Sophie is having her sweet 16 party at her dad and stepmoms newly renovated mansion in Texas when something goes terribly wrong and someone ends up dead. Her alcoholic mom, the Irish nanny, her psychiatrist dad her insanely jealousy and possibly secretly in love with her best friend and her influencer stepmom as well as some support characters could all be either the victim or the murderer as we watch the story play out from each of their POV and from both the before and after the party timelines. And then, there’s the lore of “the Mother” that is said to haunt the house as well. So there’s a lot to keep up with but with that being said is this a thriller filled with twists and turns? No. There’s one body and therefore one who did it? But is this a good, intense domestic drama? Absolutely yes. Would I recommend this one to anyone looking for something to keep you flipping pages? Absolutely yes!
If you’re a fan of locked room suspense with a supernatural twist grab this one asap!
Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox ticked all the boxes for me when I was looking for something fun and light to read during a hot, summer weekend. I would classify this debut novel as a popcorn thriller with substance.

It’s Sophie’s 16th birthday and her dad is pulling out all the stops to celebrate his first born. But here is the thing, a life’s lesson, if you will. Do not throw a sweet 16 party with wealthy adults as guests and a full, open bar! Nope, not a good mix! Only bad things can happen with this combo. And bad things do!

This locked room mystery has multiple characters and POVs, and I was fully invested in each and every one of them. Even if you are someone who shies away from a large cast, I don’t think you will have any trouble keeping up.

I love a story that centers around an interesting house with a past, and in Party of Liars, Cox gives us a fabulous, luxury home in the hill country of Texas, complete with a dark and storied past. I was just as fascinated with the house and its history as I was with the characters and their stories.

Party of Liars is a twisty thriller that had me guessing throughout. Short chapters were just what I needed, and kept me turning the pages long past my bedtime.

Even though, this was a grab-your-bowl-of-popcorn-and-settle-in type of story, it was well-written and explored the complex themes of motherhood at all of its stages.

Read Party of Liars if you are reader who enjoys:
*Locked room twisty mysteries/thrillers
*Rich people behaving badly
*Multiple POVS
*Haunted houses (maybe?)
*A contemporary Texas setting
*Themes of motherhood

Party of Liars is one of my favorite popcorn thrillers of 2025 so far. I am thrilled to have discovered a new author to follow, and will be eagerly awaiting Kelsey Cox’s future books.

4.5 Stars

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an ARC of Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox in exchange for my honest review.

I was thoroughly engaged in this. I loved the housekeeper and her connection to the rest of the cast. For fans of Mrs. Parrish.

Thanks to NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was GOOD!

It's Sophie Matthews' 16th birthday. Her father and stepmother have promised to give her a party she won't soon forget at their majestic home, coined "The Barbie House" for its sheet of glass that allows passersby to see into the home. Unfortunately, no one could predict the horrors that would ensue as the night unfolded. Four women close to Sophia tell the tale:

DANI: Sophie’s new stepmother, who’s been plagued by self-doubt ever since the birth of her own baby girl

ÓRLAITH: the superstitious Irish nanny who senses a looming danger in this cavernous house

MIKAYLA: the birthday girl’s best friend, who is not nearly as meek as the popular kids assume

KIM: Sophie's mother, who has a grudge she can’t let go of . . .

Some chapters hint at the events after the party, someone is injured, and the police are investigating. Kelsey Cox managed to reel me in with a nice cast of suspects, and I stayed up into the wee hours of the next morning to see how it would play out.


Verdict: Slip this into the beach bag, but don't forget the sunscreen because you won't budge until you have it all figured out.

Publication Date 01/07/25
Goodreads Review 14/07/25

Take one part story told over one night, an extravagant sweet sixteen party in this case, add in several misunderstood characters and a dead body falling off the balcony, and you have a recipe for a solid thriller. This was a quick read that held my attention throughout the story. The short chapters told from several different characters' points of view provided the right amount of build up to give the reader several different theories as to who fell and why. While there were a few extraneous paths the author took you down, you ultimately came to a satisfying conclusion. I would definitely recommend checking this story out, especially if you are looking for a bingeable read that was highly entertaining.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read and review.

As a Texan, I always love a saucy southern drama. This book brings tons of drama that comes with bougie Texas high schools and trophy wives.

Party of Liars takes place at Sophie’s sweet sixteen party. Tensions are already high as her Dad and new stepmother Dani are the hosts while her mom, Kim is still reeling from the divorce. Kim holds a lot of resentment towards her ex husband Ethan. He always finds a way to make her feel even more unstable than she is, especially after losing her veterinary license. Dani is struggling with new motherhood and holding it all together. Their nanny Orlaith came into the picture when Dani has a PPD episode she can’t remember most details from. Orlaith is quite a peculiar character, an older woman who immigrated from Ireland after losing her own daughter. She’s full of quips and odd stories about people in her past. Dani’s best friend Mikayla has been there since they were little and even more so with after Sophie’s recent breakup. Quite polar opposites - Dani an FFA girl and Sophie now on the cheerleading team, Mikayla wonders how much they still have in common.

Sophie just wants her day to be perfect but between Kim’s drinking problem she doesn’t want to admit, Dani’s mind not in the right place after her episode, Orlaith with her odd tales, and Mikayla acting off since the night of Dani’s episode, she’s sure not everything is going to go as planned.

This book was a super quick read and keeps you on your seat by introducing new elements to the story about Ethan & Kim’s divorce, the dynamic of Mikayla and Sophie’s friendship, and what really happened the night Dani lost her mind just a few months postpartum. Who is the mysterious person to fall off the balcony the night of Sophie’s party and do they survive? What all led to this disastrous sweet sixteen?

Party of Liars is a fun thriller to read. It's written from several characters' perspectives, at a sweet sixteen party in Texas. We know from some flash forwards that someone is killed at the party, but not who. The story unfolds in an interesting way from these different characters, with a bunch of red herrings, kind of a locked room mystery too because it's clearly someone at the party. The resolution and ending is very satisfying.

What a fun fun read! This book is classic mystery/thriller and had me guessing until the last page. Full of fast-paced action and heart-thumping scenes this book was a big hit for me!!! Knowing this is a debut is amazing and I can’t wait for what this author writes next.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.

I absolutely loved Party of Liars by @kelseycoxwriter . (Thank you, @minotaur_books !)

This was the perfect way to do a thriller – lots of interesting characters, secrets and lies, twists and turns, starting off with a bang and then keeping the reader hooked until the reveal. So much fun!!

I love a thriller that keeps me guessing while having multiple possible, believable outcomes. At some point, I just stopped trying to figure it all out and went along for the wild and crazy ride.

I definitely recommend reading this one. In my opinion, it’s a perfect beach/pool/vacation read because it grabs your attention and is a page turner.

Loved it. Pulled me in and I couldn't put it down.

Party of Liars is about a young lady and her sweet sixteenth birthday party. Rich dad goes all out, inviting everyone. Of course there is then drama! Ex-wife and new wife, nanny, best friend point of view. But where exactly does it all lead?
And who, if anyone, dies at the end?

“There is no word for a mother who has lost her only child, such as widow or orphan." How far will mothers go to protect their children? Or other women's children?

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this unputdownable thriller. Publication date was July 1, 2025.

Party of Liars is a fun summer thriller with a sweet 16 party gone awry. Who is going to fall to their death and why? Is there something supernaturally sinister happening at a house rumored to be haunted for over a century? Or are there human machinations at play?

I enjoyed the multiple points of view and the voyeuristic look into everyone's secrets. There were characters to cheer for and characters to hate... and some to do both. The fast pace moved the story along, and I found myself staying up late to finish because I just had to know how it ended.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

One of my favorite games as a kid was Clue. This thriller reminded me of the fun I had playing it. The setting is pretty cool- a fancy sweet sixteen party in a mansion on top of a cliff in Texas hill country. The couple that lives there, along with the ex-wife, the Irish nanny and certain friends of the family attending the party all have a lot of drama in their lives. Everything comes to a head at the party in this spooky old renovated mansion. As each of the main characters tell us their observations of the events at the party, we learn engrossing new details about their history with each other. There was no telling how this was going to end because several characters could be a suspect and had a motive to kill and there is a ghostly legend called “the mother” that is said to haunt the place as well!
This story had some very well written relationship dynamics that made it more than just a normal thriller. It is a page-turner with fully developed characters and a couple of twists I didn’t see coming.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for my review.

Party of Liars focuses around a sweet sixteen party with the story told in glimpses before and after the party from multiple perspectives. Chapter 1 ends with a body falling to the balcony right in the middle of the party and then throughout the book you are trying to figure out who died, how they fell and why. A lot of the guests are hiding secrets and have reasons that people would want them to die. While there were a few guests that I felt deserved to die I had to wait until the end to get the final confirmation.

There are lots of short chapters in this book which makes it easy to squeeze in a few chapters even if you don't have a lot of time to read (although you may have a hard time putting it down - I did as I wanted to know who the body was). I just wanted more as I didn't feel like I got the whole story about all of the suspicious guests/liars.

This book started out reading like a YA book but was a surprise edge of your seat page turner. Story about a sweet sixteen birthday party with a twist and through the eyes of a blended family. My first read by this Author and won't be my last. Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martins press and the Author for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 ⭐️ rounded up.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
Really enjoyed this quick read with multiple POVs. It kept you guessing with the who-did-it locked room storyline. Lots of Texas housewives drama but definitely added to the storyline, and kept me wanting to continue reading to find out what was next!

I was fortunate enough to recieve both an ALC and an arc for this book. The ALC was not for me. I waited a little bit to start reading the arc and it just didn't excite me. I don't know if that was left over from trying the ALC first or if it's not the book for me.

I do love the cover and that it has short chapters.

I adore locked-room mysteries! The Sweet 16 birthday party at a formerly abandoned (and rumored to be haunted) cliffside mansion set a great stage for this psychological suspense story. Multiple perspectives from four women was done so well, and the readers gets chapters from before and after the death. Engrossing and the twists were so good. I will absolutely read more by Kelsey Cox.

Narration was PERFECT - Dan Bittner, Kate Handford, Pearl Hewitt, and Suzy Jackson brought such life to this story. I will read pretty much anything that Saskia Mararleveld narrates, and this was no different.

Party of Liars was a captivating read. The narrative is told from multiple perspectives leading up to the fateful party. While I didn't find myself liking any of the characters, the frequent shifts in POV added a layer of intrigue, making it difficult to pinpoint the culprit and victim. Each POV left my mind running wild with potential scenarios. Overall, the story is a page-turner and has a satisfying ending.

When someone falls to their death from the balcony of the gothic mansion-on-a-hill in Texas during a lavish sweet-16 party, the mystery begins. Sophia's broken and blended family drama is at the center of this gothic mystery. The broken timelines and alternating points of view are masterfully crafted to engage and hold attention. Cox has crafted a memorable story with a twist at the end that I did not see coming, which is difficult to accomplish.

It is the day of Sophie Matthew's sweet sixteen party and it is a bash to behold. All is well until the candles on the cake are to be blown out. A death occurs and it looks to be murder, someone has fallen from the balcony. The suspect list is long and everyone on it has a secret. Follow along to see if you can figure out whodunit and why. Will a killer get away with murder or will they end up behind bars in the end?