Kelsey Cox’s Party of Liars starts with a thud! And what a thud it is…a body dropping from the balcony. It was supposed to be a magical night, Sophie’s sweet sixteen birthday bash, and her father is doing it up, big time! But what was supposed to be a dream night turns into a nightmare. This was a highly enjoyable, dark, and twisting mystery/thriller filled with a cast of complex (and mostly unlikeable) characters. Now don’t take my comment about unlikable characters to be a negative, as I’m pretty sure most of them weren’t meant to be likable. One thing is for sure, this is a party to remember. I’d like to thank St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Party of Liars.

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A good time with plenty of drama to keep you invested. This books follows several POVs after someone dies at a sweet sixteen and you as the reader to back and forth from present and past to figure out the events that led to the death and put all the pieces together. This story ended with a twist I wasn't expecting and I enjoy when I'm caught off guard. I would definitely recommend this if you are looking for an easy read that will keep you guessing who died and who did it? A fun thriller by a new to me author that I will have to check out other releases from.

"Today is Sophie Matthews’s sixteenth birthday party, an exclusive black-tie bash in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, where secrets are as deep-rooted as the sprawling live oaks."

Sophie's sweet sixteen party starts out okay, but ends with a dead body, and everybody at the party is a suspect. The thing is, we don't know whose body it is or how it ended up falling from the balcony to the patio where the party was going on. In this debut novel from Kelsey Cox, you actually don't find out until the very end who fell (or was pushed?) to their death, and how it happened. This book has a lot of POVs, but I really didn't have a problem following them because each character had a pretty distinctive voice from the others. You also jump back and forth from the past to the present constantly, but again, once I got used to that, it wasn't a problem. The characters were fleshed out and well written, and the pacing was quick enough that this was a relatively quick read. The ending was a bit predictable, but getting there definitely wasn't.

All in all, I enjoyed reading Party of Liars and look forward to reading more of Kelsey Cox's work in the future.

4/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Kelsey Cox for the opportunity to read and review Party of Liars.

I absolutely loved this book! This book wasn’t what I expected it to be based off the title and synopsis, but I loved what it turned out to be even more. The book starts by setting up the history of this grand home in Texas, and the local lore about how it came to be haunted. Then it sets up the night of the incident, an opulent sweet sixteen party for Sofie, and the night the house witnesses another tragedy. However, unlike your typical murder mystery, you don’t find out until quite far in the book who it is that dies. I was captivated by the 4 perspectives and women in this book. Dani, the new wife with a young baby, Kim, the bitter ex wife who re-did the home only to not live in it, Orlaith the odd Irish nanny, and Mikayla the oldest friend of Sofie. As I read I found myself liking and feeling for each of these women, while also equally questioning if they were the one who was killed or killed someone else. I enjoyed how the book went between these women, the past and the present, and wove all of their stories together. A fast paced story that kept me guessing until the end. I received an ARC, and this is my honest review.

The locals considered the huge Victorian home on the hill to be haunted by' The Mother". Built for a beautiful young bride in the 1800's, the house inspired the imagination. The home had stood empty since the first mistress ended her fairy tale falling to her death over a century ago. . A young couple bought it in 2010 and dove into the restoration, intent on making it a sparkling home again. Today would be the grand reveal of the home. It seemed everyone in town had been invited to Sophie's, way over the top, sixteenth birthday party. The problem is "The Mother" seems to still be in residence.
Love that the story is told by all the females . This is a well crafted mystery.


Thanks to NetGalley, the author & St Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review>

EARC review


There is something really interesting about this book!

1. It’s a rich people sweet sixteen! Take me back to MTV.

2. There’s a ton of drunk adults at this all day long party? MESSY. I LOVE MESSY.

I loved the messy relationships between all of the characters. From the new young wife, to the angry ex-wife, to the slightly obsessed nanny. Everyone had a really strong dynamic and possibility to have been the person killed and the killer.

There was a large cast of characters, with point of view, switching every chapter and normally I eat that up.

This book was really weak for me, though, it wasn’t because I couldn’t guess the ending, it was that the ending seemed a little unbelievable? And when I looked back, there was a very few clues, pointing to how it ends.

I do feel like this story was really well loved just not by me.

A great debut by this author! Twisty and lots of things that I did not see coming. It started off a bit slow, didn’t quite hook me right off the bat but it picked up and hooked me towards the end. I would definitely read another book by Kelsey Cox.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur for the gifted eARC.

We know someone dies early on, but we don't know who. With multiple POVs and alternating from the past to the present during a Sweet 16 party where the death takes place, we have no idea who it is or under what circumstances it's going to take place.

As the story progresses, the tension builds, with so many twists and turns that I had no idea where the story was going to take me next. Dani was my favorite POV She is a new mom, seemingly having experienced some incident previously before our story started that has Ethan and others worried about her state of mind, but things are happening now, and while she's worried, "it's happening again" referring to the previous incident, I knew there was more to the story.
And Orlanth, she was a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, and I was just so interested in seeing where her story was going to go.

I had a great time with this, flying through it in one sitting. It had plenty of twists and turns that had me questioning everything, with an ending that I did not expect.
I will definitely keep an eye out for the next book this author comes out with.

Party of Liars is a twisted murder mystery that takes place in a haunted house during a sweet 16. The house is said to be haunted after a grieving mother jumps out of the window and fast-forward to the sweet 16, where someone falls out of the assumingly same window. The author does a great job building suspense throughout the novel and created a page-turner that leaves you determined to find the killer and, of course, their motive. The author jumps timelines throughout the book, which at first left me feeling a little confused, but once I caught on, I was hooked. The plot is great, the twists are even better, and the steadily-building tension just adds to it all. I'd definitely recommend!
Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Kelsey Cox for this ARC!

3.5 stars for debut author Kelsey Cox's book "Party of Liars". Overall, it was a decent domestic suspense story, if a bit formulaic and predictable. There are a LOT of POV's here & a whole lot of chapters (almost 100!!) as we find out just what happened on the night of a sweet 16 party that lead to a death, and who's and more importantly, the "WHY". Overall, it was quite serviceable and I liked it, but was not blown away - but I think the author does show promise & that's a very good thing, will watch for what she does next. My thanks to Net Galley & the publisher for the widget for my advance reader's copy - very glad I tried it, overall.

This was a great page-turner! A quick read, engaging and intriguing! It does have multiple POVs that it’s told from which took a bit of getting used to but overall, this was an intense and enjoyable domestic thriller!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC of Party of Liars!

This thriller kicks off with a lavish Sweet Sixteen party in the Texas Hill Country, where pretty much the whole town packs into a stunning cliffside mansion. Everyone’s drinking, teenagers are secretly spiking their mocktails, and the vibe is pure glitz—until someone falls from the balcony, and all the secrets start spilling out. Everyone’s hiding something, and almost everyone seems like a suspect at some point.

I’ll be honest: I struggled a bit at first because there are so many POVs and timeline jumps, and it took me a while to get my bearings. But once I did, I was completely hooked. I tore through the entire second half in one sitting—and that’s saying something because this isn’t a short book!

Kelsey Cox does a fantastic job bringing the Texas Hill Country to life. The mansion perched high above the landscape, with its wall of windows like a giant dollhouse looking out over the hills, was the perfect backdrop—equal parts glamorous and eerie. I also loved the creepy touch of the local legend of “The Mother,” the ghost said to haunt the house. It added this extra layer of tension that made me question what was real and what was just paranoia.

One thing that stood out to me was how fiercely—and sometimes destructively—a mother’s love can drive people. So many of the women in this book are pushed to extremes trying to protect their children, their secrets, or themselves. It gave the story a real emotional punch beyond just the twists.

The characters were definitely a highlight. Dani’s story was especially poignant. She’s so young herself and clearly out of her depth sometimes, caught between wanting to belong and feeling like an outsider. Her dynamic with Kim, the ex-wife, was complicated but also felt like it could have become a genuine friendship under different circumstances.

Mikayla’s story was quietly heartbreaking. She’s the shy, odd-one-out girl who ends up tangled in things no teenager should ever have to deal with. I couldn’t help wishing someone had protected her from it all.

Órlaith, the nanny, was another fascinating character. She’s wise and perceptive, carrying her own grief, and knows just how far a mother’s love—or grief—can drive someone.

While I did guess a few twists, there were still plenty of surprises that left me stunned. The ending was killer—dramatic and satisfying. Overall, Party of Liars is a solid locked-room-style thriller full of secrets, messy relationships, and wild turns right up until the last page.

4 stars!

A thank you to @kelseycoxwriter @minotaur_books and @stmartinspress for #gifted the e-book and @macmillan.audio #MacAudio2025 for the #gifted audiobook!

This gripping thriller kept me on the edge of my seat from the very first page.

What begins as a charming sweet sixteen birthday party for Sophie Matthews spirals into chaos with an unexpected death, unveiling a web of secrets that gradually come to light.

This fast-paced novel unfolds through the perspectives of Kim, the ex-wife; Dani, the new, younger wife and mother; Órlaith, the devoted nanny; Mikayla, Sophie’s loyal best friend; and Ethan, the husband and father. The narrative expertly weaves between the moments leading up to the party and the aftermath, revolving around a shocking body that plunges from the balcony during the celebration.

With jaw-dropping twists and revelations that consistently caught me off guard, the author has crafted an intense narrative that brilliantly interlaces numerous secrets. I was captivated by how the distinct viewpoints intertwined the timeline, enriching my understanding of each character's emotional depth. The mystery of who has died and the reasons behind it kept me guessing—anyone could be the victim, and everyone had their own motive.

The narrators delivered phenomenal performances, breathing life into the characters and capturing the raw emotions as the secrets unfolded.

If you crave thrillers packed with surprising twists, this is the book you’ve been waiting for. Mark your calendars for July 1, 2025, when this unmissable read hits the shelves!

Party of Liars is a debut that delivers everything it promises on a silver platter.

A sweet sixteen turns in a bloody nightmare when someone falls from the balcony. It's garish, bloody, and so so so good. This book is full of so many different narrators, it's fast-paced and it has rich people misbehaving. There's lies, drama, tension, jealousy. If you want a book you can bury your nose in and finish without even realizing it, Party of Liars is it.

One of the best thriller debuts I"ve read in a while! Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the arc!

I’d heard good things about Part of Liars and it delivered. It did a great job of bread-crumbing out clues which I’m a fan of and it made me doubt my opinions of the characters as I learned more about them, but I was still caught off guard by how things turned out.

I enjoyed that the story was from four perspectives — the new wife, the first wife, the nanny and the daughter’s best friend. Together they told a complete version of the events and the backstory that leads to the fatal night.

Surpassed my expectations

PARTY OF LIARS
BY: KELSEY COX

I seldom rate a novel that I read this low which I always feel bad about doing, but this either wasn't for me even though I'm usually the one that appreciates an innovative approach. I love the premise and I do love character driven Literary fiction. This is obvious not that, but it seemed more character driven than plot driven and it added very little focus to keep my interest since it seemed to try to do to much and it suffered from not enough of what the premise was based on that had potential. I expect that this suffered even though I know the writing device could have used more interesting ways of describing the characters since it seemed to fail to develop these characters without saying the same thing too many times about all the characters to the point that made them tedious. This can be done to deepen the connection to the reader with depth which none did. I'm aware that this isn't supposed to be character driven for the genre. If you're writing a plot driven narrative it lacked intensity without enough substance to move it forward to keep me engaged. I thought there were times when I felt that I had been enjoying it, but since the point of this review is to give honest feedback I will. The synopsis is one I read and I only did since I'm unfamiliar with this author. My opinion was that I lost my patience with it since if I had to summarize it is that it wasn't pulse pounding or suspenseful and by that it had me at 50% with me thinking that please get to the point for the genre you're writing in since this was super repetitive about characters without depth to appreciate the writing. I expected it to be more interesting for a book that has cliff hanger short chapters. That should drive the plot forward for a novel that is marketed in the Mystery/Thriller genre especially a Gothic type. Instead this was circling backward just when it should hook you it would annoy me since the surface level traits were too trite and banal that by 51% of hints or red herrings I was disappointed that it lacked suspense. It was one that I should be more drawn into the storytelling for something that you know should have happened to justify the page length that for this genre of mystery it kept circling back to a different character's concerns or thoughts. That would be appropriate if these characters had depth and layers, but to me they just got me feeling annoyed. Instead of the suspense I should feel I have to be honest and say that I have read other books that this technique or writing device works well. I think that repetition can work to draw me in deeper if it's narrative is not so dull and this just felt that it lacked from too much of not enough intriguing character development to the point of making me care since these characters were flat and one dimensional. I think if this repetitious characterization is going to succeed it needs to add more layers and this neither delivered on capturing me emotionally which is fine for this genre if the plot actually propels a mystery that didn't happen soon enough. I've read the entire book and it was a struggle. I could have given a plot summary because I empathize with a debut writer and this said the same thing that my opinion is that this felt like it suffers from the kitchen sink syndrome. I urge others to read other reviews because some people really loved it which I'm honestly finding that makes me happy, but it may be it just wasn't the right fit for me. I rarely find that I have rated a clever premise this low so it could be that it is just not a good fit for me. I hope that the timing was bad, but I'm wishing the author and St. Martin's Press my best wishes and thanks for generously sharing this ARC with me.

Sophie's dad has spared no expense for her sweet 16 party so when a body falls free from a balcony, everyone is a suspect. This twisty tale was had to put down.

I really liked this one! Multiple POVs that give a different perspective of everything that happens at the party, leading up to one fatal event. I kept guessing what was going to happen and, while I got a few things right, there were so many surprises that happened too!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for the eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars. I couldn't put this book down! Short chapters, multiple POVs, everyone has secrets and they all become unreliable. A sweet 16 party becomes deadly but it's anyone's guess at who is dead until the very end. Everyone has motive as a negative web of lies unfolds. It was so well done!! Highly recommend if you like thrillers!!

A lavish sweet sixteen party was turned deadly when a murder happens, the party is full of lots of secrets and liars …. I really wanted to love the one as the synopsis sounds like something right up my alley! Sadly, it was a bit of a miss for me!

The book has a bit of a slower start, the book is told from four different POVs which I usually like, but I feel like too much time at the beginning was set giving character development and background information, and not enough happening in the present!

I felt like most of it dragged and then everything happened in the last 10% of the book! I just wanted more throughout the entire book, there were also a few parts that were just a bit icky for me!

🥳pub day: July 1

Thanks so much for my advanced copy!! @stmartinspress @minotaur_books

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️