This book definitely gives Clue vibes however it feels much more repetitive and thus really took me out of the story. I wanted to care so badly but just could not when were reliving things 7 times. It was too much for me.

And Then There Were None meets Clue meets The Masque of the Red Death…Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests channels some pretty well-known and well-loved narratives, which should, one would think, set it up for success.

The opening chapter gets the story off to a strong start as readers tag along with seven strangers who’ve been invited to a mysterious dinner party. Whittle makes a great choice in allowing us to experience the gathering from each guest’s unique perspective, and for me, the use of multiple narrators is the best part of the book.

Once the dinner party is over, the narrative unfortunately gets caught up in a largely receptive cycle - Death! Murder!? Debate. Move on - to the point that it feels like the author is just ticking plot points off of a checklist rather than developing a unified narrative.

Like other readers, I agree that the mystery was pretty easy to unravel. But unlike other readers, I had a harder time seeing much of a larger message in that reveal. I guess there’s a bit of the old tried and true, don’t let any one bad impulse consume you, but even that didn’t hold up in the end.

While I think the idea has potential, for me, it missed the mark in its execution. 3 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A mysterious dinner party on a secluded and somewhat questionable London street is the launching part for this story that reminded me of Of Then There Were None but with a twist. Seven strangers, with no connections to one another, are invited to a lavish dinner and each given an envelope stating their age when they will die. Is it a horrible joke, a PR stunt, or something more sinister? Some open their envelopes and some choose not to. As they leave the dinner that night, they have no clue how deeply they have all been pulled into a game that not all will survive.

Two weeks later, one guest is dead and the others quickly gather again to try and put the pieces of this puzzle together. The story is told from the viewpoint of each guest and as their numbers dwindle, everyone is a suspect and each one is terrified of their approaching number.

Who is responsible for this? Seven guests and seven reasons. What did each of these guests do to "earn" their invite?

A huge thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests. Each character is exceptionally written and you truly feel you're getting to know them (and suspect them). Woven into the whodunnit that drives you to keep reading is the beauty and pain of the choices we make in our lives and how they affect and sometimes consume us. Their choices, their pain, and the consequences of the both propel this group forward as they search for who's behind this nightmare and if they have time to make it stop before their number is up.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 out of 5 stars)

This was such a clever, contemporary mystery that gives a clear nod to the classic whodunits of Agatha Christie—but with a fresh, modern twist.

The premise immediately pulled me in: seven guests, one mysterious dinner invitation, and envelopes predicting the age each guest will die. It all seems like a dark joke—until the first guest dies right on schedule.

Told through multiple POVs, the structure worked so well in building suspense while allowing each character’s backstory and motivations to unfold. The cast is diverse, relatable, and layered, and the slow burn of realizing how they’re all connected had me fully hooked. The plot twist? Didn’t see it coming, and it delivered.

A fun, page-turning read for fans of classic murder mysteries with a modern spin.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests is a darkly clever and atmospheric mystery that begins with a dinner party no one understands. Seven strangers are invited to a lavish meal with no host. Instead of introductions or entertainment, each guest receives an envelope revealing the exact age at which they will die. None of them know each other. None of them know why they were chosen. And no one knows who brought them there.

As time passes—weeks, then years—the unsettling predictions start to come true. One by one, the guests begin to die, exactly as foretold. Is someone orchestrating this elaborate plot behind the scenes, or are the deaths a matter of fate? The question lingers as paranoia and obsession take root.

This novel is both a psychological puzzle and a meditation on mortality, fate, and free will. With slow-burning suspense and a haunting premise, it will appeal to fans of unsettling thrillers and high-concept mysteries.

Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests by KJ White is a gripping mystery thriller that kept me hooked from the start. The story begins with seven guests invited to a dinner by an unknown host, each attending for their own reasons. At the dinner, the host remains absent, and the seemingly unconnected guests are left bewildered when they each receive an envelope revealing the age at which they will die. Initially dismissing it as a bizarre joke, they do not worry when one guest dies at the predicted age two weeks later. As more deaths follow, the remaining guests begin to become concerned.
Told through seven points of view, the story features a diverse cast of characters whose connections are initially hard to decipher. Once I got a handle on the characters, I became deeply engrossed in the story. It’s an easy read, with an intriguing premise that explores suspense and mystery. While I had my suspicions about the person behind it all, there were plenty of unanswered questions and intricate details to unravel, which kept the pages turning.

Thank you NetGalley and Soucebooks Landmark for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

Seven Reasons to Murder your Dinner Guests by KJ Whittle started off slow for me, but picked up at the end. The title really grabbed my attention and the premise sounded great. Seven strangers are invited to a fancy dinner party. At the end of the evening, they all receive envelopes with cards that tell them the age they will die. As the story progresses, the dinner guests start dying at their predicted ages from the dinner party. The middle seemed to drag at times mainly when Vivianne, one of the dinner guests, was conducting her investigation. It was repetitive with her internal monologue. The ending picked up for me though once things started to be revealed. Overall, I did enjoy this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC.

“Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests” is a masterpiece. Suspenseful, and humorous, you can’t put this book down. Whittle starts off with characters you can’t wait to die, but slowly and beautifully you grow to love and root for them. Highly recommend!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me access this book!

I love a good take on “and then there were none” especially when the characters make the connection. A similar book (with an equally satisfying ending) is Darcy Coates’s “dead of winter” (though it is far more gory and a horror rather than a somewhat cozy mystery that glosses over the violence—especially given that most of the characters believe everything to be accidental and/or coincidence).

The dramatic reveal at the end was a great way to both have the villain give a villain speech and not hit the cliche of the villain soliloquizing (is this a real word?) before their victim. The author also did an excellent job of hinting at secrets and solutions to the myriad of small mysteries as well as the greater one that gave just enough info to make you think you’d figured it out, only to realize you were only halfway there.

Whatever the author writes next, I am definitely looking forward to it!

Three courses. Seven guests. One card.

It's a deadly evening they'll never forget. This book reminds me somewhat of And Then There were None. It was a fun book to read and I kept guessing who the murderer was until the very end. Highly recommend!

So I tried really hard with this book, but could not get more than 35% through and have the desire to finish be stronger than my free time and ability to read with five kids. I skipped the last 12% to see what happened, I don’t know if the issue was me or the book. I just did not really care about the characters, some of the descriptions seemed a little Gothic or a horror-ish, which I did not super love. The writing was good and the plot seemed well paced. It just didn’t grip me in and I didn’t care enough about anyone to see what happened. All the characters seemed unlikeable, but not in a 3D way, and the ending seemed not worth the pay off. Maybe I was the problem but this book wasn’t for me.

This book had me pretty hooked from the start. Seven strangers, a mysterious dinner party, and ominous cards predicting their age of death? Yes, please. I devoured this in an afternoon, completely engrossed in the unfolding mystery.

I have to admit, I wasn't entirely sure whodunnit, which kept me turning the pages. The suspense was well-maintained, and the multiple perspectives added depth to the narrative. That said, there were a few plot holes that left me scratching my head. A bit more editing could have tightened things up and clarified some of the twists.

Overall, a compelling read that I'd recommend to fans of twisty mysteries and ensemble casts.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review—plot holes and all.

Seven strangers who attend the same strange dinner party start dying off one by one over a several-years timespan. Will anyone be left in the end? Is the killer one of the strangers, or an outsider? How are all these people connected?

This story is a nice spin on the "and then there were none" plot, albeit without the claustrophobic vibe of the Christie novel. The characters are well drawn; the tie-in with the seven deadly sins is a fun touch. It was difficult to be too upset about many of the deaths, as the characters are revealed over time to be pretty awful people. It did feel a bit repetitive after awhile, as each character died (was killed off?) and the remaining original dinner guests reunited at the subsequent funeral: death, funeral gathering, everyone talks about what they think is going on, rinse, repeat. At about the halfway point I had the killer narrowed down to one of two suspects, but the ending was pretty good, if a bit unoriginal.

Recommended for readers who like uncomplicated, well written mysteries. May be good for those just dipping their toes into the mystery genre.

I could not put this book down once I started. It reminded me a lot of The Measure, but more mysterious and darker. There were 3 major twists and while I somewhat suspected one of them at the beginning, the last two were a complete shock! I absolutely adored this book! If KJ Whittle releases any other books, I want to be the first in line to read them.

Thank you KJ Whittle, Sourcebooks, and NetGalley for the ARC!

4.5 ⭐️
Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests is like And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, a whodunit. Seven strangers get invited to a dinner party where they eat and drink getting to know each other. Suddenly notecards show up in front of them…written on them are the ages of which each guest will die. Slowly each guest is picked off at the age that showed on their cards, while racing the clock they try and figure out who the murderer is.

I had so much fun reading this and following along through the different perspectives of each of the characters. I was stumped until the end of who was behind it all.

Thank you Sourcebooks for providing me this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Addictive take on the "Then There Were None" theme - one mystery dinner party, seven guests, will they die at the age writtsn on their card? Well done multiple character study as we learn more about each guest, and more secrets uncovered as their fates unfold. You may guess a bit, but it won't hurt the storyline - definite fun for mystery fans.

A bit of a slow middle but the end made it so so worth it. I really enjoyed reading this mystery/thriller! I’m a sucker for any mystery where characters are strangers and then start disappearing. I also appreciated the outright nods to Agatha Christie. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the e-ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the chance to read an eARC of Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests! 3.5 ⭐️, rounded up to 4. I quite enjoyed the storyline - however the lengthy chapters and shifting timeline sometimes made it hard to stick with. I quite enjoy nods to And Then There Were None so was very excited to dive in to this one. A solid debut for this author and I would recommend this novel. Just make sure to carefully follow along so you don’t get lost in the shifting timeline like I did a few times!

The first thing I thought after I read the last sentence in this was: When is the next one?! If that's not an endorsement, I don't know what is? I enjoyed this so much!

Seven dinner guests, all with envelopes containing the age at which they will die, was a great setup. While I did figure out the identity of the killer, this was a very compelling story to follow. All the characters were well crafted, and I very much cared about why they were under threat and by whom. I haven't been this satisfied with a mystery in months (I've read plenty). I don't often say what kind of read a book reminds me of, but in this case, I will. As I reflected on it when I finished, it brought to mind Peter Swanson's Eight Perfect Murders , which I loved. If you're a Christie fan, you will see callbacks there as well. It was just, for me, all good.

Many thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the Advance Reader's Copy.

I thought it was just ok the plot was good but it was a bit drawn out. Overall it was a decent read and I’m surprised I didn’t see the twist coming I thought Viv was the murdered but overall it was okay!