Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Clare Mackintosh for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Everyone at The Shore is not who they seem. What starts out as a traditional New Years Day swim in Cym Coed quickly turned into a nightmare when a dead body is floating in the water. Everyone has a reason to hate Rhys Lloyd, and no one is innocent.

I enjoyed this book overall! I thought it was a great mystery and had me unsure of who was responsible until the very last moment of the book. I feel like some of the story was a little too drawn out, so that’s my reason for 4 stars. Enjoyed otherwise!

The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh
I love a good murder mystery, and this certainly did not disappoint. There was also some humor and romance thrown in, making it very entertaining. Read it.

It's NYE and Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests. He's a successful opera singer turned investor in the vacation homes on Mirror Lake. He's generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbours... but by midnight, his lifeless body will be floating in the lake. Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects, but they are her neighbours, friends and family.... and she has her own secrets to protect.

This was police procedural type of suspense/mystery read. I liked the small town setting and how everyone is connected - I find it makes it harder to figure out whodunnit. I was really surprised by the twists and did not see them coming. That being said, it was not really one of those books that I couldn't put down - which for me is how I know I really love a book like this! There may be some sensitive subjects so I would recommend checking the trigger warnings for this one.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

I received a free copy of this book as host of The Gloss.

Initially the cover of this thriller grabbed my attention and then the synopsis hooked me. "𝐴𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑑. 𝐵𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠." If that doesn't excite you, then I don't know what will.

While it was a bit slow moving in the beginning it definitely picked up and once I reached the halfway mark I could not put it down. The author hooks you at the end of each chapter and there are a few fun twists in the storyline as well. I love a good murder mystery and this certainly did not disappoint.

The book begins on New Year's Eve when Rhys Lloyd has a house full of party guests at his vacation home at his exclusive new community on Mirror Lake. By Midnight Rhys is dead. His body is found the next day floating in the freezing cold lake. Local detective, Ffion Morgan, suddenly has an entire town full of suspects with motive. These are her neighbors and people she has grown up with. Even Ffion has her own secrets she'd like to keep under wraps. Alongside outsider Detective Leo Brady from Cheshire major crimes unit, the two work together to solve Rhys Lloyd's murder and sift through the secrets some would rather keep quiet.

If you like small town murder mysteries with a bit of humor and romance then you're going to love the detective duo in The Last Party. I enjoyed Ffion and Leo's chemistry and banter. The one night stand turning into a surprise coworker meet-cute could easily rival some of the romcoms I've read. All in all a great murder mystery that is certain to keep you questioning who killed Rhys Lloyd.

A special thank you to @netgalley and @bookmarked for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was kind of a creepy murder mystery. On New Years Eve, a rich real estate developer dies. Everyone at the party has a motive and everyone is a suspect.

The first half of this procedural thriller felt too slow for my taste, but things began to pick up in the second half. The two detectives are written really well and the ending twist was enjoyable, but I would have preferred for things to be tightened up.

Finally an interesting mystery with twists and turns. I look forward to the next one in the series. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I appreciate the opportunity to read The Last Party. It was a wild ride to say the least. I enjoyed the characters and the secrets they kept. It took me a little bit to really get into the book, but once I got the the place where I was hooked, I had a hard time putting it down. Overall, I enjoyed the book and will recommend it to fellow readers.

Residents of a small village on the border of Wales and England are disgruntled by the development of an exclusive enclave of vacation homes on the shore of Mirror Lake. Rhys Lloyd is a local boy made good by a successful singing career. and has returned with this new venture. In an effort to appease the locals he hosts a large New Year's gala inviting one and all. Before the night is over Rhys Lloyd will be dead and all are suspects. Ffiion Morgan of the Welsh constabulary and DC Leo Brady from Cheshire Major Crimes butt heads during their investigation but soon discover almost everyone has a reason to want him gone...even Ffion has history from their schools days together. This slow burn narrative featured many layers of emotions and deception...I begin to think it was a joint effort......they all did it. I enjoyed the character development and the interesting tidbits about the Welsh location and culture also. Mackintosh has several well received novels under her belt and the police procedures are very realistic as I believe she is a former serving officer. This is the first DC Morgan and I will definitely be following the series as I found it an engaging concept.

Mackintosh has woven a twisty novel with lots of secrets and flawed characters. I really enjoyed both main characters and look forward to the next installment.

This was solid police procedural/mystery story. The murder mystery was intriguing and I couldn't wait for the next reveal. My favorite part of this novel was seeing the same scenes from different perspectives. It made you really dislike Rhys even more as the book went on.
I also loved the descriptions of the lake and the surrounding town and countryside. It sounded wild and beautiful. I'd love to visit.
While the one twist was pretty obvious early on, it did not take away from the story. If you like detective stories I would recommend this novel. Thank you to #NetGalley for a copy of this book for an honest review

The Last Party by Claire Mackintosh

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

It's a party to end all parties, but not everyone is here to celebrate.

The Last Party is a police procedural that takes place in Wales. Rhys Lloyd , a local celebrity, is celebrating New Year’s Eve with neighbors, family and locals at his vacation home at The Shore. Everyone there seems to have a secret or a grudge against someone. By midnight Rhys will be found dead. Who killed him and how did he die?
DCI Ffion Morgan and Leo Brady are called in to investigate. Ffion grew up in this neighborhood and knows all the locals and some of the secrets they are hiding. Leo has never worked with Ffion before, but they develop a relationship that seems to work most of the time in their investigation. Ffion is also a holder of a secret, one that she finally admits to Leo. He also has a troubled relationship with his ex-wife concerning their son.
This is a twisty murder mystery that leaves you guessing all the time to who the murderer is. There are numerous possibilities and Ffion and Leo work through them over the course of the novel. I loved the various characters and their different personalities. It was difficult at times keeping the characters straight, who was married to who and who was having an affair with who.
This novel is nonlinear, with the same story told from different viewpoints. It was hard to put this novel down as you wanted to know how Rhys died and who was responsible. There were many believable theories and I was completely surprised by the ending.
Many thanks to both NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read an ARC of The Last Party in exchange for my honest thoughts.

✨Ｂｏｏｋ Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ✨

The Last Party 📚 by Claire Mackintosh

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I really wanted to enjoy this book, and I'm not quite sure what was lacking for me. I think with it being 400 pages the plot felt entirely way too drawn out...it could have been done in 200 pages. There were twists and parts that kept my interest, but this one overall just didn't do it for me! But hey, at least we tried a new author!
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Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh.

Whenever I have the chance to listen to a book, rather than reading it, I do. But sometimes, to really dive into a story and relish every moment, you have to curl up and give it your full attention. The Last Party was one of those times.

Ffion is a detective who, at one point in her life, was known as Ffion the Wild. She is efficient and no nonsense. But when Rhys Lloyd ends up dead after a big New Years party, Ffion is deeply shaken. Living in a small town means that everyone knows everyone, and getting close to this case may mean some serious trouble for her and her family.

I read a ton of thrillers, they're fast and fun and often forgettable. But I REALLY loved this thriller. It truly had everything, and the author does such a good job making it rich and layered without dragging. I was hooked from the very beginning to the end, it was worth the extra time it took to sit down and read.

I enjoyed this book. The first half was a bit slow and there are SO many characters to keep up with. The Irish words were sometimes confusing, but I got over that quickly. I enjoyed trying to figure out the twist and every time I thought I had it locked down, another twist happened. Overall, I give the book 3.5 stars and would definitely read another book by this author! Check it out if you like mysteries with crazy twists!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Really great book and looks like the start of a new series that I will definitely follow. I read another book by this author before and liked it so I figured I would see how this one was. Didn’t disappoint. Perfect book to begin the year with too.

I really enjoyed The Hostage by Claire Macintosh, so was excited for another engaging mystery! Unfortunately this one wasn’t as action packed and engaging as her last book. I found the pacing of this one to be a bit slow. It took quite a long time to build up the plot line and the amount of characters to keep track of was a bit confusing to keep up with at times. I did enjoy the police procedural part of this book! There were a few twists I didn’t see coming’s high is always enjoyable when you’re reading a mystery! Overall a solid 3.5 star read!

This is a new to me author and I will definitely be looking for more of her works. I thoroughly enjoyed the two main characters and their interactions, and although there was a lot of other characters, to me it was easy to keep up with them. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys suspense and mysteries.


I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This was the perfect read to begin the new year. It starts on January 1 and the murder investigation goes until January 10th (with some backstory scattered throughout, ranging in dates and multiple POV).

I read this for The Gloss bookclub and can’t wait to discuss. I don’t know that I get the title, but I felt like this story kept me interested and I was intrigued how all the lives in this Wales/English lake area were intertwined.

Rhys Lloyd, who has been a famous musician, began developing his father’s land with expensive lake homes. One New Years Eve, the owners host a major party, inviting the townspeople, who haven’t been excited about the development. He feels yucky one evening, as we trace his life and meet all the people he treated wrongly. We explore the mystery through the eyes of two police Ffion Morgan (from Wales) and Leo Brady (from England).

The Last Party, the first in the DC Morgan series by Clare Mackintosh, is a complex, multi-character mystery that is both interesting, layered and compelling. This multi-faceted plot is challenging to keep track of with its multitude of characters and countless red herrings, but it’s worth sorting through. This is a high drama psychological thriller with the wealthy and elite behaving badly, countless secrets that have been covered up, and a multitude of motives for murder and revenge.

The storyline shifts between two timelines, past and present, and various perspectives to give you a ample angles of the plot. The Last Party is a bit slower-paced in its build-up, but the atmospheric North Whales lakeside setting sets an intense mood.

The conclusion of the story is intriguing, surprising and rather satisfying, but the novel closes on a bit of a cliff-hanger that left me a bit baffled. While I enjoyed this story, would recommend it, and will definitely be picking up the next installment, I felt the plot was confusing at times. Since I couldn’t fully follow what was going on, I wasn’t as invested as I expected to be. I always like whatever Clare Mackintosh writes, but this wasn’t my favorite, though I imagine the series will grow on me as it continues.