Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me and ARC to review.

2 stars!

I loved the premise of this and the first few chapters really gripped my attention. But sadly after reading some more I felt like the story was dragging out and I started to lose interest. The story does kick up towards the end but by that time I wasn’t as invested in the characters as I was when I started the story.

Despite this, the story is well written and really does have an interesting mystery to it that will certainly be someone else’s cup of tea.

Thank you NetGalley and Aria & Aries for the advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

2.5/5. It started out slow and the author sprinkled in some elements of secrecy and mystery that kept you wanting to read. I was so hopeful that the ending would be surprising and the slow build up would be worth it. However, that was not the case and I had to reread the last few chapters because it felt very rushed and very confusing.

I didn’t appreciate there being a few sentences that insinuated large gender generalizations. For example “…the young man wearing a faded Bowie T shirt and jeans so tight Lucy hopes his mother isn’t hoping for grandchildren”. I felt there were a few unnecessary sentences such as these throughout.

I’m unsure if Lucy was supposed to be an unlikeable character. But I did enjoy her towards the first quarter of the book but it took a huge plummet after that.

Really enjoyable, gripping thriller whose main draw is its entourage of quirky characters.

I was really intrigued to read a mystery set in Aus as most of the books I read are set in the UK, Ireland or US. The coastal town of Queens Point made for a great setting with the eerie mansion on the hill housing the seemingly perfect family was a great backdrop for intrigue and suspense.

The book switches between present day - Lucy is clearing out her nans cottage after she died, with whom she spent a summer as a teenager and ended up getting close to the rich Whitlam family, whom her nan cleaned for.

The main draw of this book was the characters. You could trust noone, not even protagonist Lucy was squeaky clean. Despite this, she was still very likeable and relatable, being the outcast in a new town for the summer, taken under the wing of the popular girl - Annabelle Whitlam.

But the Whitlams from the mansion on the hill aren't as pure and enviable as you'd think. Skeletons aplenty, it kept me guessing long enough who had been murdered, nevermind who the killer was.

Under the influence of Annabelle, Lucy became infatuated with the whole family. Lusting after eccentric artist Henry and the power dressing mum. Lucy even modelled her adult life on Mrs Whitlam, getting into the world of finance. She was, still is, borderline obsessed.

As the story flashes between past and present, we are treated to lots of background on the various residents, including their murky pasts.

As Lucy spends more time sorting her nans cottage she gets sucked into the mystery and strange things start happening.

This book was too easy to devour with plenty of twists. The ending was decent too, not amazing, but definitely satisfying. Will read more by this author

what a great story! I found myself enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would and really devoured this book. it was atmospheric and intriguing, kept me on my toes, and always felt like the next twist was just out of reach. I loved the setting and the cast of characters, especially with lucy not knowing who to trust. this was an amazing debut (and would make a GREAT movie/TV show) and I'm super excited to see what this author does next! I could see this being a huge hit on social media and I'll definitely be rereading it once it officially comes out!

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and what a brilliant one to start with. This was such a fantastic book and I highly recommend it.

This book takes place within dual timelines. Lucy Ross returns to Queens Point (Australia) after the death of her grandmother to pack up her grandmother's cottage. We also get flashbacks to 2000 when The Summer Party at the Whitlam's take place. The Whitlam's are the most wealthy, powerful people in Queens Point. In 2000, at age 16, Lucy stays the summer with her grandmother and finds herself drawn into the lifestyle of the Whitlam's, especially the siblings.
In the present, a body has been discovered with connections to the Whitlam family. Lucy recalls what happened the night of the summer party and wonders if someone she knows is responsible for the death.
I found it odd how the Whitlam's (in the present) keep saying how Lucy is practically family, when they only spent a summer 20 years ago hanging out. They didn't keep in contact with her through social media, emails, or calls since then. Except for Harry Whitlam, Lucy's occasional FWB, and crush in 2000.
Since the novel takes place in Australia, there were some terms I wasn't familiar with (WTH is a ute??), but they weren't too distracting.
This was a solid mystery (not really a thriller), but it was rather slow at times. I did like the ending and Hades, the dog.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Aria&Aries for an advance copy of #TheSummerParty. Lucy has returned to a small town where she stayed for a summer with her grandmother. Slowly secrets and lies from 20 years ago come out with the discovery of a body.

Loved this! The cover and title were the first things that caught my attention while browsing. Being a thriller fan I loved the description, and the book exceeded my expectations and some more!

This is picturesque in every way. I love how Rebecca Heath describes the setting and characters. She sets the intrigue from the word go and I found myself completely engrossed. Definitely recommend for the writing style, story and twist.

Thank you Aria and Aries and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange of my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc. This book is set in a secluded seaside town in Australia. The Whitlam family have it all - money, class and power but one summer party changes everything. Lucy Ross has always been envious of this life and circumstances bring her back to this town years later.

Deceit, threats, blackmail, murder all while upholding the perfect life. If you like family dramas and unsolved murders, this book is for you!

The only issue I had with this book is that at times it felt a bit dragging. There were too many descriptive parts and this caused the flow of the story to be disrupted. When jumping between past and present I often found myself forgetting what was actually going on in the present.

3.5 stars

The cover of this book totally made me want to read it and dive into this story. The main character goes back and forth between present year and the past when The Summer Party happened. The book revolves around what happened to her neighbor.

The excitement factor was not that high for me however I did feel invested in the characters and what would be revealed at the end of the thriller. I think that friends that enjoy thrillers will want to read this as well because of the allure of the wealthy and the many characters in this neighbor's family.

My favorite part was the details and bits of the relationship between the main character and her Nan. It reminded me of growing up close to my grandmother and how much I miss her.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc. This review is wholly my own.

"A glamorous, atmospheric psychological thriller" and "2023's most addictive beach read" descriptors had me diving into this one quickly.

I am not a fan of the alternating timelines, but it did not bug me too much with this one.

Good writing style, good pace and enough plot twists & suspense to keep you interested.

I would recommend.

Oh wowwwwwww. Let me tell y'all... I was so excited to read this book and now I cannot wait to read the next novel from this author! Definitely suspenseful the whole way through and I loved reading the main characters storylines. Must read if you like a great thrill and suspense novel!

What a page turner! This is a suspenseful ride the whole way through and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to figure out how it was going to end, Perfect book to finish up the summer season with- would definitely recommend to thriller lovers.

Thank you NetGalley and Head of Zeus Publishing for the eARC.
Great book, I loved it!
Lucy has gone back to Queens Point in Australia to sell the cottage she's inherited from her grandmother. She was there as a 16-year old and became obsessed with the Whitlam family. Now in her 30's she hasn't stopped her obsession and longs to be part of them. But things are not as she thought and she gets caught up in the long ago murder of the matriarch.
This is a tense and gripping mystery with an excellent ending. Highly recommended!

This is quick, fast pacing, intriguing reading you cannot put down! The mystery about the past keeps your attention intact, pushing you make guesses about whodunnit, brainstorming till the end. Australian setting is also great choice with realistic and detailed descriptions help you visualize the tense atmosphere of the murder mystery and enjoy it a little more!

And of course ending took my breath away! It made my heart ache.

Absolutely a promising, riveting, powerful debut comes from Rebecca Heath!

Here’s the quick recap:
After losing her grandmother who raised her by working as help for one of the powerful families: the Whitlams, Lucy Ross returns back to her childhood summer house in Queens Point to pack her grandmother’s belongings.

She drives there with her husband’s dog Hades: only thing she holds after his sudden death. She plans to finish her job and return back to the city to deal with her own work drama but returning back to the place after two decades later brings back so many memories she’s bottled up and she is also intrigued by the article about a shoe has found with human remains nearby. Could this be related with the party night she got her first kiss and she needed to hide when someone interrupted them! What exactly happened that night and what did she really her?

And finding a strange object when she collects her grandmother’s things fuels her curiosity! She has to reconnect with three siblings of Whitlams to find the truth about the past, answering her buried questions.

Overall: it was well developed mystery! I’m looking forward to read more future works of the author!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Aria&Aries for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

This is a well executed psychological thriller, set in Western Australia. Rebecca Heath does a fantastic job evoking the scene, the surroundings and the atmosphere both in the present day and some 20 plus years ago - the two times that the book flits between.

Lucy Ross has returned to Queens Point to clear out her Nan’s cottage following her passing. In 2000 Lucy spent a summer there with her Nan and befriended the Whitlam’s, a wealthy family who live in a big, white house on the hill above the town. The Whitlam’s employed both of Lucy’s grandparents.
Lucy became besotted by the Whitlam children that summer and spent her life after that striving to achieve what they had. The summer of 2000 culminated in a party at which something happened that Lucy overheard but struggles to remember with any clarity. She soon realises that what she heard has something to do with the mysterious death of Mrs Whitman which has been covered up by her children in the intervening years.

The police investigation almost moves slower than Lucy’s own speculations and discoveries. She finds that she is still drawn to the Whitlams despite being warned by more than one person to keep her distance.

There is no faffing about at the beginning of this book, the reader is launched straight in to the mystery and the pace is good, right to the end which isn’t too cliched. It is a perfect holiday read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication in return for my honest review. As a first novel, this is great and I will be sure to look out for Rebecca’s next book.

THE SUMMER PARTY By Rebecca Heath --This "coming in January 2023" debut psychological thriller is sure to be a beach read for Aussies and a winter vacation read for US book lovers. At first I thought it was slow going (lots of descriptors on the setting in Australia as well as some words I am not familiar with- what's a ute?) but then the pace picked up and I was drawn into the mystery. Lucy Ross, disgraced and on leave from her job uses this time to return to her grandmother's house where she spent one summer in 2000 when she was 16. Her grandmother has passed away and Lucy needs to clean house. At the same time of her return, a body is discovered which brings back memories for Lucy of that angst, confusing, summer where she spent much of her time following the wealthy Whitlam siblings around, envying them their lives, their money and their privilege. The novel presents perspectives of the various characters from 2000 and present day which might get a bit confusing for some, but I was actually glad to see that the story was not told through one lens (personal reader preference) What does this dead body have to do with the family and just what did Lucy see at the summer party all those years ago? Could this family that she thought she knew so well be murderers?
The story has lots of twists and turns and Heath does a good job of slowly unraveling the real characters beyond what 16 year old Lucy thought and what her now 35 year old self realizes.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. FB friends: this will be published in the US in January 2023 so put it on your "to be read" list 🙂

Too slow

The plot was good. An Australian teen spent the summer with her grandmother. She became friends with the wealthy family next door. Twenty years later she is back at the house, cleaning it out after her grandmother’s passing. Shortly before she arrived, part of a body was found. Could it be the mentally abusive wealthy mother? The story alternates between the present and 20 years ago.

I started out liking this, but somewhere before I was half way through I got bored and started skipping/skimming. There was one part where a character said “my bad”. Common phrase now, but was it 20 years ago?

Mmmm I wasn’t sure about this. I feel the story was a bit too convoluted and not very believable. The characters were all a bit over the top and the basic premise that the main character Lucy was totally overawed by them all even 20 years later was a bit far fetched. But perhaps others will disagree! Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in advance.

There was a summer party at Queen’s Point back in 2000, given by the fabulous Whitlam family who lived in a turreted mansion with secret passageways above the Australian coast. Sixteen year old Lucy was there in the garden that night and heard something falling off the cliff. And much, much later a shoe, still filled with remains of a foot, washed up on the same beach below.

Thirty five year old Lucy has returned to Queen’s Point to clear out her late grandmother’s cottage, coincidentally as a news article about the shoe appeared. She’s recently widowed, but she is no longer the housekeeper’s granddaughter or just the poor friend of the Whitlams. Lucy meets up with some of the party-goers of 19 years ago — the Whitlam siblings (Annabelle, Mae and Harry), plus the town police sergeant, the once short and pudgy Jake.

More of the owner of the foot reappears, too, and although that person hasn’t been back at Queen’s Point since the summer party, they were presumed to be alive all this time. The condition of the remains suggests they never left the party.

Told in two timelines, the weeks running up to the summer party (with multiple POVs) and present day for Lucy, this is a solid thriller about family secrets and teenaged memories that morph into different present day realities. The book is well-structured as the mystery of two decades ago gets revealed. 4 stars!

Thank you to Aria & Aries and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Some very rare grey eyes, but no green ones.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO But bad things did happen in a garden.