I’m gutted that I didn’t enjoy this book more. The storyline was intriguing and I wanted to know what happened, but that’s the only reason I kept reading this book. Even so, I was disappointed by the ending. I really struggled with the characters. I found them to be immature and a lot of the things they said or did made me cringe. Although I enjoyed How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by this author, I did struggle with the writing in this book. I was able to keep reading, and it wasn’t a bad story, but it’s one that definitely disappointed me.

I love Katy’s first book so was excited to read this one and I think I enjoyed this even more than the first. I had no idea what direction this was going to take from the get go and enjoyed uncovering new suspects and how the stories (and crimes) would slowly become interlinked as the story progressed.

“Something bad happened last night, but I can’t remember a thing…”

What an unexpectedly fantastic surprise - my first ARC of the year! I never thought my new little NetGalley account would be chosen to read this in advance, so imagine my delight when I got the email saying I’d been selected! Last summer I read Katy’s first novel How to Kill Men and Get Away With It and immediately fell in love with her writing style; witty and humorous, twisted and emotional, and clever enough to have you rooting for the morally dark main character, despite her murderous tendencies. Suffice it to say, I had high hopes for The Murder After the Night Before from the day it was announced.
Main character Molly’s life is turned inside out when a video of her giving a blowjob to a guy outside a pub goes viral online. She has no recollection of the act, nor who the stranger is she wakes up next to…nor that her best friend Posey is lying dead in her bath in their shared flat.

Dealing with the fallout from the video while trying to find out what happened to Posey leads Molly down some dangerously dark paths, brings up memories of her own traumatic past, and weaves a web of deceit and coverups that keep the second guesses coming until the final pages.

Molly is a flawed person, she’s unhappy in her job, she drinks too much, and she’s dissatisfied with her life. In contrast Posey has a successful career, a caring family, and is loved by all who know her. But there’s plenty of secrets for Molly to uncover that leave her reeling and questioning just how well she really knew her best friend.

As far as thrillers go The Murder After the Night Before is one of the better ones I’ve read for a long while. It doesn’t let up, there are no stagnant sections, and even with a tangle of threads being woven it never feels convoluted or confusing. There were a couple of twists that I didn’t see coming, and one that I had an inkling over that proved to be correct, so it really felt like the book was full of surprises!

The underlying commentary around the standards women are held to, and how one bad choice can negatively affect all areas of life, is an important one. We’ve not all been caught on our knees behind a pub and had footage of it shared online, but we probably have in one way or another been on the receiving end of some form of trolling, trashy comments and mean girl behaviour. It might be a sign of the times but it really is not ok, and if you’re of the ‘be kind’, mental health advocacy mindset that needs to extend to everyone, not just those you happen to care about.

If you're looking for a thriller that tackles modern issues and keeps the guesses coming, this is one for you. It is sleek and dark, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and funny pop culture references to boot. An all-round great choice and a triumph of a sophomore for Katy Brent.

Rating: ✨✨✨✨

The Murder After the Night Before is available now, and I’d like to extend many great thanks to NetGalley and HQ Stories at Harper Collins for giving me the opportunity to read this book in advance of publication.

Happy Publication day to this book! Katy Brent has done it again
Thankyou very much to @netgalley and @hqstories for the early copy of this book in exchange for a review
If you liked How to Kill Men and Get Away With It then you’re going to love this, it was so fast paced with quite a few twists and turns along the way I was itching to find time to finish it!
Molly Munroe is such a relatable character all you hope is that things get better for her as we start the book off with her going through a traumatic event and dealing with the aftermath of it being spread across social media…then she finds a dead body and then the real truth starts to unravel.
The whole time I also kept thinking ‘If jack is a bad person I’ll go nuts’ and yes I was rooting for them but I like how their story ended
Speaking of endings….THE ENDING?! My jaw was on the floor in the middle of my lunch break, I was sat there thinking ‘this can’t be it’ and now I need like a short novella or a whole second book in a series please and thankyou Katy
Also this book is 99p on Kindle this month so everyone has no excuse not to buy it!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this arc. Well I loved this book devoured it in one day. This story had everything great characters well written a brilliant mystery and moments that were funny. Yet this book also explores some tough subjects as it delves in to grief and how the world treats women and girls. Would thoroughly recommend

What a fab read. The writing is brilliant and it had me laughing, sympathising, cringing and desperate to find out how it would end, (in a good way. )This is the first book I have read from this author and certainly won't be the last. I just loved the humour, despite there being sensitive subjects, it was written so well. So happy to have started 2024 with such a fantastic book. I will definitely recommend this book to friends and as many people as I can, its sure to be a bestseller.

The way this book started had me laughing out loud with the way we were introduced to Molly. After that high point I was run through just about every emotion that I can think of in the story of Molly trying to find out what happened THAT night.
It feels very now in the way the women are treated and the reaction from Social Media especially through the narrative. The more we learned about who Molly is and what is happening, the more you just have to root for her finding the answers and surviving to the end of the book!
This was a very cleverly written story which had a fair few twists and turns that made for times when I was curious if there was anyone really supporting Molly herself or if everyone in her life was there for some other reason!
This was a well written hugely entertaining read

What a brilliant read by Katy Brent. I thoroughly enjoyed her previous novel How To Kill A Man And Get Away With It, so I had high expectations for this one and boy it doesn't disappoint!
Molly is having the day from hell which starts out with the worst hangover in the world but if hat wasn't bad enough she wakes up with a complete stranger in her bed and she can't remember a thing from the previous night.
Now if you think that was bad enough when she eventually gets into work, she writes for a teenage magazine called Sparkle she immediately knows something is wrong. Everyone is staring at her and when her boss calls her into her office things take a turn the the worse.
Molly has gone viral but not in a good way!
Someone has filmed Molly doing a sexual act in a public place and to top it off her roommate turns up dead!
This book had me hooked from start to finish and the ending!
Brilliantly written.

I feel like I have read a completely different book than most of these reviews so quite possibly it’s just not the book for me, but I was not a fan of this in any way unfortunately. The storyline shot all over the place, one minute Molly is a twitter sensation for a drunken episode, then she wakes up with a stranger, then she’s recognised by strangers on the bus for the twitter video, then she goes home and her best friend’s found dead. One of the storylines would have worked better for me, the combination of the two just confused everything and I was glad when it was over.

This story started off a bit rough. Molly wakes up after the most awful drunken night to find she's an internet sensation of the most embarrassing kind. Her day and week gets worse and worse. I like the twists and turns as she starts investigating everything. It might be a bit brash but it's quite a serious storyline too.

Having loved the authors first book I was very excited to be given the opportunity to read the arc of this one too - and boy did it deliver!
It is so well written, the story just rolls beautifully off the pages with a great pace that will keep you hooked.
It tackles a lot of sensitive topics, but is also laced with humour as we go through the journey with the main character. As her memories start to resurface you'll be trying to unravel what's happened alongside her.
Huge thanks to netgalley, the author and publisher for the arc ebook.

It’s difficult not to have sympathy for Molly Monroe.

She set out on her office night out as a carefree young journalist who wrote about llamas and unicorns. She wakes up the next morning with a strange man in her bed, vomit in the sink, and no memory of what happened the night before. As she drags both herself and an awful hangover into work, she’s a complete hot mess.

But that’s by no means the end of her problems. A viral video has emerged on the internet overnight and Molly Monroe is the star. As she attempts to contact Posey, the one person in the world who she wants to turn to, the discovery of her flatmate’s body opens up a whole new mystery.

This is the premise of a quirky, witty and ultimately compelling light-hearted murder mystery. Full of drama and dark twists, ‘The Murder After the Night Before’ is a modern whodunnit (and how-did-they-dunnit) set in a background of investigative journalism and internet trolling. It’s modern, witty and thought-provoking with a resolution that ties up all the ends.

Great for those readers who want a murder mystery without all the tension, or fans of modern romance who want something darker. I enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more from Katy Brent.

Thank you to NetGalley UK, Katy Brent and HQ for this ARC, which I received in exchange for my honest review.

Amazingly well written, thoroughly developed plot and twists, and identifiable characters (although excessive drinking is never OK).

Waking up so hungover that she doesn't even remember what happened last night at the company Christmas party, Molly is not having a great day - and it gets worse.

She's trending on social media and she doesn't even remember doing what the video shows.

Digging deeper into what happened, she realises that all is not as it seems. There is a murder to investigate and wrongs to make right.

This is another great book by Katy Brent; full of unexpected twists and turns, shady characters, social media doing its worst and self-centred no-gooders pushing their own agenda. A worthy follow-up to 'How to kill men and get away with it'.

I was so excited when I was approved for and ARC from Netgalley for this book as I absolutely loved How to kill men and get away with it. I went in with high expectations and it didn't disappoint.

This book is different to Katy's first book but I still really enjoyed it. The writing is brilliant and once you start reading you can't stop. Her storyline flow so easy and the characters develop so well throughout the book. I found myself with loving some characters and hating others!

Despite the seriousness the storyline of Poseys death, I did find myself having a little giggle now and again as there are some brilliant one liners which is one of the reasons I love Katys writing.

I really hope there is more to come from this author.

Molly Monroe wakes up horribly hungover after her works Christmas party and finds that she’s an internet sensation, for all the wrong reasons.

This is a well written drama about internet trolling, murder, investigative journalism and the dangers faced by women. It’s got many threads, all of which are neatly tied up and it definitely held my interest.

It deals with some important issues whilst maintaining a dramatic focus and I enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley and HQ digital for the opportunity to preview.

I love quirky murder mysteries, so this book caught my eye and made it onto my anticipated reads list. The story starts with Molly waking up after a night out for a company party. Molly is extremely hungover, can’t remember the night before, but finds a cute man in her bed. Maybe this is a cultural thing, but as an American I find it odd the “night out” is in the middle of the week and everyone is expected to be at work the next day. Anyways, Molly forgot to charge her phone, so she rallies and heads into work where she learns she went viral the night before (not in a good way) and is sent back home where she later discovers her best friend and roommate (Posey) has died. While the police believe Posey’s death was an accident, Molly has her suspicions and starts to piece together what happened the night before and the clues Posey left behind. Throughout the story, Molly realizes there were things she didn’t know about her best friend and is confronted by her own trauma. My only critique is that it was a little too convenient how some characters knew each other, otherwise this was a fun read that kept me entertained until the end.

4.5/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a brilliant read, which starts off with humour but turns into something quite horrific. Molly has a night out which she can't remember ,finds a strange man in her bed ,then she finds out she is the star of a video which has gone viral and then she finds her best friend and room mate dead in the bath .This is a dark gripping story ,fast paced with I though a very surprising ending .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC .

I had so much fun reading HTKMAGAWI that this was an immediate request, and I'm happy to say it was just as good!
This book leans on some heavy topics but approaches them from a compelling and thought-provoking way. Blending serious reflections on themes like sexism, social media and grief, which entertainment and humour, this is fast-paced and engaging.
Katy Brent writes brilliant main characters with wit and surprising depth, and I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us,

Oh Molly, Poor Molly, what she has to go through is dramatic, life changing but every cloud has a silver linning. It made me think how people are so mean and unfortunately it reflects real life on the social media front. The book is whitty, dramatic and a real life changing events story. I would really recommend it, with lots a curve balls and shocking finds.

What. A. Book.

The plot line itself was incredible. It was fast paced and absolutely had me gripped from the first page. The twists in this book quite often took my breath away, and I really enjoyed uncovering the mystery with Molly. The authors writing style was easily readable, and highly enjoyable.

The characters were diverse, with the majority being loveable and interesting to read. All the characters were well developed, and I was intrigued to discover how they all fitted in with the story.

I devoured this book in one sitting. So good!