1/5 stars. I wish authors could stop telling us stuff instead of showing up. This book's premise had promise, but because of the constant over-explanation, I couldn't stay engaged with the content. I barely made it through this book and it would be a struggle to read more in this writing style.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Not a great start to 2023...I did not care for the writing of this story - I found it off, it did not have a good flow.

Storyline was good, but I found it to be boring.

I wish I had a better review.

Began reading this book last night and now here it is 5:13 a.m. and I’ve just finished it! I couldn’t stop reading this book once I started. A real page-turner whodunit mystery/thriller/suspense that will be hard to put down.

Hooked from the start, this is a story about facing one’s own past (PTSD) – and maybe a little murder. Lizzie’s boyfriend was killed when they were teenagers and now she’s returning to the place where it all happened. There was never a dull moment; the plot weaving in-and-out of the present to 10-years before through different perspectives gives us a natural progression of suspense.

If you love thriller/mystery books, mark this one down; you aren’t going to want to miss out on reading this. I’m usually pretty good at guessing the twists and turns – not here. There were a few twists and turns and that’s what made this such a great book. The ending made this story even better. I will def be buying this book myself.

Pros: Well-written characters that you can connect to, short-ish chapters, all around just an enjoyable and thrilling read. I received an ARC version of this book and am leaving this review of my own accord.

I expected to love this book, but it never really got there for me. I found the main character Lizzie to be annoying. She has non-stop inner dialogue and it distracted from the story. I also generally wasn't a big fan of the switch back and forth between the past and the present. I usually enjoy that kind of narrative, but in this case the past was in the first person and the current was in the third person, which I found jarring as I was reading. Not a single other character was sympathetic to me, they're all snobby bullies. The more of the past I read, the less I was invested in who killed the bully (Lizzie's ex). This felt like an And Then There Were None homage, but it didn't quite reach that vibe.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book ahead of publication. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This was a classic “whodunit” thriller/mystery novel. It wasn’t until closer to the end where I started getting a clearer picture of who I thought was the killer. I will say that I did figure some parts out before they were revealed but enjoyed the twists and surprises I didn’t see coming. Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this book it had a few twists and turns which kept me invested in the story until the end.

Lizzie returns to Kirkwood Manor, where she spent much of her teenage years, for the memorial of her boyfriend Thomas. Thomas mother has organised the weekend with all the old gang as she wants to try find out who killed Thomas.
The book alternates between lizzie in her youth at the manor to the present day with a few different perspectives as well as Lizzie. I would definitely recommend this to all people who enjoy a suspense book.

The Weekend
by L. H. Stacey
This book was just ok for me. It was just so much ...too much detail, almost just filler to extend the book. It was not a hit for me. It became almost a "let me just finally make it to the end" type of reading. Too many people, too much fluff, and less meat.

This is an intriguing mystery. It is the story of wealth, hedonism, and secrets with terrifying consequences!
Lizzie returns to Kirkwood Manor, where she spent much of her teenage years, for the memorial of her boyfriend Thomas. The family and friends have many secrets, as Lizzie discovers when searching out Thomas's murderer.
The book alternates between the party filled days of her youth to the present confusion of uncovering the tragic truth.
It was a thought-provoking, intense read for all mystery and suspense fans.

ARC by NetGalley and the publisher.
A group of friends return to a manor to honor their friend 10 years after his murder, who committed it and will Ada our victims mother find his killer… just that small bit of synopsis of this book and I was excited to read it, I love a good secluded murder mystery however this one fell flat for me sadly. From the beginning the characters didn’t make me feel connected to them which made caring about their well being and whether they lived or died hard for me. The book takes place over past and present with flashbacks and I had hoped that would maybe help me feel sorry for Thomas but it just made me dislike him more. The book also had an immense amount of inner dialogue to the point where whole chapters were dedicated to this which made it feel like many points were just repeated over and over. While I have read many thrillers and mysteries recently I still find myself shocked but this books twists came as no surprise and were rather predictable. Overall this book just wasn’t for me sadly.

The Weekend comes out February 13, 2023.

Thank you again NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A reunion to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of Thomas Kirkwood. At his mother Ada’s request, all those at the fateful party are invited, as they were the last people to see Thomas alive, ergo one must be the killer, but who? Ada has fixed ideas of who is to blame and is determined to get justice for her son.

This book held great promise, and although it’s a tried and tested plot line I was interested to read this author’s spin on it. Sadly it wasn’t worth the anticipation. Rambling, repetitive and obvious, the writing lacked any real suspense. Although the Kirkwood family lived in a mansion, not much background was offered, but they must have been nouveau riche as “old money” wouldn’t have been so crass, and as for “not wanting a scandal” Ada’s actions and indulgence towards Thomas were ripe for scandalmongering.

As a reliable narrator, Lizzie/Elizabeth was a bore. I like a descriptive narrative to set the scene, but this was totally over the top.

With apologies to the author, this was a good, if predictable story spoilt by unnecessary waffle.

Thank you NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This was an ok book. The ending definitely left me a bit surprised and made it all worth it.
I was wondering through the entire book who killed Thomas and if we would ever find out.
I think some of the extra side plots could have been eliminated and were confusing. Such as the one with Jordan and Tilly.
There were definitely a lot of side plots that just didn’t really need to be there and weren’t explained enough to be worth including.
Not a bad book but not amazing either.

Unpredictable and fast-paced.
I was hooked from the start.
Very suspenseful!
The book was dark and dramatic!
3.25 out of 5 ⭐️

A perfectly enjoyable thriller about a very unlikeable family.
I did feel for the girlfriend and was worried for her throughout the book- I had no idea how would end. Satisfying enough, 3.5 stars rounded up

Thankyou to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc.

I had high hopes for this one but unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations.
It was painfully descriptive. With more than one chapter dedicated solely to Elizabeth's inner dialogue.

Friends revisiting Kirkwood Manor where 10 years ago Thomas Kirkwood had been murdered. Elizabeth, our protagonist was Thomas's girlfriend at the time and she was supposed to come off as an unreliable narrator but all she came across as was ANNOYING.

The story moves back and forth. The past gives us a glimpse into Thomas's lifestyle, his friends and his girlfriend Elizabeth. Thomas has a privileged lifestyle. He's portrayed as someone who has his mommy rescuing him from every scandal, he manipulates everyone to get what he wants, is cruel to his own brother William, constantly parties with his other friends and all in all doesn't really give Elizabeth the respect and attention she deserves.
Whereas the present is a span of 4 days where the friends have revaiited the Manor for Thomas's memorial service. In the present Elizabeth is the odd one out, afraid to face everyone from a time she wants to forget. She's suspicious of everyone's motives and is constantly trying to figure out what happened THAT NIGHT AT THE LAKE.

The plot wasn't exactly original, this has been done alot of times but I'd still have enjoyed it if the writing had been good. The protagonist was extremely unlikeable and irritating. The other characters were also quite two dimensional. The inner dialogue didn't even let the reader get curious and suspect everyone as the killer. I wasn't invested enough and didn't even care about Thomas or his killer. The twists were predictable and even the ones that weren't didn't cause any shock because of how unimpressively the story had been narrated from the start.

Plus I got a feeling that the author tried recreating the same vibe that AND THEN THERE WERE NONE had considering how some people started getting eliminated but like I said it could've been enjoyable if not for how it was told.

Good book! This book had the usual it had suspense, intrigue, action, murder, mystery and so many crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and had me glued to my Kindle! I will definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Lizzie returns to Kirkwood Manor for the memorial service of her late boyfriend, Thomas

Kirkwood, who was brutally murdered a decade before.

Over the weekend, Ada, mother of Thomas and William, his younger brother, and Jordan a

friend, also attending the memorial are both murdered.

Ada had invited all the people she suspected of murdering her beloved son.

Secrets that have been kept for decades are being revealed one by one, and the murders have been in the name of love

I found this novel quite long and drawn out. Some parts seem to have been repeated.
I guessed the killer long before the end, and guessed the secret lover Ada had as well. Unless I missed something, Jordan's death was never solved.

I cannot understand why the characters shout and yell...... practically every character shouts out or yells out. ... something that could be changed?

I was not a fan of the writing I am afraid. I hope the typos are all fixed as well before final printing.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for

an honest review.

This talented author has written a story that is intriguing and mysterious. The characters come alive on the pages of this novel. The mystery is difficult to fathom…murder and mayhem…family and friends…revenge…understanding…this book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. Enjoy solving the mystery but some parts are just too much to relate to…too daring…too much information…

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.