Clare Mackintosh has become an auto-buy author for me, and I'm so excited about this new series. I loved the chemistry between the two lead investigators on this case, and I especially loved the setting -- it truly swept me away to a village where I could see the beautiful, placid lake, feel the cold wind and snow, and meet characters (all of them viable suspects) who were authentic enough to become recognizable and real. This is a perfect winter read for fans of character-driven suspense, and I'm already looking forward to the next installment.

⭐⭐.5/5

• murder mystery/police procedural
• multiple POVs/timelines

While I did enjoy the setting, I struggled with all of the characters (so many names) and the Welsh words. In general, I had trouble keeping everything straight with the plot. It's a long book and I thought it was pretty slow until the very end.

🗣️ Thank you to @netgalley and Sourcebooks for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC! All opinions are honest and my own.

Celebrity Rhys Lloyd is preparing to throw the biggest New Year’s Party at The Shore, an exclusive address and second home, for many of the residents. However, before the end of the night Rhys will be found. Everyone who is anyone was at the party, and everyone seems to have a reason to kill Rhys. Local D.C. Morgan has put on the case, with her sidekick Leo. If anyone can solve this case it’ll be this unlikely pairing.

Although I’ve read several of Clare’s books and have become a fan, I was prepared for how challenging this book would be to put down. So many twists and turns! The writing was fresh and the plot was unpredictable with twists that were truly unexpected—no easy task. Definitely an easy-bingeable read!

This book was just okay for me. The plot was a good idea, but it was too slow of a burn with too many characters to keep up with.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC for an honest review.

Rhys Lloyd has been found drowned in Mirror Lake, where he's the partner in a new upscale housing development. And it turns out it was murder, as his head is bashed in. Detective Ffion Morgan knows there is no shortage of suspects. A lot of people had reason to want Rhys dead, and Ffion has hidden secrets of her own. As an added complication, Ffion is paired with a visiting detective who she had a brief sexual encounter with the night before the murder.

There is much to love about this atmospheric thriller, set in the romanticly named town of Llyn Drych, or Mirror Lake, under the mountain of Pen y Ddraig. DC Morgan knows virtually everyone in the town, and most know her. When she was young she was known as Ffion Wyllt, or Wild Ffion. In truth, she was just the usual tortured teen trying to show the world a lot of bravado. DC Leo Brady, who has been assigned to partner with Ffion on the case, has no preconceived notions about Ffion, and sees a side of her she doesn't often reveal.

Although initially Rhys seems to be the pride of the town, as he forged a very successful singing career when he was a young man, But as the story continues, we learn he was actually a horrible person, misogynistic and cruel. There is no shortage of people who would like to see him dead for their own reasons. Slowly the two detectives follow and unravel the many threads which finally lead to the murderer.

A few reviewers claim the story moved slow for them, but I found that it was so richly layered and the details helped paint the atmospheric picture, that I enjoyed the story immensely. If you want to be immersed in a small town in Wales where everyone is a suspect, this is the book for you.

The Last Party Earns 5+/5 Icy Waters…Compelling & Suspenseful Gem!

The village of Cwn Coed has reserved for themselves an fascinating New Year’s Day tradition: jump into the freezing waters of Llyn Drych. Several participants, albeit, are suffering from the after effects of the big New Year’s Eve party, but when the Klaxon sounds, there’s a scream; the body of a man washes up on shore.

North Wales DC Ffion Morgan arrives home after having spent her “Eve” somewhere else (don’t ask; she is an adult), and learns of the discovery. She immediately heads off to the North Wales Police station. DC Leo Brady arrives at the Cheshire Major Crime Unit, and is informed a body has washed up on the shore of Mirror Lake. The actual border between Wales and England runs right through the middle of the lake, so jurisdiction is complicated. A missing person’s report for Rhys Lloyd, world renowned singer and creator of an upscale vacation residence that hosted the huge New Year’s Eve party. Leo heads off to the mortuary to meet the North Wales DC in charge, confirm the victim’s identity, and determine whether Cheshire MCU needs to be involved.

Clare Mackintosh‘s first case, “The Last Party,” was beyond my traditional cozy comfort zone, but I am thrilled! It may be reminiscent of Cleeves’ Vera Stanhope series, but Mackintosh adds her own witty humor and intensity along with hidden connections, a myriad of suspects and motives, and of course, an OMG conclusion and final conundrum. All of my personal boxes are checked off from a UK setting to strong female lead with realistic flaws and secrets, from clever and complex investigation to a bit of sexual tension. The victim was a perfect karmic choice, made more so as issues are revealed, but others needed some karmic intervention, too. The case is brilliantly complicated with clues revealed through the investigation along with key insights through flashbacks from months before as well as the night of the party. Motives are typical, yet engaging: an unpopular development project, an obsessed fan, a stalker, and disgruntled friends, neighbors, or family. It gets intense with the suggestion one of the detectives has their own motive. With two countries, two police units, and two detectives, it’s not a surprise that the narration has multiple third-person perspectives. Chapter titles prepare readers for the point of view and the time frame. The two detectives will need to cooperate, swallow their pride, curtailing some anger, and make a serious effort to ignore obvious connections. They are both dealing with personal challenges in their careers: one related to Ffion Morgan‘s gender and another to Leo Brady’s race, but if they can put aside the snarky retorts, they’ll be able to work together. Don’t miss this gem!

4.5 Stars!!

Secrets, lies and Murder!!

I read " I Let You Go " by Clare Mackintosh about six years ago and thought it was terrific. Though I haven't read all of the author's books since then, the ones I have read, I've enjoyed. After reading the description for The Last Party, I was looking forward to getting my hands on it.

I have to say I'm very glad I read this book. I thought it was a thrilling psychological suspense novel with many great complicated and flawed characters. It held my attention from beginning to end with its engaging plot and excellent twists and turns.

A gripping story about a New Year's Eve party that goes very very wrong.

And it looks like there will be another book with DC Ffion Morgan.
Sounds good to me!

I enjoyed every Clare Mackintosh novel I've read, so when I saw she had a new book out in 2022, I jumped at the chance to obtain a review copy. The Last Party has all the hallmarks of Ms. Mackintosh's previous thrillers, which is excellent. What is not great is that it is not a standalone novel. You would not think it to be a big deal because most of Ms. Mackintosh's books do not have clean, happy endings anyway, so not knowing more about Ffion Morgan's past or getting any resolution regarding her self-sabotaging tendencies should not be that big of a deal. For me, it was, which makes me sad because The Last Party is a good mystery/thriller. With plenty of twists and turns, successful red herrings, and enough secrets that you need a chart to keep them all straight, the story captured my attention and didn't let it go. My guesses were always wrong, and I had no idea what would happen next. Yet, even as I felt drawn towards Ffion, all I could envision was another J.D. Robb-like series with sixty-three books or Louise Penny with eighteen in her series. I love series, but I love when they end even more. While I loved The Last Party, I'm not sure I have the desire or energy to commit myself to yet another series that may or may not have a finite number of books.

3.5 stars as I struggled with the language, had to look up a lot of words, and there seemed to be too many characters. The mystery was intriguing and the ending will have you going what just happened. Fans of Mackintosh will not be disappointed.

This was my first Mackintosh book, & I picked it up mostly because I was in the mood for a thriller, and this one involves a murder in an idyllic lake town on New Year's Eve - which is perfect for this time of year! It took me a little time to get into it, but once I did, I was hooked! I loved Ffion's character, and learning more about Welsh culture in general was interesting - plus the relationships between the British "outsiders" who come to holiday in their small Welsh town. I liked how each chapter was told from a different perspective of someone at the party. There were some unexpected twists & turns, which I loved, but the ending was a bit vague and left me with a lot of questions!! All in all, a solid thriller, and I will definitely be checking out more Mackintosh books.

My first book by this author, I loved the twists and turns in this book and it kept me guessing until the end. I’ll be back for #2 in the series!

On New Year’s Day, the body of Rhys Lloyd is found floating in Mirror Lake. Mirror Lake covers the border between Wales and England so there are two police precincts having jurisdiction over this mystery. DC Ffion Morgan is investigating from the Welsh side and has been forced into working with DC Leo Brady, who is investigating from the English side. The victim had hosted a New Year’s Eve party at his lodge located in The Shore, the development he was building. Just about everyone at the party and in the town are suspects.
Since this took place in a Welsh town, there are a lot of Welsh names in the book, which can be difficult to read/understand. The story shifts from past to present and you are able to get another character’s perspective of an event or sequence of events.

I have enjoyed Clare Mackintosh's brand of creepy suspense for years and this was no exception. I appreciated that this was more of a straightforward police procedural than some of her others and I'm already looking forward to more stories from Ffion and Leo.

Thank you for letting me read this wonderful book as an ARC. At this point, I cannot wait until the next one comes out!!
It took me a little bit to get into this book due to the different names and language thrown in. But once I kept reading,.it became clear that this had to be parr of the story. And what a story it was. Kept me glued to keep on reading. So many twists and turns that were totally unpredictable. I totally loved how each character gets a 'word' and get to see things from their point of view. It made the story even better to understand their background and how they fit into the story.
Not to give anything away but the ending was so unexpected and surprising it made me love the book even more. Books like this keep the reader engaged and guessing and wanting to keep on reading.
Awesome job, Clare Mackintosh. I cannot wait to read the 2nd book in the series!!
And when your read The Last Party, please also read the acknowledgments and readers bookclub guide to understand the background of the story.

Gosh, this was a tough ride for me. The only reason I decided to keep reading this was that I was intrigued enough by the mystery to find out who did it. All the rest just did NOT work for me. The beginning was extremely rough. It was just very slow moving. There were A LOT of characters and it was hard to keep track of things. I also just did not like the two main characters. They were just so annoying, in my opinion. I rolled my eyes at their inner monologues SEVERAL times throughout this book. The second half of this book did pick up quite a lot though and it made it way less rough to read. I mean, I still wasn't liking it much but at least it did not feel like a completely slog. I just think the twists and reveals were kind of lame. They didn't shock me at all. I mean, there was one I completely didn't see coming but I hated it, so you know that wasn't a good one either. I feel like there was way too much going on in this book as well. It made it feel like the actually interesting mystery was paused at several points to do something way less interesting. This also caused for there to be a lot of threads left open that do have relevance to this mystery so it doesn't even have the excuse of being left open for the next book in this series (which I'll definitely won't check out). So yeah, I pushed through this for no reason. I didn't hate this. It just didn't work for me in any way. I can see why others might like this.

If I could give more than 5 stars, I would!!! I loved Ffion and am so glad that this will be a new series! Hopefully Leo will be included too! Atmosphere and setting were so realistic. I fell in love with this sleepy lakeside town of Cwm Coed. Pronounced Coom Coyd. I know this because I Googled that and numerous other Welsh/English terms I found in this book. That was almost as much fun as reading the darn book. I learned about the rivalry between the two countries. I had no idea. But I digress, back to the story. Cwm Coed is a small town where everyone knows everyone. Rhy Lloyd is a local made good with a singing career. He has returned to Cwm Coed to build The Shores. A resort for his rich friends. Obviously the two communities clash and Rhy winds up dead. What happened? Well, everyone is having affairs with each other or has secrets and there is so much juicy drama, but it all comes together in the end. An ending I didn't see coming, by the way. I previously had tried to read The Hostage from this author, and it was a DNF. I now understand her writing style and am eager to go back to that one and her other stories! I love it when one book turns me on to even more books!! WIN!!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC. This was a fun mystery/thriller set in a small working class lake town in northern Wales. Rhys Lloyd, a local turned successful musician, returns home and uses his family's land to build upscale vacation homes on the lake shore for the wealthy. Rhys, however, is discovered dead in the lake during the traditional New Years day plunge after a New Year's Eve party gone wrong at one of the posh homes on the lake.
The book alternates between two timelines, before and after the murder. The murder is investigated by local Welsh detective Ffion Morgan and Leo, an English detective who is involved because the lake borders England. Ffion is a plucky young woman who you can't help but root for and I'm happy to see this will become the first in a trilogy involving this character. Tensions run high between the two detectives. Tensions additionally run high between the locals and the wealthy shore owners. Just about everyone, locals and outsiders alike, had a reason to murder Rhys creating a large suspect pool, which made it super enjoyable.

If you love a BBC police procedural, this will be right up your alley. Set on a lake town bordering England and Wales, 30-year old DC Ffion Morgan is teamed up with an investigator from England to investigate the death of a has-been singer after he dies at his vacation community's NYE party.

Rife with cultural and class conflict, this is "small town everyone knows everyone", and everyone's got a motive at it's best.. Although Ffion didn't always read millennial to me, I loved the dynamic between Ffion and Leo (and Ffion's give no f's attitude). MacIntosh keeps the action moving with the secrets revealed, and how the small town on the Welsh side comes together in the face of these new money interlopers.

A great first book in the series, I'll be back for more.

CW: Murder, predatory behavior, child out of wedlock, contentious divorced couple

#TheLastParty is a slow burn 'whodunnit" and also the start of a new crime fiction series. I first read author Clare Mackintosh when I devoured her 2019 novel #AfterTheEnd. I read this one on my kindle and enjoyed unraveling this mystery so much and it was a solid 4 star read. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for my review copies.

At first I thought I wasn’t going to finish the book but then it completely captured my attention and I had to know what would happen. Since finishing I have recommended it to all of my friends. Wish I can read it again for the first time.