it! It’s not too often a mystery novel has me second-guessing almost every character in the story, but this one did. And I was stumped right up until the big reveal at the end. I’m already looking forward to her next novel in the series.

There were so many nasty surprises in this story, and I found myself being super shocked as the past got slowly revealed while the present story unfolded. I liked Ffion a lot (the beginning of the story is pretty hilarious), and she definitely kept me interested in understanding where she came from and invested in her solving the mystery (even though, honestly, by the end it was clear the world was better off without Rhys). This has it all, - scandals, celebrities, murder, cops with secrets, high-speed chases…. Despite that fun first chapter, I initially found it hard to get into — but once I got going with it, I was invested.

This felt, familiar in terms of books I’ve already read, but I’m not sure which it reminded me of. It was okay…just okay. Kind of had it figured out early on, had a slow moving mid-section, and the end wrapped up rather quickly. If you like murder mysteries that aren’t too gruesome but keep you entertained, this is right up your alley.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publishers for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was the January pick for book club. I like when book club makes me pick up something I wouldn’t have on my own, and this one definitely qualifies.

There were a few things about The Last Party that I liked, and some that weren’t so awesome. I liked that it was sort of a thriller and detective story mixed together, and that there were some really interesting characters. However, there were SO MANY characters, I had a hard time following along at times.

The mystery part on its own was fun, and I didn’t guess the murderer until it was revealed. I didn’t love how much the detective was wrapped up in the story, though. She definitely shouldn’t have been working the case in the first place!

Overall, it was twisty and fun, but there were some drawbacks.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 rounded up!

The Last Party is a police procedural/thriller that hooked me right from the hilarious opening.

I found the book to be a great, medium paced story - not too slow of a burn, but detailed and descriptive.

I loved the character development of DC Morgan and DC Brady, both as individuals and together as partners (and hopefully more!)

What made this story for me was it’s setting in a small Welsh village (along the English border) where one of the detectives was born and raised. She knows everyone in this town, including the murder victim. Is she covering something up? What is her link?

I loved the small town feel, I could feel the tension between the residents of the village and vacationers at The Shore. I loved the cast of characters, and learning from their points of view. I loved the way the story unfolding and the multiple plot twists.

The mirrored perspectives in part two really gave a lot of interest and I found myself flipping back to part one see the other characters POV of the same moments.

In the end, I didn’t care which one of them killed Rhys I was just glad that someone did. Congrats to the author for making such a detestable character!

Even though all the suspects made sense as the murderer (some more than others), I loved the twisty-up-until-the-last-moment nature of the book and finding out who murdered Rhys Lloyd and why!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and Net Galley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It’s New Year’s Eve, and Rhys Lloyd is hosting an extravagant party at his vacation home in “The Shore” community. However, by New Year’s Day, Rhys will be found dead, and everyone is a suspect in the crime. It’s up to detectives Ffion Morgan and Leo Brady to investigate, and discover what happened that led to the murder of Rhys Lloyd.

This was such an atmospheric mystery, and I loved the secluded, small town lake community setting. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and different POVs throughout the story, so I did find myself confusing who was who from time to time. However, an abundance of characters makes for an abundance of suspects, and plenty of the characters had reason to want Rhys dead. I think the character development was outstanding, especially for the quantity of characters, and there were some decent twists along the way! It’s a longer mystery {400+ pages}, and a suspenseful, complex read!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for my gifted e-book!

I love when a book takes me on a wild ride like this one! I enjoyed the characters, it was a crazy thriller of a story. One of the types of books that would be great for book clubs!

This was a good enough mystery. It wasn't GREAT, but it certainly wasn't bad, either. The story line and characters were intriguing, and it moved at a decent pace. I had no problem picking it back up, but also no problem putting it back down. I enjoyed how twisted the mystery itself was, and how many suspects there were... it made it very hard to ever guess the truth. I think some of my issue with the book was just the fact that culturally, I wasn't familiar at all with the area / setting, or the language. I think that slowed things down for me a bit. I really liked the main character Ffion and I do plan on reading the next one in the series.

I love books that have plots such as this one - and this book did not disappoint. Full of twists and turns, suspense and thrills, I highly recommend this book.

thanks to Netgalley for this arc (which in no way influenced my review). This is a 3.5 read for me but I rounded up because I did enjoy it and it made me want to go back to Wales again. I loved the little Welsh phrases tossed in and yes the divide between England and Wales isn't just in our two DCIs but it a main theme (and motivator) for the crime. The main problem for me is it's a touch slow because it bounces from the past to present and through multiple main characters which is a tad much.

Rhys Lloyd is a wealthy singer on the decline, a hometown star of Cwm Coed a small Welsh village on the shores of a lake in the shadow of the dragon (Pen y Ddraig mountain). He has broken his father's trust by not keeping the lake wild and Welsh when he inherited the land and instead moved his wife and twin daughters there into the brand new McMansion town houses for the rich and famous (Mostly from England). He claims he wanted to build an artist colony but he merely built it for elitists including his business partner/money man, Jonty, a retired widow (with a past), a boxer turned actor and his influencer wife, and a mom with a son she wants to keep out of prison even if she can't afford the place.

Rhys is taken out New Year's Eve and everyone in The Shores has motive as does most of Cwm Coed between them being angry about the influx of wealthy Englishmen who won't even patronize the local shops and we slowly learn Rhys is not a good man.

Investigating the case is Ffion Morgan (Ffion Wyllt which is Welsh for Wild Ffion) and Leo who is from right across the English border and just so happens to be someone she met for some new year's eve fun which makes working together awkward. What annoyed me at first was the less than professional doings from Ffion who is the main character of this series (we learn why in the part two but until then it tarnished my view of her) Ffion lives with her Mam and much younger sister after leaving her husband Huw (a contractor for the Shores and a suspect in Rhys's murder)

Leo is also fighting personal battles both with a racist boss and trying not to lose complete access to his son (His wife is divorced and with another man and is not above lying to child protective services etc to get her way) So yeah there is SO much going on in this novel especially since this seems to be the opening of a series (whether or not we'll see Leo again is questionable as Ffion is the series titular character).

As far as a mystery goes, it does work and it was engaging. Yes maybe we didn't need 1001 points of view (there is a whole other side plot of Seren, Ffion's young sibling, hanging with the teenaged boy one step from prison and Rhys's twin daughters but there were reasons for it's hard to say if it needed to go but there were pacing issues. ) I'd definitely get the next book in the series.

I'm a fan of this author's work but have to admit I had a hard time getting into this one. The Welsh names threw me a bit and the changing timelines. The story is worth the effort of sticking with it - lots of twists and turns.

TW: Cheating, gaslighting, toxic relationships, classification, slut shaming, sexual abuse, stalking

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:On New Year’s Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests. His vacation homes on Mirror Lake are a success, and he’s generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbors.

But by midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake.

On New Year’s Day, Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects. The tiny community is her home, so the suspects are her neighbors, friends and family—and Ffion has her own secrets to protect.

With a lie uncovered at every turn, soon the question isn’t who wanted Rhys dead…but who finally killed him.
Release Date: August 4th, 2022
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 432
Rating: ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. The cover drew me in
2. The plot sounded like an interesting story

What I Didn't Like:
1. Reminded me too much of other books I've read
2. So many parts just seemed to drag on for no reason
3. Hated the detective's romantic past

Overall Thoughts:
I was excited to request this book from Netgalley and even more hyped that I was accepted. I wanted to love this book and there were times when I would find myself sucked back into the story only to be pushed out with no interest.

I was bored of the two detectives that had a one night stand and then proceeded to act like children when they see each other again. It's so immature as they are meeting over the death of someone and they are more worried that the other person will think they are interested in them past the one night stand. Ffion goes as far as calling her supervisor and saying she needs off the case because she knows the victim. She's denied. So she whines about how unfair it is. You can only sleep with so many people in your town before you run into them somewhere.

I also feel like there are too many characters and too many perspectives. Most of the characters got on my nerves and really added nothing to the story.

Final Thoughts:
I ended up giving this book 216 pages before I said I just didn't care enough to read it for more hours. The writing isn't bad but too many characters and the random rambling of the characters just made me lose interest. I will give the author other chances. This book just wasn't for me.

Recommend For:
• Complex storylines
• Multiple character pov's
• Who-dune-mysteries

⭐️⭐️

𝘼𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙. 𝘽𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨.

📍 Read if you like:
• Small-Towns
• Murder Mysteries
• Slow Burns
• New Year’s Eve

I finally decided to pick this book up, I buddy-read it with a friend.

I was immediately invested in this book after reading the concept. It sounded so interesting with there being a murder at a New Year’s Eve party. Also, this book has rich people vibes which I always find interesting.

Unfortunately, this was such a slow burn that I didn’t really care for it. It was way too long and it should have been shorter IMO.

We also follow these two detectives who are investigating the murder. At the beginning of the book, we find out who gets murdered. We are also aware that this person had many enemies who didn’t like them.

I personally didn’t care for these characters. I’ve never been into detective stories so I should’ve known this wouldn’t be for me, however, it sounded so interesting so I gave it a shot.

A lot of the book was boring because it was slow not much happened. It started so strong and the ending was meh. I sort of predicted part of it.

I wish the book was a bit shorter and not as slow as it was. The detectives weren’t enjoyable for me, and the overall story was underwhelming.