This book seems to have some mixed reviews and I can kind of understand why, but for me, it worked! It was exactly the kind of read I was in the mood for and I do enjoy a good locked room style mystery.

The whole story centered around a family in their big, fancy, expensive house, getting ready to celebrate their daughters sweet sixteen birthday party. It seems that pretty much the entire town is invited and by the end of the party, somebody has died. But how?

There is a cast of characters and all of them are suspicious. There is the husband/Dad of the birthday girl, his new wife and their new baby (of course she has some post partum depression and everyone thinks she's crazy...a trope that's overdone in my opinion). There's the birthday girl herself and her annoying friends, including her childhood best friend who is shy and awkward and doesn't quite fit in the rest of the group. The ex-wife is there as well (who is the mother of the birthday girl) and she has a bit of a drinking problem herself. There's also the older Irish nanny who seems to know a little bit too much about everything. Not to mention, the rumors throughout the whole town that the house itself is haunted.

I had a variety of theories while reading and it turns out, I was only partially right about the ending. So the twist did get me a little bit, which I loved! The book was the right amount of creepy and was very entertaining. The plot itself was very fast paced and overall, it was a good read for me!

I cannot say a whole lot about this book without giving anything away, but let’s just say it’s a mystery, only you won’t find out who was actually killed until near the end. With a very unique cast of characters, each with something to hide from various walks of life, various ages, and each with an issue or two of their own, the author did a very good job of distinguishing them one from the other. I enjoyed the book and would recommend this author to others. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance read copy.

Thank you, Netgalley, for another read. I would like to preface my review by stating that while the story is intriguing, there are way too many curse words in the book and using Jesus's name in vain for my liking, I would prefer if books used cleaner language. However, this does not affect the plotline. This book has some dark scenes and twists that I was not expecting. There were some inappropriate scenes that I was uncomfortable with. I only finished the book because I wanted to know what happened. The mystery is what makes this book interesting and hard to put down.

Party of Liars kicks off with a lavish Sweet 16 party at a Texas mansion—one with a chilling history. The house was once home to a woman who lost her child and later took her own life, and local whispers claim it still belongs to “The Mother.” I love a setting with a haunting past, so I was thrilled to receive an advanced copy of this book.

The characters stood out to me because they felt authentic—flawed and complex, just like real people. The pacing was excellent, and the mystery kept me flipping pages as fast as I could. While I enjoyed the ending, I found myself wanting more insight into the nanny’s past and how she connected to the house’s eerie history.

Overall, Party of Liars delivered a gripping, fast-paced mystery with compelling characters and an atmosphere that kept me hooked!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the advance copy. I wasn't familiar with the author but the premise was interesting. Party of Liars turned out to be unputdownable. Three women and two sixteen year olds recall, in alternating chapters, events leading up to, during and just after an elaborate sweet sixteen celebration. Set in a spectacularly renovated cliffside mansion, there is, from the start, an ominous tone to the telling. Cox's writing is crisp and on point. The characters mostly ring true (some characters imbibe more than seems humanly possible) and I am still trying to decide if the ending, a one-two punch, was one I anticipated or whether I was skillfully led astray.

When she said killer guest list that is what she meant!! Love it! First time reading this author and really enjoyed it.

**★★★☆☆ | Glitzy, Dramatic, but a Bit Overcooked**

This book had all the makings of a fun, fast-paced mystery—Texas-sized wealth, an opulent Sweet Sixteen, and a good old-fashioned locked-room whodunnit. The setting was atmospheric, with the renovated cliffside mansion adding a nice eerie touch, and the drama kicked off in spectacular fashion with a body dropping onto the dance floor.

That said, while the premise hooked me, the execution didn’t quite stick the landing. The twists were plentiful but sometimes felt more for shock value than actual payoff, and some characters were more caricature than compelling. The pacing sagged in places, and by the end, I wasn’t as invested in the reveal as I wanted to be.

It’s an entertaining read if you’re in the mood for something flashy and dramatic, but don’t expect to be blown away.

I found some of the characters annoying and so that took me out of the book and was a reason that I only rated this book four stars and not five stars.

This book sounded right up my alley, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. I don’t mind not liking any of the characters in a book, but these characters were tough to read through. How they were written just didn’t catch my attention and I didn’t care for them. The ending was not exciting and not climatic. I wanted more mystery and less drama. Thank you NetGalley for this digital arc.

While this was a fun read, it was a typical rich people whodunit that was easy to figure out about 1/3 of the way through. It is a fun summer mystery read so try not to think about it too much as you're reading and you'll enjoy it too.

PARTY OF LIARS is set in the hill country outside of San Antonio. I loved the references of all the places I knew from having lived there ☺️

It was full of rich people drama and LOTS of gaslighting (🤢👎🏻.) The multiple POVs did make it a little hard to follow at first, but it was a bingeable read. Unfortunately, bc of the gaslighting it wasn’t a total win for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the arc 🍾

Another decent beach read with some odd characters. A bit formulaic and the plot(s) have been used in many other books.

Thanks to the Netgalley and publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review

Once upon a time, a German man built a lavish and grand mansion to impress her love. They got married there and were living happily after. A tragedy sabotaged everything and the mansion was declared to be haunted and no one lived in there.

Ethan Mathew doesn’t care about this kind of lore and buys it to upgrade it to modern standards. He is throwing a grand sweet sixteen birthday bash for Sophie, her daughter, in here. Everyone is interested in seeing this historical and haunted mansion from the inside. However, the party quickly turned into a psychological thriller. Stories with several POVs are my favorite, it is really fun to live inside the brains of several characters. Dani, the second wife of Ethan is suffering from self-doubt after giving birth to Charlotte and is in therapy with Ethan’s best friend. Kim, ex-wife, hates Ethan and Dani for being happy while her life is not what it used to be. Sophie, who is on good terms with everyone and more than excited to have her grand birthday party sees the regret on her ex’s face. Mikayla, Sophie’s best friend since childhood is considered her daughter equally as Sophie. Orlaith, a creepy nanny of Charlotte.

Most of the characters made me angry or creep me out but at the back of my head I was expecting some twists and turns and exactly that happened. Starting instantly grabbed my attention and the ending was also a little unexpected if not mind-blowing. The problem was the pace and middle of the book. The pacing felt sluggish and dragged too long before any real action took place. Several useless details kept making me distracted. It seems like after one point, characters were spiraling in the same thing and the story was not going anywhere. The vibes of the book were unsettling which might be a good thing as it aligned with the inner motives of the characters. The thing that annoyed me the most was that it took almost an entire book to learn who was murdered. The ending has several loose ends. I expected some intense mystery, and mind-blowing twists and turns but it was more of a really slow-paced psychological thriller. The story had potential but so many characters and slow pace didn’t help it.

WOW! What a ride! The story starts a bit slowly, but when it gets going it's non-stop. Just when you think you have it all figured out, you find that your suspicion was wrong. So, the speculation starts again.
There's one particular twist you won't see coming and will leave you wondering. And, that's not the big twist.
The ending is the big twist and is totally unexpected. But it certainly ties up loose ends.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries and thrillers.
Thank you to #NetGalley#KlseyCox#St.Martin'sPress for an ARC of #PartyOfLiars

I really liked the beginning and I really liked the end, but my goodness, the middle was a long, drawn-out overdone experience... I was actually contemplating The DNF for this one, but a bunch of reviews talked about the great ending and so I hung in there and skimmed. I'm glad I did because I really liked the way it all came together in the end, but it's a book full of unlikable people who do unlikable things, and at some point the descriptions of them started to wear me down. Stick with this one, though, because the ending is worth it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 (3.5 stars rounded up)

A lavish sweet sixteen at a newly renovated and probably haunted house. Texas drawls. Big hair and big glasses of wine. A new, young wife and mother. A jilted ex-wife. Teenage drama. A very suspicious nanny. A murder. *Stefan voice* This book has everything.

This book is a wild ride. I loved the shifted perspectives and the way sections picked up pace to propel the story forward. The unfolding of this story was a blast, trying to figure out who knows what and when.

As a newly post-partym mom myself, there is enough talk of postpartum depression and escalating intrusive thoughts that it was at times fairly distressing so I’ll caution readers who may be sensitive to that to proceed with caution.

The only reason this isn’t a four star review is because this book feels very long. It dragged for me, particularly in the middle.

I think it’s worth muscling through though, because my jaw DROPPED at the twist. Kelsey Cox uses tension and audience expectations so effectively to set up storylines, red herrings, and twists that left me very satisfied at the end of this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

I was invited to read this debut novel and obtained an ARC through NetGalley.

This is an unusual book. It centers around a girl’s extravagant 16th birthday party, held at a mansion, the home of his father and a new wife. Numerous characters are introduced and developed throughout the book. Teenagers, friends of the wife and ex-wife, work colleagues, the nanny.

You have a sense that something bad is about to happen. You don’t know who the victim will be. You don’t know if there is a murderer and/or perpetrator. There are many candidates. But you need to wait a l-o-n-g time for things to actually happen.

The book was intriguing. The characters were almost all totally unlikable, surely by the author’s design. Though entertaining, I admit to become impatient waiting for the main event, hinted at
throughout the book, to occur.

This book absolutely floored me. It’s hands down my favorite read of the year so far. Kelsey Cox’s writing is not only beautiful but also incredibly immersive—I felt like I got to know every character on such a deep level. The atmosphere was chilling, and I truly felt like I was inside the house, experiencing every eerie moment alongside the characters. The way she wove the story together, keeping both the victim and the perpetrator a mystery until the very end, takes serious talent. Just when I thought I had it figured out, the twists completely caught me off guard. It’s definitely in the same vein as Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier—I could feel the creepiness of the beautiful mansion—and I loved every second of this immersive reading experience. I will absolutely read whatever she writes in the future!

While this book was a quick, I got bored because you didn’t know who was going to die. Pretty early on I figured what was going on and just wanted to know who would die.

Usually birthday thrillers arent my thing but watching Sophie's super fancy party get crazy was entertaining. I tend to read a lot of locked room mysteries and this was high up there. I didnt catch who the killer was till close to the end.