This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

4 stars - “Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests” is very much reminiscent of the classic Agatha Christie "And Then There Were None"! It’s a really solid mystery & I really enjoyed it - also fast paced. The seven changing POV’s were hard to keep track of at first, but all the characters were very well-crafted, and I felt invested as to why they were targeted & their ultimate fates. Recommend to all mystery fans who dig locked-room tropes and similar. My sincere thanks to Net Galley & the publisher for my “read now” advance readers copy - always so fun to discover a new talent!

“Three courses. Seven guests. One card.” The opening line of the summary had me hooked.

A mystery dinner party where you as the reader get the chance to crack the case is always my favorite kind. The multiple POV was good, although a little confusing at first while keeping everyone’s stories straight. After the halfway point, I felt more confident in the storyline and noticed the author focusing on two characters in particular for their growth. I liked how it picked up the pace but do wish there was a bit more balanced detail about the others. Overall, a fun read especially for my first ebook! Thanks to NetGalley and KJ Whittle for the ARC ♥️

This book was very different than some that I have read before. I absolutely loved it. The Characters were very relatable.

Three courses. Seven guests. One card.
It's a deadly evening they'll never forget.
Seven strangers meet for an anonymously hosted dinner party. As the evening winds down, seven cards appear, one in front of each of the guests. On the card is a number – the age at which they will die. Thinking it an elaborate prank, the guests disperse into the night, hoping to forget the morbid evening forever.
Two weeks later, one of them is dead at exactly the age the card predicted.

You've been invited to a dinner party, but not just any dinner party. A dinner party where theres only 7 guests, and you know a none of them. A dinner party where you don't know who the host is. A dinner party where you will find out the age you will be when you die.

You can open the envelope now, or later, or never, but it won't change the results. At least it didn't for anyone else.

Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests is like a murder mystery dinner where everyone thinks they are the victim but no one dies at dinner. Cleverly written with characters that will surprise you, this was a read that I found to be incredibly fun. Vivienne's tenacity to figure out what is really behind this dinner party and her courage to find ways to change the end result made me fall in love with her. And KJ Whittle sure knows how to write a twist. Overall, I rated this book 4 1/2 out of 5 stars and would definitely recommend it to mystery lovers.

*Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests* is a thrilling and suspenseful novel that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. When seven strangers are given cards predicting the exact age of their deaths during a dinner party, it seems like an unsettling joke—until one of them dies at the predicted age. As the body count rises, the remaining guests must unravel the mystery before their own numbers catch up with them. With its clever premise and chilling twists, this novel is a thought-provoking exploration of fate, fear, and mortality.

This was the first mystery / murder mystery book that I’ve ever read and while it did not disappoint, it also left me confused for most of the book. I very quickly started rooting for Vivienne and seeing her character arch through was very fulfilling. Overall I loved the way the multiple POVs throughout each chapter and the insight into each character that was provided. The only reason i gave 4 stars rather than 5, is that I was very clueless throughout the whole book and saw no clues whatsoever as to who the murderer might be. Overall, a very cozy murder mystery that I would definitely recommend! Thank you so much Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC!!

Thanks to #NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book. I had a hard time getting into the book and put it down several times before finally finishing it. I am glad that I decided to finish the book and I enjoyed it. The character development in the first half of the book was needed to set up the faster pace of the second half of the book. I would definitely read another book by this author.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but I delivered! Seven guests come together for a dinner party and then start dying! I figured out the mystery partway through the book but it didn’t decrease my enjoyment!

I’m really having a hard time putting together my thoughts on this one. I liked it enough and was surprised by some aspects and then others I wasn’t. I liked the general premise as a take on “And Then There Were None,” and thought this would be a 4 or 5 star read for me, but something just didn’t work for me as well as I had hoped and I can’t quite figure out what it is…

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.25 Stars

This book was fine. It was hard to get into at first because the 7 changing pov’s were hard to keep track of initially. Once I figured out who was who the book started to get more interesting.

I found myself guessing at who the killer was early on and not very surprised about the secret connection that was revealed. I don’t know if the author’s clues and foreshadowing were that obvious or if I was just able to piece things together easily. But because of that the reveals in the end weren’t that shocking.

All the characters were purposefully unlikable so I didn’t feel any strong feelings any time one of them died. The only character I really grew to like was Viv but I suppose it was written that way.

I’m kind of disappointed in the way it ended and the killer escaping, but with that ending I guess it might be setting up for a sequel.

Once the book picked up it was an interesting read but it took me multiple attempts to get into it.

Thank you to NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book…. It gets its hooks into you and doesn’t let go until the very last page. Seven dinner guests all get cards telling them the age in which they will die. Some have longer to live than others. Thinking at first it is a hoax, none of them take it too seriously. That is until the guests start dying off.

What is the connection, if any, to these seven people? Who is committing the murders? Why?

Thank you SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

And Then There Were None retellings are plentiful because Agatha Christie crafted a recipe for delicious, and mysterious, success. Seven strangers meet for a beautiful, well catered dinner before our murder mystery begins. Then we're off to multiple POV's as each dinner guest tries to run from the personal secret revealed in a small black envelope.
It seems like you're meant to dislike all the characters, with one growing exception, so it's easy to see where the ending, the reveal, is going. Aside from figuring that connection out fairly quickly, it's interesting to find out how the other dinner guests are related to the host. It's hard not to think of the movies The Menu and Seven, what with cleverly hidden in plain sight allusions of the deadly sins at a special dinner, references to moral codes, and well-thought plans which involve all seven dinner guests "meeting" their age card numbers.
Where the story fails, though, is in its pacing and character design. The initial pacing is slow, and later "chapters" quickly drift from "I'm going to read the rest of the book in this sitting!" to "oh, more droning on about something that doesn't feel that important/we've read a version of this before." Of course some of the longer living characters will get more attention than others, but they still feel almost unreachable, or one dimensional. I know we're not out here looking for character growth in these Christie retellings, but it'd also be nice if our characters could be honest with themselves or have more than one all consuming flaw that's their entire reason for existing.
I can see this being a fun choice to read for a book club or with friends, see it sparking plenty of interesting conversation. Thanks to NetGalley and SourceBooks for the e-ARC.

*2.5*
I don't think that this book was for me. I really liked the concept of the novel, but the format it was written in made it a little unbearable for me to read. I think it would have been better had their only been one character followed like Viv, especially since she feels like the main character, and is in some ways, anyways. Also I kept losing track of the ages very easily, some characters I though were supposed to die before others but it was the other way around. This may have been a me issue or it might have been a lapse in continuity. The person who was responsible was kind of unexpected in my opinion until the very end where it was laid on a little thick. The who and the why were obvious but also felt convoluted. And the person who did it just made me feel really bad not for them, but like I feel gross after reading this. That is not an insult to the content of this book, that is just a feeling that happens to me when I consume certain pieces of media. Overall this was fine, I don't think this was really for me but definitely for somebody else.

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.