4.5 rounded up. Very entertaining, quick paced with an air of mystery and foreboding. I figured out the who in terms of the real culprit pretty early in but it didn’t take away from enjoyment of the book as there were so many other turns and characters that have major flaws. The imagery and descriptions were great in this book, I felt like I could see the people and settings perfectly

Great narration, too.

Advanced listener copy provided by Macmillan Audio but all opinions are my own.

This book didn't click for me like many in this genre do. I tend to like multiple POVs and female narrators, but I think this one had a bit too much going on. I liked the first half, setting up for the big party and finding out about the mom and stepmom's backstories. But once the party started things got kinda messy. I don't think the friend's point of view was needed, especially with the drugs and drinking. I did like some of the ending so it was worth it to hang in there.

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

Locked-room mysteries are one of my absolute favorites, so I was very excited about one. I’m thrilled to say it didn’t disappoint!

Party of Liars was such a fun, twisty read! I got hooked pretty quickly—there’s drama, secrets, and just enough suspense to keep you flipping pages late into the night. The characters are messy in the best way, and even though some of them drove me crazy, I couldn’t stop reading to see what they'd do next.

There were a couple parts that felt a little rushed or too convenient, especially toward the end, but overall it didn’t take away from the experience. If you like juicy stories with scandal, mystery, and a little bit of that rich-people-gone-wrong vibe, definitely give this one a shot.

If you’re a fan of mystery and great narration, you’ll absolutely love Party of Liars. It’s a thrilling tale of a wealthy family’s sweet 16 party that takes a dark turn. The story unfolds in reverse, and over 11 hours, you’ll be hooked on this well-crafted murder mystery. The narration is top-notch, and the twists and turns will keep you guessing until the very end.

Title: Party of Liars
Author: Kelsey Cox
Format: 🎧
Narrators: Dan Bittner, Kate Handford, Pearl Hewtt, Sasjia Maarleveld, and Suzy Jackson
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: Domestic, Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: July 1, 2025
My Rating: 4.3 Stars!
Pages: 336

Sophie Matthews is turning sixteen and her father Ethan a Psychiatrist is planning a lavish, Texas-sized Sweet Sixteen black-tie party at his gigantic mansion located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, perched on top of a hill overlooking the city.
The party goers are excited as everyone has wanted to see the renovations that have been done. The mansion is known for spooky tales of “The mother” who haunts the place as she is grieving the loss of her baby nearly 100 years ago.
But before Sophie blows out the birthday candles on the three-tiered red velvet cake, a body falls from the balcony onto the dance floor below.

Story is told before and after ‘The’ party and is told from the POV of many characters ~~
Dani: Sophie’s new young stepmother who is an Insta-influencer and has a six- month old baby girl Charlotte. Dani has had some issues that we slowly find out about.
Kim: is the jealous ex-wife who is Vet and was married to Ethan while the renovations were taking place~ Now is a bitter, foul mouth unlikeable drunk.
Mikayla: Sophie’s best friend who is not a cheerleader and doesn’t hang out with ‘cool Kids.
Órlaith: Is Charlotte’s Irish Nanny and is very superstitious.

Story is told before and after ‘The’ party. There are several storylines, regarding both the teens and the adults. I love this this audiobook was narrated by so many great performers who made it clear who was who!

We know that someone falls from the balcony onto the dance floor below.
There is so much drinking going on as the party started in the middle of the afternoon. It is surprising only one fell!
Everyone had too much to drink. The teens were served nonalcoholic beverages but we all know teens will be teens when it comes to drinking at a party.
I mentioned Kim was unlikeable however, she certainty wasn’t alone.

I wasn’t sure where this story was going but I did like the ending!

Want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio/ St. Martin’s Press ~Minotaur Books for this early Audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 1, 2025.

When I tell you I was SHOCKED when that PLOT twist hit! I LOVE a good thriller and this book had so many twists and turns. I really thought I had it figured out and then the author said SIKE! This was def a 10/10! I can see the thriller side of booktok devouring this read!
I am a huge audiobook listener and this audio was done so well! I loved all the multiple POVs !
Thank you so much NetGalley for approving me for this ARC!

This was a lot deeper than I expected! At surface level it’s a story about a party that goes awry but really it deals with secrets, loss, alcoholism, the challenges of parenting, and gaslighting.

The audiobook narrators did a great job of putting me in the story and I binged this in a couple days.

Would definitely love to read more from this author in the future!

This was a fun, twisty thriller about a death that happens during a sweet sixteen birthday party. I really enjoyed the audio book, which had different voice actors for each of the characters (something I love for multi-povs). This is one of those stories where you know a death is coming, but you don't know which character is going to die. I figured out one of the "twists" (it's not quite the right word, but I can't think of the word I want right now) about halfway through, which led me to suspect who are victim was going to be, but it didn't dampen my enjoyment. I also legit gasped at one point. The one thing I will say is that the ending is SO similar to the ending of another thriller which felt kind of weird. Regardless, this was fun, and I would recommend.

Party of Liars mainly takes place during Sophie's lavish sweet sixteenth birthday party at her father and stepmother's ginormous mansion perched up high on the hill. Everyone in the town has shown up, mostly to snoop inside the recently renovated mansion upon the hill-- a mansion fraught with intrigue and rumored to be haunted by 'The Mother'.

With a premise like this, author Kelsey Cox builds on the eeriness and suspense, introducing us to a handful of characters, all seemingly harboring secrets of their own. The story is told in alternating POVs between Dani (Sophie's young stepmother and new mom of baby Charlotte), Oralaith (the suspicious Irish nanny), Mikayla (Sophie's insecure best friend), and Kim (the grudge holding ex wife/Sophie's mom). The storyline bounces around between 'before', 'during' and 'after' the party, which helps build on the multiple storylines, eventually converging into one satisfying conclusion.

We learn in the very beginning that someone has fallen to their death during the busy party, similar in fate to 'the mother' decades before, but we do not learn who has died and who may be the killer until the very last chapters. The weaving of multiple storylines and timelines was ambitious yet executed brilliantly by Cox. The author planted seeds of doubt and suspicion throughout this slow burn of a psychological thriller across an entirely unlikeable cast of possible victims and/or suspects. While a few things I suspected along the way came to fruition, there were still many more surprises that I didn't see coming by the time I was finished.

I've said it once, and I'll say it again-- I'm a sucker for an audio production involving multiple narrators. The production of Party of Liars delivered on this front, with five different narrators who each did a fantastic job bringing their respective characters to life!

This is my first experience with this author and overall I was impressed with story. The author did a nice job portraying the struggles of parenting teens and was able to combine just enough mystery and suspense to the plot. I listened to the audio version and the production did a lovely job. It was easy to listen to and the narration was at a steady smooth pace.

I really enjoyed Party Liars. It pulled me in right away with all the secrets, drama, and twists I didn’t see coming. Such a fun and addictive read, I couldn’t put it down.

Very standard thriller. Not one I will remember for long.

Sophie's 16th birthday bash ends with a body falls from a balcony. And we're left to figure out who died. And was it an accident, or did another guest kill them?

Overall I felt like the story was well written and the cast of characters was good, but the mystery part just fell flat. There was a bit of a paranormal hint to the book that panned into nothing and I didn't feel like the twists were well written. I also just felt extremely disappointed with the ending and how it left the characters.

The audiobook was well done with multiple narrators.

I love a good mystery book, so it was pretty easy to want to request this one.  It's been a while since I read one with multiple points of view, and so that was a real stand out feature of this book.  It's always fun to wonder which characters you can trust and to wonder who exactly is telling the truth.  This was an absolute perfect example of that.

Each of the characters brought something different to the story, and their unique perspective kept me engaged.  I would get to the end of one chapter and want to know what was happening with them more, so I would have to keep reading in order to find out.  However, then the next perspective would keep me just as engaged.  It made for a read that was very hard to put down.

Sometimes, with a mystery, I'm able to guess what will happen next, but I can honestly say that this one kept me completely guessing.  I fell into the trap of trusting the narrators too completely and they duped me.  I was suspicious of the wrong people, and I really did not expect the outcome of the final story.  It was very well-plotted.

I think that my favourite perspective to read from was Dani's.  I found her the most interesting with how she felt that she was going mad because of the way she was being told that she was going crazy.  I really felt for her when no one was willing to believe her in what she had seen, and then simply dismissed her.  However, the other characters were just as interesting and just as compelling.

Overall, I had a great time reading this book.  It was so fun and twisty.  If you like compelling mysteries, I highly recommend this one.

I really enjoyed this thriller. I wasn't expecting it to be so fun, but I was happy to be surprised! I did guess a significant twist pretty early on, but that didn't hinder the story for me. Overall, a really fun thriller that happens mostly over the course of one party.

Today is Sophie Matthews’s sixteenth birthday party, an exclusive black-tie bash in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, where secrets are as deep-rooted as the sprawling live oaks. Everyone is invited in. Not everyone will get out alive.

This multi-POV and multi-timeline thriller has all of the right elements - a cast of troubled but (some) likable characters, hidden motives, secrets, and a mystery at it's core. I appreciated the pacing of the book, as it moves from different characters and timelines. I figured out part of the reveal but not all of it and enjoyed playing along.

The narration was great as well.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for a free copy of #PartyOfLiars by Kelsey Cox. All opinions are my own.

The multiple narrators made this a super enjoyable listen! Kept me engaged the whole time but WHEW that twist near the end had me listening until I finished it! Really enjoyed this one!!

This book was such a blast to read — totally addictive from the start! The characters were the best part for me. Dani, the anxious new stepmom, had me rooting for her even when things got messy. And Kim? She’s the kind of ex-wife you love to hate. Órlaith added this eerie, almost supernatural vibe that made everything feel even more tense. Everyone had secrets, and it was so fun watching it all unravel. If you love thrillers with messy, layered characters and lots of juicy drama, you’ll fly through this one.

Thank you Kelsey Cox, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

"Party of Liars" was such a pleasant surprise! I don’t usually go into mystery/thrillers with high expectations—mainly because I read them for the book discussions I run (my patrons love them!) rather than for personal enjoyment. But this one completely exceeded expectations.

Kelsey Cox masterfully kept me guessing from start to finish. Just when I was 100% sure I had things figured out, she flipped everything on its head. The twists genuinely caught me off guard, which doesn’t happen often.

I also really enjoyed the full cast of narrators. With so many different points of view in the story, it made a huge difference to hear each character come to life in their own voice. It added clarity and immersion that made the audiobook even more compelling.

Highly recommend this one if you’re looking for a twisty, well-executed mystery with great narration.

Thank you to Kelsey Cox, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for sending me the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Someone will die at Sophie Matthew's party to celebrate her Sweet Sixteenth. Her father has spared no expense with an over the top, black- tie bash at his renovated cliffside mansion. Just before the candles are blown out on Sophie's cake, a body falls from the balcony. This book is written like a murder mystery and is told from multiple points of view. It had me guessing up until the very end with this whodunit. It moved a bit slow for me and it wasn't until the last 20% or so that it picked up.

Overall, I enjoyed the narration. The voices fit the characters very well. I especially enjoyed Mikayla and her Texas accent as well as Orlaith's Irish accent. 3.5 stars