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

Creepy, claustrophobic, and full of secrets—The Wasp Trap is a slow-burn psychological thriller that kept me guessing until the end.

Mark Edwards does a great job of building atmosphere; the tension and unease are palpable from the very first chapter. I enjoyed the layered mystery and the way little details slowly clicked into place. That said, the pacing felt uneven in parts, with the middle dragging a bit before things ramped up again, and some reveals didn’t pack quite the punch I was expecting.

Still, the unsettling tone and final twists made it worth the read, and fans of Edwards’ trademark “what would you do?” scenarios will find plenty to enjoy here.

okay me reading a book by a male author who isn't fredrick beckman!!!

this was a middle of the road thriller/mystery for me. i love mysteries that have a multitude of characters and they each have entanglements or have known each other for a while. the personal interactions just make the mystery better idk. seeing these characters reunite had me on edge and i was dying to know all their secrets. the pacing was odd and kinda off and times which is why i didn't end up loving this. by the end i was kinda over everyone in the book...

I almost DNFed this but I’m glad I stuck it out. I didn’t really get into it until about 20% in but really enjoyed it after that. I love thrillers of friends reuniting with some mystery in their past, and especially at a dinner party. Loved the title too.

The Wasp Trap was deliciously dark and refreshingly fresh...that seems repetitive but if you read this you get it!

I enjoyed this from start to finish and highly recommend.

Cleverly written, this book is packed with suspense and secrets. Who is the psychopath…if anyone?

Everyone has heard of a psychopath or sociopath and yet, this book drills into you the point where you’re now thinking outside the book of who this could be. It’s someone who lacks remorse, has no empathy, loves to be entertained, wants to do bad things and craves power and status. They use their superficial charm and disregard for rules to get what they want. This could be a lot of people.

The story starts with a professor, Sebastian, who is setting up an online dating site. It seems simple enough. He employs six qualified individuals to live in a London home in June, 1999 for a few weeks to transform this concept into an entirely fresh perspective. They are stimulated and the reader goes along with this as if it’s a game.

There’s nothing simple about it. Twenty-five years later, however, there is a dinner party with the original group. Now someone has changed the lovely scene into one under duress at gunpoint -- demanding to know what the secret years ago was amongst the six characters and professor.

You’re glued to the pages as the author inches towards new revelations with a continuous flow of tension. It’s not only a captivating thriller, it makes you more aware of how easily we are manipulated by psychopaths – some he points out who are successful leaders and politicians. I found it to be engaging as I eagerly wanted to solve the mystery. The outcome fooled me.

My thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of September 16, 2025.

The premise of this book is straightforward — a group of old friends get together for a dinner party in honor of their old professor and mentor. But as with all good mysteries, there is a lot more to it than that.

We learn more about the characters as they are now compared to 25 years ago when they were last together as we unravel what broke up the start up for a new dating site they were working on.

It’s really hard to say much more without giving away the twists and turns of which there are plenty. I’ll just say it was a fun and satisfying read.

Although Mark Edwards has written over 20 books, he was new to me, and I’m glad I finally crossed paths with his work. The Wasp Trap turned out to be a layered, compelling read with plenty to unpack.

The writing is sharp and nuanced, with each chapter peeling back another layer of secrets. I found the premise to be both intriguing and believable, and the dual timelines added real depth to the story. It struck a satisfying balance between emotional tension and psychological suspense, with moments that genuinely hit hard.

I especially appreciated the “locked room” atmosphere in the present-day narrative. Even though the setting is a spacious house, that sense of confinement lands with impact and, for me, it amplifies the anxiety and unease in all the right ways.

The setup in the beginning felt a little slow, but once things started to unravel, the pacing found its stride and became very rewarding.

This is the kind of book where you genuinely can’t predict the ending because you’re not given all the pieces until the very end. The reveals build steadily, each one adding a new layer, until that final detail clicks everything into place… and the payoff was genuinely satisfying.

If you’re drawn to stories built around secrets, trust, and manipulation, this one’s worth picking up. I enjoyed it a lot, and I’ll definitely be exploring more of this author’s work.

Thank you @netgalley and @atriabooks for the eARC, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

First time reading a Mark Edwards book and it did not disappoint! Gripped me from the very beginning and didn’t let go till the end. The suspense kept me flipping through the pages and had me on the edge of my seat. I’m excited to read more from Mark Edwards! Thank you Mark Edwards, NetGalley and Atria Books for this digital arc.

A dinner party in a beautiful Notting Hill townhouse turns into a sinister game, as six old friends are forced to spill their darkest secrets…or else...

I love a locked room mystery, and The Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards felt like it gave me a new twist on a classic trope. While our six characters are forced to tell their secrets from that summer so long ago and turn on each other to save themselves, we're getting flashbacks from 1999 that help set the scene even further. As the tension grew and secrets spilled, I was becoming even more unconvinced that I knew how the night would end! The last few chapters still managed to surprise me, and that epilogue was the PERFECT way to end this story!

Thank you, Atria Books, for the ARC in exchange for a review. Definitely recommend picking this one up!

This was an intense, gripping, and twisty read about a dinner party gone wrong (plus a lot of baggage)! I didn’t know what to think because every chapter had a little twist. It was hard to follow at times due to the amount of characters but other than that it was an engaging read that kept my attention!

"A dinner party in a beautiful Notting Hill townhouse turns into a sinister game as six old friends are forced to spill their darkest secrets...or else.

Six friends reunite in London to celebrate the life of their recently deceased ex-employer, a professor that brought them together in 1999 to help build a dating website based on psychological testing.

But what is meant to be a night of bittersweet nostalgia soon becomes a twisted and deadly game. The old friends are given an ultimatum: reveal their darkest secrets to the group or pick each other off one-by-one.

It soon becomes clear that their current predicament is related to their shared past. The love questionnaire they helped develop in 1999 for the dating site was also turned into a tool for weeding out psychopaths: The Wasp Trap. This experiment and the other tragic events of that summer long ago may help reveal the truth behind a killer hiding in plain sight.

Alternating between the past and present with a colorful ensemble of characters, The Wasp Trap is a fast-paced and twisty thrill ride that is perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Alice Feeney."

In high school we did a early dating profile cupid thing, about three years before this book is set. That caused absolute chaos. I can only imagine this will be the same.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for an advance reader digital copy!

The Wasp Trap is a fast-paced thriller taking place in London related to a team of students who worked for a professor developing a dating app. It is a dual-timeline novel that switches between the development of the app in 1999 and a dinner gathering of the same team 25 years later. It only took me about a day to finish reading because I couldn’t put it down! While there are multiple characters with different backgrounds, it was not hard to keep track. The last few chapters also led to many twists with an ultimate surprise ending that I couldn’t have guessed. I would recommend it to people who enjoy thrillers with a start-up background.

I devoured this book! It's the perfect blend of psychological suspense, locked-room mystery, and slow-burn emotional unraveling. I was hooked from page one and couldn’t stop turning the pages once the secrets started pouring out.

Told through a seamless dual timeline, this story brilliantly ties together past and present with multiple layered mysteries. I was constantly questioning who to trust and just when I thought I had it all figured out, Mark Edwards threw in another jaw-dropping twist that left me reeling. The whole psychopath angle was sooo well done. Creepy, fascinating, and completely unexpected.

The characters are vivid and so well-developed. I loved the exploration of friendship, love, betrayal, and buried secrets. And the setting of a charming Notting Hill home surrounded by two mysterious buildings adds an eerie sense of isolation that just amplifies the tension. The pacing builds slowly but deliberately, and when it hits that final quarter, you just cannot look away.

I’m a huge fan of the locked-room mystery trope, and this book hit every single note. High stakes, emotional complexity, and a truly satisfying conclusion.

If you love twisty thrillers that leave you breathless and second-guessing everything The Wasp Trap is for you. I couldn’t recommend it more!

My copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Atria Books for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Six friends gather for a dinner party, and someone’s hiding a secret that could put them all in danger? Sign me up.

Unfortunately, The Wasp Trap had all the right ingredients for an exciting read, but the execution didn’t quite deliver. The story moved slowly, and the frequent flashbacks to 1999 could have been condensed—they slowed down the pacing and took away from the present day action. The big secret isn’t revealed until the very end, and by that point, it was hard to stay invested because I never really connected with any of the characters, and things were getting a bit far fetched. There was also an odd fixation on psychopaths that felt out of place, given the group had supposedly gathered to create a dating app.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for a honest review.

3.5 stars rounded down.

This was good, but not great. The first quarter of the book was super slow and I felt like nothing happened. Luckily, it picked up and did have some fun "twists" here and there, but ultimately, it ended up being super far-fetched. I also felt like the secrets leading up to the "big" secret were kind of boring. The intertwined loved story felt a bit weird, too. I, personally, would probably skip this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of this novel.

If you love a character-driven story, this one is for you! The story is told in dual timelines, which I always enjoy, and it goes back and forth between the project that changed everything & the party.

It’s secretive, chilling and just the kind of read that keeps you flipping the pages to see what happens next. It’s a read that I will recommend to all my friends who enjoy a thrilling reading experience.

Six former colleagues reunite for a dinner party to honor their recently deceased professor who brought them together in 1999 to work on a revolutionary dating website based on psychological testing, but the evening quickly turns violent when they're held hostage and forced to reveal their darkest secrets. The group includes Will (a failed writer turned teacher), Sophie (his former missed-connection living aimlessly), Rohan (struggling financially and hoping for a bailout), Lily (the brilliant tech mind working on something top-secret), hosts Georgina and Theo (the power couple who built a tech empire but are hiding family tragedy), and mysterious newcomer Fin who no one has ever seen before but who seems suspiciously cozy with the catering staff. Edwards builds the tension efficiently once the house is locked down and cell service disappears, using dual timelines to gradually reveal how their work on the dating algorithm (which could also identify psychopaths - "The Wasp Trap") connects to their current predicament. Even though I could feel a big reveal approaching, the reality of it was actually unexpected. I enjoyed it despite the book bouncing between serious suspense and moments that felt almost silly, but somehow I still tore through it.

Thanks to Atria & NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one took me by surprise! Once it gets going, it's full speed ahead and things unfold quickly. It was so riveting, I read it in about a day and a half.

During a dinner party, old colleagues who haven't seen each other in 20 years end up in a dangerous game of secrets that reveals crimes from that long-ago summer ... and some more recent. Our touchstone character is Will, a shy wordsmith, falling in love for the first time with Sophie, but he's too shy to let her know and fearful of rejection. Meanwhile, the others on their team, assembled by a professor who has hand-picked them all for their significant talents, are working to build a science-based dating website. But they are waylaid by one of their number's distraction project of a "wasp trap," or, psychopath test, leading to unforeseen situations which have long-lasting ripples, extending into the present day and this particular dinner party.

I rarely give 5 stars to anything, but this book was extremely entertaining and of course, there is a twist! But a believable one (so step back, Freida McFadden fans). It was a fast read and I devoured it - this book is definitely worth your time (and I will be seeking out more Mark Edwards!).

The Wasp Trap
4.25/5

This thriller had me hooked from the beginning ! I thoroughly enjoyed the way the author had you suspecting every single character.

During a dinner party, friends are forced to reveal who has the secret ? I can admit I continuously guessed the wrong person.

This jumps between the past and present in a way that doesn’t feel jarring, and keeps you hooked . I yelled at my Kindle because I was too invested in what was happening then it would go to a different timeline. Author did a great job of keeping me hooked.

What just happened!?! This book was so intriguing, I had a hard time leaving it alone!! The twists literally made my mouth open in shock. Mark Edwards is going on my favorite author list for sure! I am so glad that I got the ARC for this book because I will be recommending it to everyone.