Thank you to my besties at Macmillan Audio for approval for Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox!
I was drawn into this one because of the Minotaur Sampler and was excited to jump into this story.

I loved this book! And I think you'll love it if you like:
-Multi-POV
-Multi-timeline (sort of, there are SHORT chapters from 'after' the party but most of the story is in the day of the party as it unfolds)
-lots of characters with secrets in their pasts (that may or may not have an impact on the mystery)
-sort of 'rich people behaving badly' vibes with the OTT party that this dad throws for his daughter's Sweet Sixteen

I loved the way this story was told. It is multi-POV but they are easy to keep straight. We have Dani, the current wife; Kim, the ex-wife; Orlaith, the (older) nanny; and Mikayla, the (young) best friend. Each of their POV was so different that it wasn't a struggle to keep the many chapters and characters straight in my mind.

The setting of the party is a character in its own right. The house has a history and a reputation making it a large part of the story.

The way the story unfolds is quick, yet with enough background for the characters and their relationships with others to give substance to the mystery. It opened with a 'bang' with the first chapter so the build up to the reveal is filled with tension!

The audio production was great, each of the narrators brings their own voice to their character which made it even easier to keep the POV straight in my head. Mikayla and Orla have accents and are quite different age characters so they were the easiest, Kim and Dani have their own features so still loved their narrators as well.

LOVED!!

This was way different than I thought it would be when I first picked it up. I was expecting a Popcorn thriller. Instead I got a creepy story that went much deeper than anticipated. Haunted houses, postpartum depression/psychosis, betrayal, lies lies and more lies. Once I started I couldn’t stop.

This is one to grab this summer! I have a feeling it’s going to make a celeb book club pick, if not it definitely should!

Thank you Netgalley for the early copy.

“There is no word for a mother who has lost her only child, such as widow or orphan. But there are plenty of ghost stories of women haunted by children. The Irish speak of the Banshee, who died in childbirth- the Japanese warn of Ubume who if you meet her on dark road will hand you her swaddled infant who is really just a bundle of stone, or Mexico’s La Llorona, a mother who drowned her own children and now lures yours to the water’s edge. “

And, on the top of a hill in Bulverde, Texas sits a cliffside mansion with a legend of its own. Built from love for a woman, whose life ended in tragedy, 100 years ago after she loses her baby to illness and tumbles off of the balcony to her own death-her grief overwhelming. It sat in disrepair, rumored to be haunted by “THE MOTHER” who can sometimes be heard moaning on windy nights or be seen weaving through the trees in a white dress in search of her infant daughter.

But now it’s been remodeled into a “Barbie Dollhouse” the whole back open with floor to ceiling glass windows, and Ethan Matthews and his wife, Dani will be hosting a TEXAS SIZED black tie sweet 16 party, for his daughter Sophie who he co-parents with his ex wife Kim. And, the locals CANNOT WAIT to see what it looks like inside, as Ethan has invited more of his own friends than Sophie’s taking this opportunity to network and show off.

But, they will see much more than magazine worthy renovations that night.

Just as the candles on the exquisite three tired birthday cake are about to be blown out-the guests will witness another tumble from the balcony-another death-

WHO won’t survive the party?

This was an IMPRESSIVE DEBUT!

The story moves along at a FAST PACE, with short chapters from BEFORE THE DEATH and AFTER THE DEATH on the DAY and NIGHT OF THE PARTY-narrated from the alternating perspectives of 4 women.

DANI: Sophie’s stepmother, and new mom to baby Charlotte. She is feeling the pressure of wanting the evening to be perfect, for more reasons than one.

ÓRLAITH: Charlotte’s superstitious Irish nanny who senses that the home could be a “thin place” -a place where spirits can seep through from one World to the next.

MIKAYLA: the birthday girl’s best friend with secret wishes of her own and

KIM: The bitter ex wife who helped renovate the home, but now watches as another woman oversees the pouring of the chilled Veuve Clicquot at the most lavish event of the season. 🍾🥂

The misdirection was well done and I suspected all but one of the women of “foul play”!

Had I known sooner that this story had a GOTHIC VIBE (Kim even mentioned, Rebecca’s Manderley) I would have read it sooner, but I initially passed this book by because I thought it would have too much of a YA feel to it. Sure, Mikayla’s chapters do, but they are a small percentage of the overall story so it didn’t detract from my enjoyment. Instead, it’s a more of a soapy neighborhood story mostly told from the Adults perspective.

I was DYING to know how things would all play out.

You can make this your first SUMMER PARTY or save it for SPOOKY SEASON….

The Audible has a FULL CAST of NARRATORS and runs 10 hours 57 minutes at regular speed.
I was able to listen at 2x, and paired my written copy with the Audiobook for an immersive experience.

Expected Publication Date: July 1, 2025

Thank You to Minotaur Books/ St. Martin’s Press for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. And, for Macmillan Audio for the AUDIOBOOK copy. As always, these are my candid thoughts!

This is a sharp, twisty thriller that keeps readers guessing until the very end. With layered secrets, compelling characters, and a gripping pace, it's a binge-worthy page-turner perfect for fans of domestic suspense and scandalous drama.
The book centers around Sophie Matthews’ lavish sweet sixteen party at her father, Ethan and stepmother Dani’s mansion on the hill in Bulverde, Texas. The house is thought to be haunted and those rumors gain credence when, during the party, a body falls from the balcony. Who is the victim?
And who is the killer? Besides Sophie, Ethan and Dani suspicion may fall on Orlaith, nanny to Sophie’s infant half-sister Charlotte, Mikayla, Sophie’s life long best friend who wonders if she and Sophie are growing apart and Kim, Sophie’s mother who may still be carrying grudges.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this digital audio e-arc.*

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me an early copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Wasn’t sure I was in the mood for a mystery thriller, but then I binged in a day. 🤷‍♀️😂

It’s a Sweet 16 Party! We have multiple POVs: the birthday girl’s best friend, her mom, her dad’s new wife/baby mama, and their new nanny. And someone at the party dies. 🫢

We get flashbacks from before the day of the party, we get scenes from the party, and then, when all is said in done, yes, we find out what happened!

I had my guesses, and one of the guesses was right, but also, there were so many things I didn’t see coming, so yeah, I was a bit hooked.

The house is a bit haunted, maybe? The nanny is very superstitious. The moms maybe have some haunting/mental health stuff going on? And the best friend…is a teenager.

Every character is messy/flawed (my favorite kind), but I still found myself rooting for them (reluctantly in some cases? 👀)

And I thought the way that everything lead up to the finale was very well done. 👏

Definitely had a good time with this one!

Audiobook notes: Multicast narration. Not duet-style, every POV has their own narrator, but I found the chapters were pretty short, so the narrators definitely switch up constantly. I also found that each voice (although all women) were each distinct from one another, and I could easily keep track of whose POV we were in at any given time. 👍

What this book is giving:
✅ Mystery Thriller
✅ Multicast Narration
✅ Sweet 16 Party
✅ Someone is Dead!
✅ Locked Room Mystery
✅ Imperfect characters

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ / 5

This was a great debut that starts with a death and we look back and see what happened. It's rich people behaving badly and everyone is full of lies.

The story is told by a wide cast of narrators and POVs and I found it easy to follow. This was a bit of a slow burn with the action happening the last 25% of the book.

I didn't know who died and the motivation until the end. This book was entertaining and a great debut novel.

Thank you @minotaur_books @macmillan.audio for a copy of this.

Thanks, Macmillan Audio, for the audiobook!

It seemed to take forever to get 15% and I was already bored. The switching of narrators didn’t mesh. I loved the book blurb, but it did not hook me. Usually, I'm a fan of short chapters and multiple narrators, but with this book, I had no desire to listen to a book that required me to keep adjusting the speed with every narrator.

4.25/5, rounded down

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy!

PARTY OF LIARS was a fun suspense novel set before, during and after tragedy strikes at a young girl's sweet 16 birthday bash, and it delivered! For some reason, I went into this expecting it to be kind of mid, but I TORE through it, listening every chance I got!

This book had so many of the things that I love -- lots of POV's, flashbacks, foreshadowing and time jumps -- which added so much dimension, suspense and surprise to the novel. This was a great listen on audio, too, because every character had a different narrator and all of them portrayed their characters exactly how I would have imagined.

With any book that has time jumps, it's important for information to be revealed at the right moments, so as not to reveal too much too soon, and Kelsey Cox nailed that. The plotting was very well done and gave me just enough information to keep me guessing and throw me off the scent when I thought I had it all figured out.

There were some great red herrings, twists and turns in this book, too. While I found a few things to be predictable, I was really shocked at other reveals. Overall I was entertained by this book start to finish and feel really satisfied by the way things turned out!

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press | Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the debut novel by Kelsey Cox. The audiobook was fantastic because of the perfect narration by the full cast of Dan Bittner, Kate Handford, Pearl Hewitt, Saskia Maarleveld, and Suzy Jackson. All opinions expressed in this review are my own – 4.5 stars rounded up!

Today is Sophie Matthews’s sixteenth birthday party, an exclusive black-tie bash in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Sophie’s dad has spared no expense, and his renovated cliffside mansion—once thought haunted—is now hosting the event of the season. Then, just before the candles on the three-tiered red velvet cake are blown out, a body falls from the balcony onto the starlit dance floor below.

Bravo for a wonderful debut novel and fabulous audiobook production! I was instantly intrigued by this story, told in different POV from Sophie’s mother, stepmother, her best friend, and the nanny for Sophie’s new stepsister, as well as in an 11-hour timeline of before, during, and after the party. These women are all keeping secrets from each other and themselves, and none is a reliable narrator. It’s a locked-room mystery that left me questioning so many and I never saw the ending coming. There’s even a touch of superstition and folklore, as the house has the reputation of being haunted. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

Sophie Matthews’s sixteenth birthday is supposed to be the event of the year—a lavish black-tie party at her dad’s newly renovated cliffside mansion in the Texas Hill Country. The setting is glamorous, the guest list is exclusive, and everything seems perfect... until a body suddenly falls from the balcony, turning the celebration into a full-blown crime scene. As secrets unravel and tensions rise, it becomes clear that this party is full of more lies than laughs. This was an interesting book—it definitely had some wild and unexpected twists that made it feel a little out there at times, but overall it was a good read with plenty of drama to keep me hooked.

This debut thriller has an intriguing, before/after plot line with several POVs, each contributing their distinct voices to the story, particularly Orla.
The author effectively combines various subplots including teenage angst and their drama, petty rich adult cliques and a ghost legend in this unique narrative. She gave the ending a creative turn as well.
The narrator excelled at performing the different accents.
Highly recommend!
Thank you to the publisher/author for the opportunity to listen to this complimentary advanced copy. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I absolutely adored this drama filled, locked-room whodunnit! It’s rich people behaving badly at a sweet sixteen party. The guest list rings with alarm bells.. the bff and her clique, hating exes, drunk messy parents, a suspicious Irish nanny.. and HOW ABOUT THAT DRAMA, unreliable characters, the gaslighting, closet skeletons, lies, flashbacks and multi-twists that will keep you turning those pages. And SURPRISE.. all takes place in one location.. a supposed “haunted” mansion where a woman fell off a balcony a century before.. and now it’s happened again giving those haunt vibes credibility. Who fell? Was it an accident, or if murder, who did it? You’ll have to stay tuned to the end reveal. Really enjoyed and do recommend it! Is great on audio! 4.5 stars — Pub. 7/1/25

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

The setup? Immaculate. A glamorous Sweet Sixteen set in a possibly haunted Texas mansion, a tangled web of guests with secrets, and a body that quite literally drops in mid-party? Yes, please. I was instantly drawn in by the premise, a locked-room mystery meets southern gothic drama.

But while the tension was there, the execution felt stretched too thin. The pacing dragged in places, and it took a while to unravel the different character arcs. Listening to the audiobook helped keep me engaged, being able to adjust the speed definitely made it feel more dynamic and less sluggish.

That said, the shifting perspectives added layers to the mystery, and the atmosphere was rich with eerie undertones and Texas opulence. If you like:

Multi-POV thrillers
Dramatic family secrets
Murder at a mansion vibes
A touch of the gothic…
…then this one’s worth checking out (especially in audio!).

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC!

This one started really strong for me. It had a full cast narration, a whole host of badly behaved characters who were clearly keeping secrets, and a mysterious death to unravel. Unfortunately it became evident that it also had two completely tired tropes that I am sooo tired of seeing in thrillers: a woman who abuses alcohol, and a new mom who isn't believed about things happening to her because she's struggling with postpartum life.

The big twists could have DELIVERED had those two elements not been present. I genuinely don't think they were necessary to move the plot along, and it was honestly pretty disappointing for me as an avid thriller reader.

Ultimately still giving this one 3 stars because, like I said, that ending and those twists were pretty dang good. Party of Liars pub date is July 1.

Macmillan Audio
This is the perfect summer thriller if you're okay with being in the dark until the end of the book. At first, I wondered where this book was going, and I hoped it would be worth it. And it was. What a way to slowly weave together a plot without knowing which character can be trusted when they all have reasons to not be trustworthy. The audiobook is full cast, and wow, all of their performances helped add to the tension between the characters. There's a lot to unpack here, but it's a book that I will be thinking about and recommending all summer long.

Welcome to Sophie's Sweet 16, y'all.

Since her father invited all his friends, you can bet this is not just a book for the YA crowd.

We know from the beginning that someone has done a swan dive off the balcony. Who was it? Why? Did "The Mother" crash the party?

Here are five things I loved about this one:

🎣I was hooked from the first chapter. The house has a history and the party is pushing the envelope. That dramatic beginning gave this a similar feel to Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.

🐠The red herrings are jumping and distracting us from the real villain of the story. You will be fooled just like the rest of the folks at the party.

👶I have been driving back and forth across town to help with a new baby. This book was just what I needed for that daily trek.

🎧Macmillan Audio invested in five narrators for the various voices in the book. The party and days before really came to life as I listened to the diverse cast of narrators.

📚While the narrative dips down into a dark valley at times, there is a hopeful ending and one last twist. I would definitely read another book by Kelsey Cox!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an audio ARC and to Minotaur Books and Edelweiss+ for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m honestly not sure how I feel about this book. I can’t say I didn’t like it — because I did, in some way. It pulled me in, stirred up a lot, and left me sitting with emotions I can’t fully explain.

I felt deeply sorry for all the victims in the story. Their experiences stayed with me, and even now I find myself thinking about them. There’s a heaviness in the way their stories are told — quiet but intense.

I wish I could explain more, but I’d risk spoiling something important. Just know that this book is emotionally charged, and it lingers. I didn’t love it, but I definitely didn’t dislike it either. It left a mark, even if I can’t fully name it.

Wow - for a debut book, this FIVE STAR read knocked it out of the park! I was hooked, I was thrilled, I didn’t want to stop reading!

Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox is about Dani, a baking influencer and new mom, who wants to throw the perfect Sweet Sixteen party for her stepdaughter Sophie. She’s hoping to impress her husband, stay on good terms with his ex-wife, and bring the family closer together.

But the party takes a scary turn. Dani is still recovering from a breakdown, and when she finds a creepy note and a message written in lipstick on a mirror, she starts to panic. Is she imagining things again—or is something really wrong?

The story jumps between characters perspective both before and during the party, revealing secrets along the way: a jealous best friend, a struggling ex-wife, a vulnerable new mom, and even a strange online fan who sneaks into the party (and even Dani’s pantry!) just to meet her.
*The voice actors did a phenomenal job bringing the characters to life making this all the more intense of a read.

With adults drinking, teens left alone by the pool, and the heat turning up, everything that could go wrong does. This book was full of drama, emotion, and twists—and I was hooked the whole time.

Big thanks to NetGalley, Kelsey Cox, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the early copies of Party of Liars scheduled to release July 1st.

I found the narrator of this audiobook too difficult/annoying that. I could not get into it at all. I made it to about the 50% mark before having to stop it for the final time. I felt like I could not get over the narration and missed/forgot things from earlier in the story. I would be willing to read this as an ebook for a better review on the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this book in advance in exchange for an honest review.

This was a wild ride. While there were several characters, the story kept you interested as everything developed. I was constantly wondering what was going to happen, and I truly did not see that ending coming. The author did the old bait and switch, and I applaud her! I really enjoyed that this was in first person and the audio has different narrators. It was truly entertaining!

Great thriller! Highly recommend!