I recently had the pleasure of receiving an ARC of High Season by Katie Bishop from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book in three words: complex, suspenseful, unreliable.

High Season
Summary: On a beautiful summer’s night twenty years ago, troubled seventeen-year-old Tamara Drayton was found floating face-down in the pool of her family’s idyllic mansion in the south of France. Her sister Nina, at six years old, became the youngest person ever to testify in a French murder trial. Because she’s the only one who saw what happened—who watched as her babysitter, Josie Jackson, pushed Tamara under the water, and held her there until she stopped breathing. Or did she? Twenty years later, Nina's memories have faded, leaving her with no idea of what really transpired that night. When a new true crime documentary about her sister’s murder is announced, Nina thinks this might be her chance to finally find out.

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If you’re anything like me, you read this description and immediately were hooked. I’m a sucker for an unreliable narrator and High Season did not disappoint.

Set against the backdrop of a glittering French coastal town, you can practically taste the salt in the air and see azure blue on the pages. But while the town is beautiful, Nina’s experience there is anything but. She lives with her new-money family (think Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo) in a crumbling mansion atop the French hillside, mirroring the eerie decay of Nina’s own memory.

Nina was only six years old when her sister Tamara drowned, but now, twenty years later, she can't remember what she really saw. Her brother Blake and her mother have all but erased Tamara from their lives, creating a chilling silence around her death. When a true crime documentary starts digging up the past, Nina takes it as a sign to finally find the truth. With Nina now a child psychologist, memory and how it shapes us (and betrays us) is at the core of the novel.

The way the novel handles the split POVs is absolutely perfect. We hear from Josie, Tamara, and Hannah (Josie's best friend) during that fateful summer and the tense present, along with 25-year-old Nina. I never felt like there were too many perspectives—each character is fully fleshed out, complex, and wholly unique. As the story unfolds, you realize that each of them knows something different, each is hiding something, and the full truth only clicks into place in the final pages. The tension is steady and relentless, but it’s never over the top (i.e. perfect for someone like me who isn’t fully into bone-chilling suspense and gory details).

High Season was eerie, intriguing, and a little heartbreaking. For anyone who loves true crime documentaries, unreliable narrators, and family dramas simmering under the surface, this book is a total must-read. I’m still thinking about it days later.

Releasing this August, High Season is for those of you who are interested in true crime podcasts (this is entirely fictional, but through the post cast and the dual timeline reveals, we find out the true culprit). Set between 2004 when Tamara Drayton drown in the pool of her families home in Cote d'Azur, where Josie the babysitter who was charged and sent to prison for her murder and 2024. 

The only witness to Josie's supposed crime, was five year old Nina Drayton, who no longer has any memory of what really happened that night. Now that Nina is an adult, she returns to the family home after receiving an email about the podcast that promises new evidence as been discovered. She is determined to find out who killed her sister, no matter the cost.

High Season by Katie Bishop

There are two timelines here. In the past the story is focusing on five year old Nina and her seventeen year old twin sister and brother, Tamara and Blake. We get to spend time with these three plus two other teens, Josie and Hannah. The income disparity between the families of these characters is great. Nina's family is extremely well off and well known while Josie and Hannah's family struggle with money and all the problems that come with trying to scrape by one way or another. Both Josie and Hannah feel the affects of being nobodies with nothing, invisible to those who are the rich folks who visit the south of France resort and mansion area.

All these teens lives changed during that one season twenty years ago. Tamara drowned and Nina saw who drowned Tamara. There was a trial, Nina's testimony was crucial and someone when to prison for the murder and lives went on with everyone being affected by the murder and death. But now a podcaster wants to dig everything up, especially because there are rumors that the person who went to trial did not kill Tamara and that whoever did kill Tamera is still walking free. What is really disturbing to Nina is that she has doubts about what she thought she saw that night. In fact, she can't remember seeing what she said she saw. Nina's family wants all of this to go away but Nina might just want to find out what really happened that night.

Often times I don't enjoy hanging out with teens, especially teens that might be up to no good more often than not. Yet, even though these are normal teens pushing boundaries, the author did a very good job of allowing me to feel for them despite the fact that I couldn't relate to them very well. For all the rich kids had, they were lacking in real and genuine attention from the adults in their lives. They had little guidance and what help they got from the adults were things that would not be good for character growth. Josie and Tamara knew they didn't matter to anyone, knew that when the well off gave them attention it was in order to use them, and didn't have adults who could support them either. Feeling for the characters when they were younger made the characters as adults interesting to me because I knew their past and how they didn't have help dealing with what happened. I wanted to know what happened back then and the way we learn is very slow and enlightening.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

This book delivers a gripping blend of family drama, psychological tension, and buried secrets. The book centers on the tragic death of Tamara Drayton. The characters are layered, especially Blake and Nina, and the mystery unfolds with just enough twists to keep you turning pages. It’s a beautifully written, unsettling read that sticks with you.
Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this novel.

When Nina was five, her teenaged sister Tamara was murdered at the family’s summer home on the Azure coast of France. Nina became the youngest person ever to give testimony in a murder trial in the country history vaulting her into infamy. Now, 20 years later, a new documentary is determined to figure out the truth behind what happened that night as Nina is beginning to question what she truly remembers. She finds herself with the unlikeliest of allies, Josie Jackson, then teenaged girl Nina claims to have seen murdering her sister that night.

This book is told along to timelines: the present; and 20 years ago, chronicling the events leading up to the murder. It is also told for multiple points of view, though I did not have trouble keeping track of who was who throughout the novel.

This book was really well written, and the suspense was completely ratcheted up to 11 throughout the entire thing. From the very beginning, you are thrown into the world of the dysfunctional. Drayton family who lost a daughter and sister 20 years before and will not talk about it at all even as Nina wants to discuss what she is feeling and questioning. Then you have Josie, who has been released from prison, but can’t escape what people perceive her as. All of this is swirling around the central mystery that you are also seeing play out in one of the timelines and it creates this desperate need to know what exactly happened all those years ago.

The author drop some hints throughout the story and I did have my suspicions about what was going on, and I guessed some of what had happened before the big reveal. But as I’ve said before, that’s not a dealbreaker for me, if the book is interesting enough and keeps the suspense high With continued twists and details that make me want to keep reading. And this book definitely had little twists and other things that made me want to keep turning pages until the very end.

That final conclusion and how things worked out was really satisfying and I applaud the author for handling some very sensitive subjects really well. In the end, the suspense was kept high throughout the book, and there was a lot of depth that I really wasn’t expecting.

If you’re looking for a good mystery thriller for the summer that takes you on a journey to the beautiful coast of France, this will be a good one to pick up. I’ll definitely be looking for more from this author!

**I was provided this book as an e-ARC. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this story and provide my honest opinion on it.**

High Season by Katie Bishop was the easy-read/mystery/beach read French coast story I didn't know I'd needed.

I love a story written with the concept of "flashbacks" and this book delivered. It didn't feel like a gimmick and each time we jumped back 20 years in the past, the information we learned was integral to moving the plot forward. I lost myself in trying to figure out who really was the guilty party? Was it Josie? Was it one of the other host of characters who all seemed a bit off their rocker? And why did two of the folks seem SO determined to keep Nina from digging into the past. Her past. Her memory?

I loved this story and will absolutely recommend it to friends!

Lots for discussion in this well written book such as trusting ourselves, adjusting after getting out of prison and treatment post prison, class privilege and entitlement, envy, loyalty between friends and family and many others that i dont want to reveal due to possible spoilers. Likeable interesting women characters and mystery to be solved as a new podcast opens up a 20 yr old case, told in past and present

This is a beautiful book, a book ultimately full of hope and love despite what they have endured. The premise is very interesting, 20 yrs after the murder of Tamara a documentary brings together the four main women affected by it. Nina, the child who say it and now wonders if she can trust her memory, Josie the girl who was imprisoned for ten years for the crime, her best friend Hannah and Tamara herself. It is slow build up of all the layers of relationships, with a timeline of before it happened and current day, how do you live in the after and what really happened

I really enjoyed this thriller! The writing was great, and I really enjoyed the characters. I always love an unreliable narrator, and this book leaves you constantly guessing. Definitely recommend!

I was lucky enough to win an ARC of HIGH SEASON by Katie Bishop in a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thank you for the early look, and try to stay safe, sane and happy out there.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a readers copy of this title. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely given.

If you like a good mystery/suspense story, grab this one. The teenage daughter of a wealthy family is found dead in the swimming pool, but she didn’t simply drown. Her 5 year old sister testified that she saw another girl from the town fighting with her in the pool the night she died.
Josie, the accused, was convicted and has been released from prison. She returns to her hometown as an Internet personality begins bringing publicity back to the murder.
There are so many elements to the book that made it compelling. Is a child’s memory reliable enough to convict someone? The class difference between the affluent and those who surround them, the expectations of people who are told things and are expected to accept them as truth.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this one and would recommend it.

The setting was profound, the characters had depth, rich people doing bad things/less rich people observing and internally reflecting on the actions of others. I loved the dual timeline and how the characters started to question their own memories or manipulate themselves into misremembering what really happened. This was luscious.

I honestly loved this. I love how the author says so much without fully saying it. The way that so many time crime content creators speak disrespectfully about cases, forgetting that the people and victims involved are actually real people.

SYNOPSIS: Nina has been struggling since the death of her sister 20 years prior. At just 5 years old she was the sole witness to what happened. Her account put Josie Jackson behind bars for years. Josie has always maintained her innocence. Now a documentary is being made to mark the 20th anniversary of the case and Nina, Josie and the other key players from that night are all on a collision course that will change everything they thought they knew about that summer, Tamara's death and themselves.

This story was entertaining and kept my interest once it got going. The chapters switch back and forth between 20 years ago and the present, and different 3rd person POV's. The story shows how that night changed everyone's lives and how they have been dealing with the aftermath. I did predict what the outcome could be, so I wasn't blown away with the ending, but did find it satisfying and wrapped up. If you enjoy true crime "armchair detective", you will also enjoy that aspect, as one of the characters chronicles her findings throughout the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC.

This book started off pretty slow for me, and it took me longer than usual to finish. It did pick up after the first third, but I think part of the struggle was that I didn’t trust any of the characters, which made it hard to connect with them or feel invested in the outcome.

I liked the dual timelines, but I wish the big evening had happened a bit sooner—it felt like the buildup dragged on for too long.

Early on, I had a theory about the twist, but as more details unfolded, I second-guessed myself and thought I was wrong. Turns out, I was right in the end—but the journey kept me engaged because I was never completely sure of anything.

Overall I think this was still a worthwhile read. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

High Season is one of those books that sneaks up on you. It’s wrapped in a sun-drenched, retro-glam setting—South of France, private villas, luxurious pools—but don’t let that fool you. Underneath the sheen is a slow-burning psychological mystery that digs into family trauma, memory, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

The story centers on Nina, who at six years old became the youngest person to testify in a French murder trial after her teenage babysitter was accused of killing Nina’s sister, Tamara. Now, twenty years later, Nina’s hazy memories are being pulled back into the spotlight thanks to a buzzy new true crime documentary. As old footage resurfaces and the public starts dissecting her story all over again, Nina starts to question whether what she remembered was the truth—or something more complicated.

Told in dual timelines, the book moves between that infamous summer in the early 2000s and Nina’s present-day reckoning. Katie Bishop does a great job creating a moody, immersive atmosphere, full of tension and emotional complexity. Nina is a layered character—flawed, uncertain, and deeply human. You feel her discomfort, not just about what happened back then, but about how her identity has been shaped by something she only half-understands.

What I especially liked was how High Season examines our cultural obsession with true crime. Through interviews, transcripts, and documentary scenes peppered throughout, Bishop subtly critiques how public narratives often strip away nuance in favor of drama. There’s a meta quality here that adds depth without feeling heavy-handed.

That said, some of the timeline shifts and perspective changes could have been a little smoother—I occasionally found myself flipping back to ground myself in where/when we were. But the final act makes up for any early confusion. It’s emotionally resonant, thoughtfully handled, and gave me exactly the payoff I was hoping for.

If you’re into slow-burn mysteries with complicated family dynamics, unreliable memories, and the kind of quiet tension that builds until it cracks, High Season is a great pick. Perfect for fans of Ashley Audrain, Megan Miranda, or anyone who loves a mystery with real emotional weight.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance reader’s copy!

Take this review with a grain of salt - the grain being that I'm becoming increasingly certain that books in the mystery/thriller genre in the last, say, three to five years are unfortunately not now what my bookish heart enjoys. Craves - I want to like them, probably, but it's rarely quite satisfying enough.

And the same is true with Katie Bishop's High Season.

It's a theoretically good mystery/thriller. There are a couple twists I absolutely did not see coming and the ending - if we pretend the epilogue doesn't exist, is really satisfying.

But I have moral/ethical issues with the whole TikTok/podcast/blogger true crime obsession in real life, as it were, in which random people treat tragedy like a game of Whodunit without concern for the survivors. So it was hard to get into a novel about it.

Story-wise, the biggest issue for me was the time skips back and forth between 2004 and 2024. The happened abruptly, and unless you're paying very close attention the years 2004 and 2024 can look pretty similar and you might miss that there was a jump. And then the 2004 stuff was written in present tense? Time is weird.

Anyway, if that's the sort of thing that you like to read, though, absolutely no judgments from me. I hope you like it.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author for the chance to read an early copy of this book.

"High Season" by Katie Bishop is a captivating mystery that I devoured in a single day. The narrative unfolds at a brisk pace, alternating between two timelines. In the present, we follow Josie Jackson as she returns to the glamorous beachfront town where she was convicted of murder two decades ago. The story also delves into Josie's teenage years, depicting the summer leading up to Tamara's murder alongside her friends. Nina, who was just five years old when she witnessed her sister’s tragic death and testified during the trial, now grapples with doubts about her memories from that time. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and the ending was truly exceptional. This book is a perfect choice for a beach read!

I extend my gratitude to Net Galley and the publisher for providing the advance reader's copy for review.

High Season by Katie Bishop is a slow burn of a book taking place in two different timeframes and with multiple POV's. The big question in this novel is 'who killed Tamara Drayton?' Tamara's death occurred in 2004 and the main witness was Nina Drayton, a six year old child. As a result of her testimony, Josie Jackson is sentenced to 20 years in prison. It is now 2024 and, armed with a PhD in child psychology, Nina returns to her home in the south of France. Nina rarely visits her home as it triggers memories that she'd like to keep below the surface. She wonders whether she was too young to have testified and whether memory is the same thing as truth,

What happened on that tragic day in 2004.? Mostly, it had all been forgotten and laid to rest but in 2024, the murder is once again in the public eye, brought to light by a podcaster. And, importantly, Josie Jackson, the woman imprisoned for Tamara's murder, is free.

I enjoyed the characterizations and felt like they were nicely rounded out. I especially enjoyed reading about Evelyn Drayton, the washed out mother of the Drayton clan. Once a socialite and am 'it' person, she is now a slurring alcoholic who has gone through multiple husbands and boyfriends. She leaves the care of her children to paid home help and babysitters.

I thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Katie Bishop for the opportunity to read this advanced review copy of High Season.

A read that is dual time, a time before the death of seventeen year old Tamara Drayton, and then twenty years later. Tamara and her family are old money in Côte d’Azur in France, and we are there for the mother's birthday.
Friends, or people who use others, and then someone is accused of murder. Did she do it? A pod caster gets involved twenty years later, and I did guess whom the culprit was, but the journey there was full of surprises.
I did love that there is closure for some and some justice for others, I did feel sorry for Nina, and more so after the facts are revealed!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher St. Martin's Press, and was not required to give a positive review.