This is the second Katy Brent book I have read, and she really knows how to keep readers on their toes!

The book follows Molly who has been subject to a video of her going viral, where she is sexually involved with a man. Whilst Molly is dealing with this situation, her best friend, Posey is dead, and Molly finds her.

This book was a wild ride of mystery, investigating, not being listened to, navigating unfortunate circumstances. As a reader, I felt frustrated for Molly and Posey, I felt sad and I was so invested in finding out what happened.

I think there was a point in the book where it started to slow down a bit and I just wanted to know who did what, but I think the reveal was done well, and it was so interesting how much everything linked!

I really enjoyed The Murder The Night Before and I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries, investigating as a non detevtive, and for fans of books such as How To Kill Your Family. I am giving this book 4 stars and I am looking forward to the next Katy Brent!

Having thoroughly enjoyed Katy Brent’s debut novel How To Kill Men and Get Away With It, I was very excited to read her new book The Murder After The Night Before which is out now and available from all good bookshops!

Molly is our main character and she has had a really, really bad night. Waking up with a stranger in her bed, the hangover from hell and a complete blackout about the night before, her day is about to get even worse when she becomes famous for all the wrong reasons and her best friend has been murdered.

Molly is a very unlikely hero, her life really is a mess and whilst she probably is to blame for most of the mistakes and disasters that follow her, she is still very likeable and I found myself rooting for her from the minute she opened her eyes and vomited up 3 bottles of red wine.

If you’ve read Katy Brent’s previous book, you will know that the humour is dark and some of the subject matters are deeply disturbing. There are themes of sexual assault and the power of internet trolling.

At the heart of this story is Molly’s determination to find out what happened to her best friend Posey. She’s absolutely 100% convinced Posey was murdered, but the police don’t agree and want to close the case as a suicide/accident, however the more Molly digs into Posey’s life the more she begins to uncover and discover that she really didn’t know her best friend.

With several twists and turns, the reader is guaranteed to keep turning those pages eager to find out the truth and hope that Molly finds some well deserved happiness.

A fun thriller, I got very into this and finished it quickly. I also enjoyed Brent's other work so would definitely recommend this if you enjoyed How to Kill Men and Get away with it. This one felt a bit more personal and I could see where it was going but I still had some surprises along the way.

Molly wakes up with a raging hangover and a (fully clothed) man in her bed who found her in a mess the night before and took her home.

As she heads to work, Molly thinks the strange looks she's getting is just at her hungover state but is horrified to later find out a video of her in a sex act the previous night has gone viral on social media.

Que a torrent of online abuse and slut shaming aimed solely at Molly. Thinking her day can't get any worse, she returns home to find her flatmate dead in the bath.

Ruled an accident, Molly is adamant her friend didn't take her own life and sets out to prove it.

I found this story to drag at times and it took me a long time to finish it, I read chapters between other books, however it does pick up in the final third after a slow start. I loved How to Kill Men And Get Away With It by the same author but this book didn't do it for me.

This one lost me from the very start, and it was slog to get through, not to mention that much of it didn't make sense the further I went... The mention of the kebab vomit totally killed it for me - did it have to be this crude and gross? Why - for some shock factor? I really dislike it when female characters are messes but this is so exaggerated on the page to the point of making them unsympathetic and just plain gross or atrocious. Sadly, this was the case with this one...

Fantastic. I absolutely loved this book from start to finish, i have nothing bad to say at all. I was gripped, I couldn't wait to pick up my kindle and keep reading. Another absolute smash hit for Katy.

Fantastic story. I read Katy Brent's other novel (How to Kill Men and Get Away with It) and really enjoyed the darkness of that. This did not disappoint me either. The plot was well-paced, the mystery was truly well developed (I didn't guess whodunnit! Great twist) and I liked the main character a lot. Really brilliant.

I didnt think this one was as good as her last book but still good.
The story is super gripping and fast paced right from the first chapter.

Overall, I thought this book was really good and well done,I loved the characterisation of Molly and posey as-well as all of the other side characters and I liked the way the plot was moving for most of the book.
Having said that, as I was getting nearer and nearer to the end of the book, the plot started to fall apart, not so much that i started to lose interest but enough for me to notice and realise. the real mystery of the literally gets answered in one of the final sentences of the book. i would've personally liked to have seen more of a confrontation between these two characters.

Book Review:
The Murder After The Night Before by Katy Brent
Published by HQ, 1st February 2024

Wow! I was so invested in this compelling story that I whizzed through it in one sitting. It wasn't until I emerged, bleary-eyed, at the end that I realised how much time had passed.

We're not introduced to Molly Monroe in the best of circumstances. She wakes with a vile hangover following her work Xmas party. Things go rapidly downhill from there as Molly realises there's a strange man in her bed, and she's unwittingly become rather infamous. Her flatmate seems to be missing; that is, until Molly discovers her lifeless body. All things said, she's having a bit of a time of it!

Simultaneously laugh-out-loud and shocking, The Murder After The Night Before delivers on every level. Molly is a walking disaster, but I'll bet every reader can recognise a little bit of Molly in them. Katy Brent has birthed a character you can't help but love, even if your inner and outer voices are both dying to admonish her.

Of course, Molly isn't alone, there are plenty of other complex characters who have their part to play, and they are written with the same care and attention. The plot is full of twists, and although I won't give anything away, how all the threads of the story are pulled together at the end is stunning. This is quite simply a fantastic book!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to HQ and Katy Brent for the ARC provided via NetGalley; this is my unbiased review.

I listened to this book on audio and I have to give credit to the narrator , it was very good and engaging. This was an easy read about Molly Monroe who is a journalist for a magazine. She gets incredibly drunk one night and can’t remember anything , possibly spiked and she engages in a sexual act that goes viral on social media. Meanwhile her friend is found dead after following a story about a missing girl. What follows is a story about extreme misogyny on social media , which is very apt . It’s a story about grief and loss , it’s a story about friendship and trust. It’s about what is acceptable for men and what’s acceptable for women in society and in the workplace. Having said this it was told in a witty style and I couldn’t help but like Molly Monroe and was hoping she was ok in the end. One criticism I have is the timeframe for some of the events especially towards the end . It seems a lot happens in a small amount of time .

the murder after the night before 🍷🛀

5 ⭐️!!! 🥹💘🌷

Okay, so I was obsessed with How To Kill Men and Get Away with It when I read it as an ARC a while ago (go read it!!!). Like, laugh out loud obsessed, even though it’s a thriller. No surprise that I was sooo excited when Katy came out with another book, the Murder after the Night Before and I auto-bought it right when I saw it in my bookstore (and after that getting approved for the ARC as well, but can’t have too many copies) 🩷

This story follows Molly, a journalist at a preteen magazine in London, who’s had a rather unfortunate situation happening to her during a Christmas party (well, very unfortunate) and is the talk of the town the next morning (like, really, viral on social media style). She, however, doesn’t remember pretty much anything and wakes up with a stranger in her bed, Jack.

Enter Posey, her roommate, who Molly really wants to talk to, since she’s her best friend and this whole situation is definitely getting out of hand. But Posey is not picking up her phone and her office tells Molly she’s not come into work. Molly tries to figure out where the usually very reachable Posey went and checks the bathroom (you know, maybe she’s just left, she would’ve taken her toothbrush), where to her horror, she fins Posey dead in the bathtub 🩸

Molly must figure out what happened to Posey, because right from the start, the whole “accident-scenario” doesn’t sit right with her. There must be more to the story 🔎

This book!!! Again, such a winner. This story deals with many heavy topics, especially how women are portrayed in the media and pretty much treated in life in general, and, well, death too. However, this will definitely make you laugh out loud sometimes. There’s so many fun quotes and the writing style just made me not wanting to put this down. I really loved it and will obviously read anything new Katy Brent comes out with 🩷

also, since Katy Brent is a total auto-buy author for me after HTKMAGAWI, I didn’t read the back of this book. Let me tell you, the way I gasped when I found out Posey died, it was intense, but definitely added to my reading experience, lol 🤍

After reading Katy Brent's 'How to kill men and get away with it', I was anticipating a similar style in this book. However, the murder after the night before had a slightly more believable setup, which created a lot of suspense. Overall, it was a great crime thriller. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more books by Katy Brent in the future. Thanks for providing me with a review copy!

I adored How to kill men and get away with it so could not wait to read this by Katy. Unfortunately it didn't quite do it for me. I did still find it very witty and an enjoyable read with a good whodunit element. I would certainly recommend both of her books as they are easy fun reads and definitely perfect beach reads.

The download date was unfortunately missed, I would be happy to re-review if it became available again. I have awarded stars for the book cover and description as they both appeal to me. I would be more than happy to re-read and review if a download becomes available. If you would like me to re-review please feel free to contact me at thesecretbookreview@gmail.com or via social media The_secret_bookreview (Instagram) or Secret_bookblog (Twitter). Thank you.

While I appreciate what this book was going for, the execution didn’t work for me.

I didn’t find any of the characters likable. Molly grated on my nerves, and her complete trust in a male stranger—one who all but literally bent over backward to cater to her needs—made zero sense.

Don’t even get me started on how stupid the cops appeared. Or the plot holes I could have fallen through.

Pacing was slow throughout most of the story. What we had was a whole lot of drama. And honestly, I’m totally over melodrama and unlikable, messy female characters.

This was amazing! »» 4.5 🌟

As a side note, I listened to the audiobook as I DID receive the arc to read but missed the archive date. Trust me, no one was and is sadder than me about my stupid mistake. I will definitely get a copy for a future reread! ❤️

Nevertheless, this was such an amazing journey! Molly (the MC) is such an inspiration. This does not mean that she is perfect and without any flaws. But she is herself. She is a strong, intelligent, curious feminist fighting her personal battles from the past, the very resent past, and the present. She is charming, funny, and never fails to say what she thinks, which might result in her actually speaking her thoughts aloud without recognizing at some points of the story.

This is an amazing thriller with, yes, your typical "who-done-it," but not only for a murder... Molly, being the strong woman that she is, even though she sometimes may not feel like it, tries to solve the murder of her best friend while battling her own personal drama and discovering some disturbing truths? or not truths along the way. It's so much more than I expected, and a book with a few important messages!

I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in a thriller, murder mystery, and feminist story full of twists and turns from the very beginning to the very end! 🫶🏻

Victoria Morrison did an amazing job with the audiobook! Thank you for making me grin in public with your accents! ❤️

I can't wait to read How to Kill Men and Get Away with It. It's been on my tbr for way too long, and after this book, I just know, that it will be amazing.

Thank you, Netgalley, HQ Digital, and Katy Brent for the arc in exchange for an honest review!
Please don't stop approving any future requests. I promise that I will never miss an archive date ever again. 🥺

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I originally requested this book because I’d previously read How to Kill Men and Get Away With It and really liked it so was happy to be accepted.

The story was fun and exciting but also dark and disturbing and it kept me interested throughout the entire book and I loved that there was so many interested twists and new revelations throughout. The characters are interesting and I love that that it’s a thriller/murder mystery but also with comedy. I will definitely be keen to read any other books by Katy Brent.

3.75/5 stars from me!

After the absolute pageturner that was How To Kill Men and Get Away With It, I was super keen to read Katy Brent’s next novel, and I loved this one too!

While the premise is different, this is still very much a millennial whodunnit and the central character Molly finds herself at the centre of an unfortunate media laughing stock, and then subsequently finds her best friend dead. Not ideal by any stretch.
The book follows Molly’s investigation as she refuses to believe the police’s insistence that her friend’s death was accidental, leading her to uncover a web of mysteries and lies.
Although the book deals with crime and murder, it’s fun, bouncy and a hugely enjoyable and addictive read.
I will be jumping on Katy Brent’s next book and love her protagonists; whether murderers or mystery solvers, they’re well-rounded, flawed and brilliantly written.

I loved this one, I was reading from behind my fingers most of the time, I can't imagine what I would do in this situation, I don't think I would leave the house again 😭