Wow! What a thriller! I loved the background story of the two friends being podcasters. It had me hooked right away. I enjoyed them going back to solve an old murder. So many twists and turns along the way.

I truly did not see that ending coming. I didn't guess it. Actually I wasn't even close! Just when I decided the killer something would happen.

Thanks to netgalley and bookouture for this ARC. It kept me on the edge of my seat and reading as quickly as I could. Can't wait to read her next novel!!!

This really kept me turning the pages and I really wasn't sure whodunnit until it was revealed - lots of plot twists and things that don’t quite add up as you do. Cleverly thought out and a nice quick easy read

<b>Note:</b> I received an advanced copy of this book from Bookouture via NetGalley.

As the smoke from the bonfire spirals into the night sky and the cool drinks slip down our throats, none of us can take our eyes off Lacey. She dances in the dunes, her long golden hair damp from her late-night swim, her smile dazzling, her blue eyes closed.

Everyone who is close to Lacey sits by the smoky fire. Her adoring boyfriend, who holds onto her, perhaps a little too tightly. Her little sister, always in Lacey’s shadow, sifting fine soft sand through her fingers, never taking her eyes off Lacey. And me. Sad and full of rage, after an argument forced the man I love to leave the party early.

When the fire burns out, we stumble away from the beach, along the cliff path – faces burned by the wind, hearts full of secrets. But Lacey never makes it home. The next morning, her body is found in the sand dunes, a heart-shaped locket missing from around her neck.

As crime podcasts are so famous currently and have been for a number of years, it was fun to read a book about actually going through the process of making one and trying to solve a murder when one of the podcasters was part of the story. Following along on the interviews, I do like as a reader, trying to figure out the mystery for myself. I have always enjoyed books that allow you to figure it out but make it hard enough to keep you enthralled for the entire story.

Katie and Sophie, podcasters, investigate the death of Lacey Crew who was murdered and left on the beach one night five years ago.
This was the first book I’ve read by Amy Sheppard and it was full of twists and turns.
Thanks NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

The Beach Party was an amazing read for me. For the first half of the book, the writing was a little slow for me yet I still couldn't put it down because I had to know what happened. By the time I made my way towards the second half of the book, I was on the edge of my seat trying to solve the mystery. This book had characters with a lot of layers (and a lot of issues which definitely kept me guessing!). I'm only giving it a lower rating because it took me longer than normal to connect with the book and main characters.

I was attracted to this one based on the cover. It told my brain you must read this one. While I never listen to them, I am such a huge fan of reading books about podcasts. And amateurs trying to solve a cold case.

The book started out a little slow, but once it picked up, it kept rolling. I loved the setting, and it was very atmospheric. I love when I am guessing until the end as I was in this one.

Check this one out if you love books about podcasts and amateur sleuths.

Sophie and Katie run a cold case murder podcast. Sophie is a successful influencer and tends to drive their podcasts. She suggests that they go back to look at a murder that happened in Katie's childhood home. Katie knew and disliked the victim. She has hazy recollections of the night in question and the case was never solved.
There was plenty of suspense and drama and second guessing what would happen next and whether they would solve the case with everyone still safe. I loved the page turning read- really drew me in,

Really enjoyed this book, it was fast paced and really kept me gripped, I raced through it desperate to get to the end

Great debut novel!! I love a good mystery and this one was great! Loved the twist at the end! Looking forward to more of this author

I was drawn to this book first of all by the lovely cover . After reading the blurb I knew it was definitely my type of read. The Beach Party is the authors debut novel and with all debut novels I never really know what to expect. A few chapters into this read and I was completely hooked and knew this was going to be a great read . A mystery thriller that is a slow burn read but it suits the story . Plenty of twists and turns and I had my suspicions about various people but was proven wrong and that is to me a sign of a really good well written book where you fail to identify the culprit until it is staring you straight in the face . So after finishing this gripping read I’m really looking forward to reading more by this author.

College mates Katie and Sophie have started a Murder mystery podcast. Sophie decides on a murder from 5 years ago of a girl named Lacey. Katie is shocked when she hears this,as Lacey was from Katies hometown. They had mutual friends...and on the night Lacey died they had all been at an end of summer beach party. Even with her doubts about doing this podcast Katie always has trouble saying no to Sophie. So the truth about Lacey and what happened that night comes to the surface. I didnt guess who the guilty party was...and I suspected a few people...so that was good.
A great debut and a good summer mystery.

Beach Party felt like an exclusive behind the scenes look of the addictive true crime podcast everyone loves. I went into this expecting the story to be unfolding as a present day and in the nitty-gritty of a murder and not a revisiting storyline from years later. However, by placing this setting years later and our main character, Katie, revisiting her home town to reflect back on this cold case the reader was unraveling the mystery and time following the murder. I loved that everyone felt suspicious at one point or another. I kept guessing that each person was actually the killer and blending in. My one qualm was I grew so frustrated at Katie for being somewhat of a pushover. She doesn’t stand up for herself in a powerful way and her friendship and cohosting with Katie is wildly frustrating. The beginning of the story flows nicely and quickly starts to gain traction on the events unfolding as time goes on.

The Beach Party by Amy Sheppard was a good read and I would recommend this to all. A very well written murder/mystery/thriller.

The blurb reads

We were all at the party. Which of us wanted her dead?

As the smoke from the bonfire spirals into the night sky and the cool drinks slip down our throats, none of us can take our eyes off Lacey. She dances in the dunes, her long golden hair damp from her late-night swim, her smile dazzling, her blue eyes closed.

Everyone who is close to Lacey sits by the smoky fire. Her adoring boyfriend, who holds onto her, perhaps a little too tightly. Her little sister, always in Lacey’s shadow, sifting fine soft sand through her fingers, never taking her eyes off Lacey. And me. Sad and full of rage, after an argument forced the man I love to leave the party early.

When the fire burns out, we stumble away from the beach, along the cliff path – faces burned by the wind, hearts full of secrets. But Lacey never makes it home. The next morning, her body is found in the sand dunes, a heart-shaped locket missing from around her neck.

Who would have thought our beach party could end the way it did? Close friends gathered on the last night of a long hot summer – which one of us could have killed the girl everybody loved?


The blurb sounded right up my street and I read this quite quickly. We meet Katie and Sophie who are podcasters who start their podcast to solve why Lacey was murdered. Katie was at the beach party so she has inside knowledge of the party and who was there etc.

I enjoyed the dynamic between Katie and Sophie and the way the story started off quite slow and really built up to top notch. Such a good mystery read and I devoured it within a few days.

This is the authors first novel and it was a super good read.

Thanks to NetGalley, Amy Sheppard and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel.

Sophie, sparkling and outgoing and Katie, a little more reserved, are best friends and successful podcasters. They met whilst studying journalism at Uni, and they went on to be business partners. Focusing on true crime, particularly cold cases, their most recent podcast called Small Town involves a murder from five years ago. The murder took place in Katie’s hometown of Pengully at a beach party where Katie was present. Sophie‘s boyfriend, Tom, their producer for some of their more recent podcasts, was also there. The victim, Lacey Crew, was at the party along with many teenagers most of whom were friends since childhood, though not all. However, nobody witnessed the murder and it became an unsolved crime. Now, many people aren't pleased about the podcast and that it will bring to the forefront the investigation from that time.

Steadily paced at the start, the speed picks up later and the ending is one that I didn't see coming at all. An all-around good read.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Bookouture via NetGalley and this review is my unbiased opinion.

A cracking mystery/thriller debut from Sheppard, whose name is now firmly on my new author radar.

True crime and podcasts have always been of interest to me, so to find this book centred around a true crime podcast was awesome!

It starts as a slow burning read, allowing us to get acquainted with the characters and their lives. Halfway through the pace picks up and it's a steady race to the end, with plenty of twists and turns along the way, culminating in an explosive ending that I didn't see coming.

Pengully made the perfect setting for the read. Kate and Sophie fantastic three dimensional characters and the supporting cast were pretty amazing too.

Many thanks to Bookouture for my tour spot.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Katie and best friend Sophie are successful podcasters. As they both met in school at school while studying journalism, and they came to be very good business partners, each having their own strengths. They focus on true crime, particularly cold cases. The most recent podcast involves a murder from five years previously. Back home in Katie’s hometown of Pengully is where the murder took place. In fact, the murder happened at a beach party where Katie actually was present. More than that, Sophie‘s boyfriend Tom, their producer for some of their more recent podcasts, was also present at that murder. To say that this newest podcast hits close to home is an understatement.

Sadly, the victim of that murder, Lacey, was at that party that was attended by several teens who were soon to go off to college. Most of them were friends since childhood, yet one of them was very likely was responsible for Lacey’s murder. This is especially the case because not all of this group of young people were friends.

Despite how many teens were at the party, apparently no one saw the murder take place. It did not take long before the police put the investigation to rest and it became an unsolved crime. Not everybody is happy with the podcast, especially now that the police are being called to task for the crime remaining unsolved. The podcast is no doubt going to open a can of worms regarding the investigation at the time and other related matters that might manage to solve this terrible crime.

I love the concept of this book where the podcast was a cold case where two of the people on the podcast team knew the victim and were present at the time of her murder. As someone who has never actually listened to a podcast, it was interesting to see some of the process involved. I also liked the extenuating circumstances that made it very difficult to figure out who the killer was. More than that, the twists closer to the end of the book really caught me off guard, thus making this debut novel a truly riveting read.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please enjoy my YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/ygDpZVB3y0k

REVIEW

The beach party by Amy Sheppard

(NetGalley ARC coming out on Aug 30 2022)

Rating: DNF @55%

The story is about Kate and her friend Sophie who try to unravel the murder of Lacey that happened in Pengully (Kate’s hometown) 5 years ago. The two friends do so while animating a true crime podcast called « Small town ». I was excited to start this and expected a small-town murder mystery with deep secrets. Unfortunately, the story wasn’t a page-turner, the plot felt dragging and took too long to settle in. I was uninterested in finding out what happened. All the characters were irritating and antipathic, especially the narrator, Kate, who was also unreliable. I didn’t want to waste more of my time so stopped reading 55% of the book after 2 hours and a half of reading.

The Beach Party follows Katie and Sophie as they return to Katie's home town to investigate Lacey's murder, 5 years before. Their true crime podcast is met with mixed emotions from the local people who want to move on from that awful night. It's clear though that coming back and revisiting that night when she was also on the beach, is taking its toll on Katie.

What I really liked is that Katie doesn't shy away from her dislike of Lacey. After being subjected to years of bullying at her hands, it is clear that Katie is not sorry that Lacey is gone. However, it's also clear that she knows more than she remembers about that night and as the secrets start to unravel, The Beach Party keeps you guessing as to who actually killed Lacey.

I will say that although Lacey is the victim, she's never really treated as such. Perhaps that's on purpose to keep the reader disconnected from her story and focused on Katie instead, but I do think it's a bit of shame as her behaviour was no doubt a product of her treatment by others. It would be really interesting to hear The Beach Party from Lacey's perspective and almost wish there was an epilogue which took you back to the beginning from her POV.

Overall though, The Beach Party is a great whodunnit summer read which will keep you gripped until the very last page. With so many twists and turns, this was the first book in which I didn't guess correct until the very end!

Addictive. Stunning. Gripping. An absolutely, incredibly brilliant page turner.. I could not put this one down. A wonderful, transporting read.

I have a soft spot for cold cases; I will inhale all the true crime podcasts, books, and documentaries that I can find. They tend to throw up all manners of dead ends, webs of deceit, and secrets lurking around every corner. That’s why The Beach Party caught my eye. With an enticing cover and a dark premise, it promises a story to keep you guessing. It promises to have the reader so engrossed that the ticking of the clock is the only sound you can hear in the background. A girl was found murdered on the beach, and no one was ever charged for it, but it’s being re-examined with a fine-tooth comb when Katie and Sophie do a series of episodes about it on their podcast, Small Town.

Katie and Sophie met at university whilst studying Journalism together in London. Sophie enjoys being more of a broadcaster whereas Katie enjoys writing. They combine their talents together to create a True Crime podcast called Small Town. They focus on the unsolved murder of nineteen-year-old Lacey Crew in Cornwall. Katie grew up in Cornwall and has inside knowledge surrounding the event that led to Lacey’s body being discovered. She was there – does she know something that she had forgotten? Can secrets stay buried forever?

Kate and Sophie were writing and producing episodes for the podcast quite happily together…until Tom came on the scene. She knows him from Cornwall, they grew up together, and he was also at the party that preluded Lacey being found dead. There is a lot of tension between Katie and Tom, and they allude to something happening between them at one point.

I struggled a bit with Katie’s character. She was painted as the protagonist, but she lacked the strong characterisations that I attribute to strong female leads. She seemed to shrink in the shadow of Sophie. She let her take the lead with most things regarding the podcast, and when things were getting to her, she wouldn’t stand her ground. I found it quite frustrating.

Although the plot was engaging and intriguing, I found the execution to be lacking a little. Apart from the characterisation of Katie, I can’t pinpoint anything exactly that I disliked so I’m a bit unsure of why it didn’t hit home. Some of the writing came across as clunky and a bit convoluted. It’s unfortunate that I felt a bit of a disconnect.