Once again I find myself wishing that Goodreads had the option of awarding half stars, because High Season is really good. It’s not quite a five star book for me in that the pacing can feel slow at times and doesn’t have the page-turning feel I really like out of the mystery/suspense/thriller genre, but it’s still really good. The book centers around the death of Tamara Drayton, and is told in two timelines: one leading up to her death and one twenty years later. One thing this does that many in its genre doesn’t do is explore another dynamic at a deeper level that is an underlying factor in the events that occur. In Bishop’s story it is class dynamics, the rich people vacationing in the area in their summer homes and the locals that work for them that consider inferior. One of those is Josie, who ends up being convicted of Tamara’s death. One of the POVs in the later timeline is Josie’s, and while you can’t tell when reading her part of the story whether she did it or not, as a reader it didn’t seem like it would be much of a story if she did. The testimony that condemned her was that of Nina, Tamara’s five year old sister, but as an adult Nina is questioning what she really saw twenty years ago. A true crime podcaster is too, which leads to an exploration of who else it could have been. One thing I normally hate in books is when an author isn’t consistent in the POVs throughout their story, but Bishop does it in this book and makes it work, layering them in as the story goes along to give the reader more information about what really happened and how people ended up where they are twenty years later. The reveal probably won’t end up being terribly surprising, but for me it was just as much about the journey to get there as the outcome itself. It’s well done and if you’re like me, never aspiring to have anything to do with entitled, spoiled rich people who have little regard for people they view as lesser than them. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

High Season by Katie Bishop follows dual timelines during the summer in the south of France.

Twenty years ago, Tamara Dayton was found unconscious during a party in her backyard. Tamara’s six year old sister, Nina, testifies to what she saw and who hurt her sister. Now, twenty year later, Nina is doubting herself and is determined to find out the truth.

I really enjoyed this story. The characters felt real, and I loved the friendship between Hannah and Josie. Katie Bishop was able to capture that feeling of summers when you’re a teenage girl. I really felt transported to the south of France with all of the vivid descriptions of the setting, and able to picture myself in the Drayton’s house. I found the reveal very predictable, so not a full five stars, but still had a good time.

Highly recommend for an engaging summer read!

Woah what a ride! I jumped into this a little skeptical of it being similar to books I’d read before - a tragic teenage death in Europe, the summer heat, a mystery to the truth. But this was so much more than I expected. The writing was accessible yet profound and I clung to every word. Truly a winner!!

This is a fantastically fun destination thriller with mixed media, multiple POVs, and a family with way too many secrets. I thoroughly enjoyed the structure of the story, and how the different POVs and segments of media unfurled the mystery. Fans of rich people behaving poorly, TikTokers on true crime crusades, and complexly woven relationships will absolutely devour High Season!

Also, as far as comps go, this book felt like the destination thriller vibes of Don't Believe It by Charlie Donlea mixed with the narrative style of The Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Greee.

This was a great suspense/thriller novel. I think it was obvious from the get go that Hannah and the brother were involved - but I was still intrigued enough to keep reading to find out what really happened. The author did an amazing job of making all of these women likable characters - I truly felt for Tamara and it was just sad all around. This was a great read and I will def. be recommending to my friends this summer!!

I usually like to save my mysteries for the fall but this one is perrrfect for summer! Twenty years ago at the "it" party of the summer on the Cote d'Azur, 17 year old Tamera died under mysterious circumstances. The police seem to be at a loss until her 5 year old sister, Nina, comes forward and says she saw who killed her. Now, a podcast and a documentary have brought this case back to the spotlight, giving Nina a chance to discover if she really saw what she said she did and is a five year old witness even credible?! Told in dual timelines and from multiple character viewpoints, this story moves quickly and will have you hanging on until the end!

This is a thoughtfully crafted book, characterized by distinct and well-developed characters, a carefully calibrated pacing, and a clear, engaging storyline that is both accessible and easy to follow.

20 years ago Tamara Drayton was found dead. Her killer was convicted based on the testimony of her 5 year old sister. The case started garnering interest when a true crime TikTok star started posting about it and now they are working on a documentary. This book had all the makings of a great thriller but had no thrills. This was more of a drama/mystery and left me wanting something more..Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I have had the opportunity of reading this book as an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was WILD. It takes the reader on a journey about a tragic event that happens to a family a decade ago and how that event has seeped into many different characters lives in present form. The author goes between the past and present tense so beautifully. I really enjoyed how the author provided backstory of the characters leading up to the event in question and presented them in present stage. The author did a great job bringing these characters to life and I didn’t see the ending coming at all!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

A decades old murder and lots of family drama. This was well-written with a fantastic plot! The characters drew me in quickly! I enjoyed this book!

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.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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.