Book 1 in the DC Morgan series.

Featuring ~ multiple 3rd person POV, dual timeline, crime, murder, police procedural, r@pe

Ffion is our main detective on the murder case of, Rhys. I really liked her character and her and Leo's top notch investigative skills.

We have many, many POV's from the party guests that really made the story flow along nicely, but increases the suspect pool. This was fast paced with some nice twists that'll keep you on your toes until the end.

I was able to listen to the final version as well, so I went back and forth reading and listening.

Narration:
Chloe Angharad Davies ~ 13 hours and 17 minutes. She did a mostly fine job, except for her male voices, which isn't a shocker.

This was an amazing and completely engaging. I was invested from the very first chapter. The characters were complex. The plot was original.

On New Years Day the tradition of the villagers of Cwn Coed on the Welsh/English border to plunge into the icy waters of Mirror Lake (Llyn Drych). I saw this also on the Apple TV show Bad Sisters, which is INCREDIBLE! This year‘s swim is aborted as a man’s body is discovered floating face down and its chilly blackness. Who is it? Accident or murder? This leads us to New Year’s Eve and there’s a big party at the Shore home of Jonty and Blythe Charlton. There are numerous suspects and it is a case of who done it? There are some residents who are have secrets to hide including Ffion. Rhys Lloyd's singing career has dwindled hence he dives into building the new lodges for the very wealthy. DC Ffion is in charge of the Welsh side of the border where Rhys Lloyd's new holiday lodges have been erected and along with Detective Leo Brady who works on the English border for Cheshire major crime unit who is verbally bullied by his boss Detective Inspecor Simon Crouch on a daily basis but Leo does not retaliate until one day the straw that broke the camel's back scenario arises. Don't worry, even though this is going to be a series, all is revealed at the end of the book. Loved it!

A pretty standard who done it kind of story. There were a lot of suspects to keep you guessing, but at times the story dragged and it was easy to lose interest. I would still recommend though!

Another great book from one of my auto read authors. It took me a while to sort through all the characters but I was definitely invested in the story. There were so many legit suspects in the murder!

Clare Mackintosh is one of my auto buy authors ever since I read <i> I Let You Go </i/> which is one of my all-time favorite books. Now about this latest release. It was a well thought out plot that kept me engaged throughout, and there were plenty of red herrings to throw me off. I thought the main characters were well developed and had a great connection. This particular story started out a little slow, then hit a little bit of a stall mid-way, however I literally couldn’t turn the pages fast enough by the end. What a great twist and once again I am blindsided by this very talented author and loved it so much!

My thanks to #NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC of this book.

The best part of this mystery is the setting-- cozy in Wales. The characters are unlikable by design and the murder mystery is complicated.

Clare Mackintosh is one of my all time favorites and this novel was no exception! This author is able to pull you in and tell such riveting, heart pounding stories that make you forget you’re even reading a book. Her characters become so familiar to you that you feel like you know them.

initial thoughts: overall, I really enjoyed the story, setting, and (most of) the characters.

at times though, this book seemed to drag and a few of the characters didn’t add anything to the story.

will I pick up the next book due to the dreamy location of remote Wales and to see what happens with Leo & Fifion? Yes!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

You can usually count on this author to provide a great thriller. This book missed the mark for me, I found it very slow and hard to get into. I liked the main character, Ffion, but found that I disconnected from the soptry and just never quite got on board with it. It was a pretty quick read though.

amazing book, this is the book that just keeps giving more twists than a helter skelter, loved all the extra stories within the crime story, fully recommend

I thought THE LAST PARTY was really well done. A great blend of small town mystery and police procedural. I thought the setting and the connections between all of the characters were intriguing. As each chapter revealed more through different POVs and a past/present timeline, I kept reconsidering who I thought committed the murder, and I was still wrong!
I really enjoyed Ffion and Leo’s characters and their dynamic. I hope we see more of Leo in the next book!!
The only reason this wasn’t a full five stars for me was it felt a little slow at points, but I still will be recommending this and adding a copy to my shelves.
Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark for the digital copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Party did not disappoint. I was captivated from the start. Unexpected and thrilling, exactly the elements I need in a good thriller. It was a little slow at times, but I didn't predict the ending, which is also a win.

The was my second Clare Mackintosh book. Such a good thriller! Big fan of this author! I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

I love a good small town murder mystery and this one was a gem. Set in Wales in a small lakeside village, this book had a wonderful sense of place. The author even included many Welsh phrases and some social politics between Wales and England.

Almost every character in the story was a suspect, except for the detectives Leo and Ffion. The chapters were dedicated to each of the people involved and went by the timeline leading up to the day of the murder.

The story did move a bit slow at times, but I find that is often the case when the story revolves around a police investigation. What kept my attention were the little twists along the way, that developed into a whopper of an ending.

One can assume this is the first in a series, so I will definitely be looking out for the next story the author publishes.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to offer my honest review and recommend to other readers.

The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh is a fantastic suspenseful book that I really enjoyed.

This is the first book in the DC Morgan series and I am very excited that we will get to read more of this character.

This is a murdery mystery with multiple points of view.

I read a lot of mysteries and feel like a good sleuth, but I absolutely had no idea who was the perpetrator.

This was such a great book I can't wait for more in this series.

I can always count on this author to entertain me, and this mystery did not disappoint. Great characters and a great plot. Loved it!

The Last Party has a lot of characters that slowly unravel what really happened on that fateful New Years Eve. Told in alternating points of view from the owners of The Shores, locals and the two police investigating the death, there are a lot of people who aren't sad to hear Rhys Lloyd is dead and might even have reasons to want him that way. The first three quarters of the book are a slow build but once things start unraveling, they do so fast and the last quarter of the book really picks up and just when you think you know what happens, another secret is revealed and the twist keep coming right up until the final pages. The Last Party was my second Clare Mackintosh (Hostage was the first) and while I enjoyed it, I would have liked more of the plot to read like the last quarter. This is a book that's absolutely worth picking up, especially if you're a fan of Mckintosh.
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Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Instagram Post was made on January 25, 2023.

I really enjoyed this book. The storyline rolyine was great starting with the NYE party and a murder. The first half was a little slow but it really picked up half way through. Good twist and a great ending.

Thanks to NetGalley & Sourcebooks for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a sucker for a British police procedural, which this is, sort of. It's also a view into North Wales and the way of life there, and the chafe of the Welsh against the colonial attitudes of the English who vacation there.

Leo is a Liverpudlian DC teamed with Ffion, who is Welsh, for a dead body found floating in Llyn Drych (Mirror Lake) during the New Year's Day swim. Oddly enough, Leo and Ffion have recently parted company after having a one-nighter on NYE as the book opens. They move beyond that easily enough and get to work on who might have killed local boy made good, Rhys Lloyd. Rhys' star is now in decline, but for years he was a celebrated Welsh vocalist. Too bad he's absolutely vile and hated by almost everyone who isn't a fan!

Mackintosh deftly weaves the plot through numerous locals' beefs with Lloyd, creating a tapestry of red herrings. We also get a heaping helping of the detectives' personal lives, including Ffion's own personal history with Lloyd as well as Leo's struggles with his ex-wife and her keeping his son away from him. It's all well done, and kept me coming back to this book.

The solution to the whodunnit is rather over-complex and you might need to hang up your need to find the storyline believable, but it works, more or less. There is a little twist at the end that was pretty surprising but not terrible. Still processing that one.

All in all, a very solid effort and I am looking forward to progression of the characters in the next book!