Sophie, Katie and Tom return to Cornwall to investigate the unsolved murder, five years ago, of Lacey in their popular podcast "Small Town". .Lacey was part of the same group of friends as were Katie and Tom, and Jude, and Megan and... They were care-free teenagers who loved a beach party complete with bonfires and drinks. Then Lacey was murdered. Plenty of hidden secrets typical of small towns, some fairly trivial, some not. The friendships of people gradually unravel until the final demouement, which was a complete surprise to me. The characters were mostly unsympathetic and felt shallow to me, Stella especially; I didn't like any of them. They moaned a lot and drank even more wine. It just felt strained and unrealistic. Rounded up to 3 stars for the ending. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

#TheBeachParty #NetGalley
I loved it. 5 🌟
Sophie and Katie are starting a podcast in which they're going to reveal the details of a horrible murder of their acquaintance Lucy was the girl who was killed at 19 on the night of the beach party with their mutual friend, Tom as the editor of the podcast. Although Katie was skeptical from the start and didn't want to do it but does it anyway reluctantly.
As the book progresses the secrets come to light of what reall happened that fateful night.
I loved it very much and i must say that I wasn't able to predict the culprit in this book. I didn't expect them to be the real culprit.
Overall it's a great read and definitely recommend this.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me an advance copy.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review The Beach Party
The book starts with lots of promise. A five year old cold case of the murder of Lacey, a 19 year old girl who was at the beach party that night. Her murder is the catalyst for a pod cast to reexamine the facts of the case. Sophie convinces Katie to reluctantly return to her home town to assist in the pod cast. Katie was at the beach party the night of the murder but has few memories of what had occurred. Layer by layer repressed memories recur to all the people who were involved. The story has some time line issues, there was way too much alcohol involved and partner swapping which was hard to keep track of. The grammar needs some corrections as well. It has a surprise ending but it takes a long time to get there. With some rework it could become a best seller.

Thank you Netgalley & Bookouture for an eARC of The Beach Party.

A beach bonfire - Close friends gathering on the last night of summer - and nobody can take their eyes off Lacey. The fire burns out, and as everyone stumbles away from the beach it's discovered that Lacey never makes it home. Who would have thought that this beach party would end the way it did? Who kills the girl that everyone loves?

I really enjoyed this psychological thriller! It went in a completely different direction than I expected, and always love when that happens. The main character is taken back in time when she's forced to revisit her old town and the secrets she and others harbor there from that night on the beach. Now, working with her best friend on a true crime podcast, the truth comes to light - Whether everyone wants it to, or not. This one gripped me from the very beginning and it was a perfect summer, creepy and atmospheric read.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Sophie and Kate have an interest in murder podcasts and decide to take on a new mystery, the death of Lacey. Kate actually knew Lacey, they grew up in the same small town and she was actually at the beach party where Lacey was found dead. Sophie and Kate decide to go back to the small town to record and investigate, this brought back so many memories for Kate and her past relationships. This one had me guessing until the very end, would have loved to listened to this podcast.

Sophie is a social media star, Katie is a journalist and together they are the stars of a podcast called Small Town. Small Town is a true crime podcast that covers unsolved murders in small towns that aren't widely publicized. Katie came from a small town where one of her acquaintances was murdered at a beach party that she attended years earlier. Sophie decides that they are going to do a special about that murder, the murder of beautiful and popular Lacey Crew who was only nineteen years old when she was strangled. Investigating this case is hard for Katie, she knows the people involved and the memories that haunt her keep coming back the more she digs into the story. It's a suspenseful story with a shockingly surprising ending.

This book was pretty good. Despite it being kind of boring in some areas (mainly the beginning), I finished it quickly. It had a nice amount of suspense and kept me interested in finding out who the killer was. I didn't really like Sophie, if she was a true friend she would have never made Katie go back there to relieve that nightmare, and then it goes from bad to worse for Katie when she finds out what really happened the night of the beach party. The ending actually surprised me!! I didn't even suspect the killer.

Katie is returning to her home town of Pengully. She's coming along with her best friend Sophie and her boyfriend Tom who is also from the same village. They are to do a pdcast called Small Town. It is to investigate the unsolved murder of Lacey Crew five years previously.

Katie often suffered bullying at the hands of Lacey and their relationship was difficult. One night the teenagers came together for a beach party. By the end of the evening, relationships had broken and Lacey was dead.

Katie begins to uncover long held secrets. People are hiding things from her. Will the podcast make it to the end and will they actually uncover "who did kill Lacey Crew?"

A thoroughly absorbing book. One where for once i didn't guess the suspect.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to see an ARC

Sophie and Katie are best friends who start a podcast documenting the details of a murder of one of their acquaintances that took place surrounding a beach party when they were around age 19 in their small British town(along with their mutual friend Tom as podcast editor).

Sophie is excited about the Podcast but Katie is skeptical from the start despite agreeing to do it. It made me question her reliability as a character more than once.

Throughout the book you witness the birth of the podcast, Katie telling Lacey’s (the girl who was murdered at age 19) sister Megan that they are starting this endeavor and thus trudging up a lot of the past and also experiencing the varying public opinions around the girls starting the Podcast endeavor.

As the book continues on you slowly find out more about the night of the beach party and also experience the interviews of those willing to go on the podcast in real time.

I can say I definitely didn’t predict the culprit in this one. Though I think it would be difficult to with the way the information surrounding Lacey at the end of her life and for about a year prior is slowly revealed. There are quite a few characters in the town and can be a little difficult to keep track of.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A young true-crime podcaster return to her hometown to investigate an unsolved murder of one of her high school friends, covering it on the podcast. The book follows Katie and her best friend/co-host researching and uncovering details of the murder, which opens old wounds and fears of Katies. A solid mystery book with a "never saw it coming" ending!

Five years ago friends and acquaintances gathered on a Cornish beach, sadly the night was to end in disaster for one of them. Lacey was found murdered in the carpark and the police never charged anyone with her murder.
Katie, one of the girls who was at the party, comes back to Cornwall with her friend Sophie to carry out a podcast of the story. They re-interview friends and family members to try to discover the truth.
This was an enthralling read for me, I loved all the dynamics of the characters, the way the past and the present interacted. A mystery whodunit with an ending I hadn't envisaged.
A great beach read. Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this advanced copy, my opinions are my own

Really enjoyed the twists in this and didn’t see the ending coming! Great easy read. I liked the idea of the podcast they were creating, too.

I wasn't sure about this book at first, but I'm glad I gave it a chance. The characters we're great and very realistic. In a lot of mysteries / thrillers I usually know who the killer is before the end of the book, but the author did a great job with this, it really kept me guessing until the very end, and the plot twist was insane. So I would definitely breath come in this book to anyone who likes a good mystery or thriller! Thank you to net galley and the publisher this Arc an exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a very easy read and definitely hooks you from the beginning, wanting to know more of the past, etc. It’s about a girl who fled her hometown for college after a murder of a school friend. Her now best friend, wants to do a podcast on the murder, so she’s forced to go back and face the past head on. There’s so many twists and turns and when I thought I had it figured out, I certainly didn’t!

I liked this book in the fact that I didn't completely guess the "whodunit" which I will always give kudos to the author for as I've read far too many thrillers and 9 times out of 10 predict the culprit early on. I was very very close though, lol!
Anyway, I can't give a 5 star rating because I like to feel scared in a book and I felt like this was more of a mystery as they was trying to solve a murder that had happened in the past so there was no fear factor. I did enjoy the small town seaside holiday location as it was very reminiscent of my upbringings as a teen and having beach parties and getting up to all sorts. Luckily no murders in my past though. I'd give a 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars. A good read but not the most thrilling.
#NetGalley #TheBeachParty

𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆/𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿. 👻

𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: ⭐️⭐️ (𝟯/𝟱)

****

I would like to thank netgallery & Bookouture for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest and unbiased review ! 🤍

********

okayyyy, where do i start? i had not really enjoyed this book as much ive anticipated if im being honest. towards the ending is where i actually started to enjoy it but even then it still lacked.

i loved the plot twist of who killed lacey, i had no idea and was genuinely shocked. and I absolutely loved the premise of a crime podcasts

however, throughout the whole book I disliked the main character and everyone in this book. main character was an easily jealous person for the simplest reasons like her friends having lunch with her in parents ? she was always complaining and being miserable she lacked a lot of personality as the rest of the characters , I had no fun reading about her.

the other characters were the same , just bland. you can see the effort being made but it really lacked. we didn’t get much of Tom or Sophie’s rship it was like everything else in this book it was mentioned and then left alone, Jude popped up once and that was it and an immediate kiss ??? and we just pretended it never happened. very weird and wasn’t developed.

Sophie and Katie are best friends but u could really not feel it. it just felt like Katie was complaining and then feel bad for complaining. the end is where everything came together but even then as I’ve said, lacked majorly.

i really wanted to enjoy this story , i really loved the premise but it just never hit. the development was not there nor the characters, i didn’t feel any type of comfort or closeness to any of the characters. it was basically like someone says something important but all they did is mentioned and the characters were just like, “omg, what?” and then everything was left alone after that. no thoughts , nothing cause what happened to James’s parents??? they were bad people and it was left like that.

I loved the way this was written, the format that was used. The author did an excellent job of telling the story and keeping the pace up.
I really enjoyed getting swept up in this one, the characters, the storytelling, the whole atmosphere created was thoroughly enjoyable.
I’d highly recommend this book.
Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for my arc, a true 5 star read.

What can I say. Brilliant, twists and turns. I didn’t know the outcome until the end.
I just couldn’t put it down.
Five stars from me. Highly recommended

The Beach House- Amy Sheppard

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 – 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?

THANK YOU NETGALLEY FOR THE ARC OF THIS DEBUT THRILLER!-told in the form of a true crime podcast in which one of the podcasters has a personal connection to the murder they are looking into- this was pretty cool and unique.

The author did a GREAT job of writing scenic imagery that I had the plot scenes playing out in my head visually because of the great writing. The cast of characters definitely was well developed and although we didn’t get a TON of character building- I still felt invested.


Very quick page turner and I can definitely say there were plenty of characters to keep me guessing “who dunnit” until the very end.

Food for thought: this author normally writes cookbooks! Definitely read her fiction debut when it publishes Aug 30, 2022!

Engaging and gripping with plent of twists and unpredictablity. I enjoyed reading it but would have liked more character development

So when I started this book, I thought it was going to be a cliche--the whole podcast revisit a previous unsolved crime thing. I didn't think it would have anything fresh or new. Things I didn't like: Writing was okay. There was a weird relationship between all the main characters--Tom, Sophie and Katie that only was minorly explained. Lots of wine drinking without the presence of food. It was like these characters forget how to function like normal people. Sophie's character did some things like leave to pursue other business opportunities that was never explained and didn't add to the story. What I did like: the author really managed to get her story together by about the 60-70% point and it turned out to be a much more interested ending than expected. I always hate to say something about any endings to get any reader's expectations set high; however, I thought she did a great job of tying up the lose ends and helping to cast new light on the crime. Ended so much better than my expectations and the ending is what bumped up the ratings.