In 2005, five friends attend a year‑end party; one dies overnight. In 2025, Amy, one of the survivors, is approached by a true‑crime podcaster probing the drowning two decades earlier. Her past resurfaces—and with it, danger.
This book rich in tension, underlying emotional drama, and unexpected turns. After the Party promises an unsettling, layered mystery built on friendship and guilt.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy for an honest review.

After the Party was a quicky, easy read that kept you guessing the entire time. At one point or another, you start to suspect pretty much everyone of being the culprit. Everyone is just a little suspicious and casts a little doubt. I can honestly say that I would not have ever guessed the way it actually turned out. I am just a little on the fence about how I feel about the epilogue. I kind of wish it had ended differently but it was still a great book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Hannah is a podcaster who wants to interview four friends on the 20th anniversary of their friend's death. this is a dual timeline story

I loved this book! Hannah is investigating the twenty year anniversary death of Summer on her podcast and wants to interview Hannah’s friends from that time. There’s a dual timeline that alternates between today and twenty years ago. The characters are well developed and kept me interested! This is a great read and I highly recommend it.

Took a while to get into this book however I enjoyed it. Was an enjoyable read and a few twists I didnt expect. 4 stars

A gripping read.
A story about friendship, dark and twisty.
A real who done it.
Well written characters and overall an intriguing storyline.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

Super dark and super engaging! This one was hard to put down. My first book by this author and now I need to do my research and look up others because I really enjoyed this writing style!

Overall a good read although for me I did lose the thread a few times in the storyline and didn't really gel with the characters.

I did manage to finish this book but it didn't grab me as much as some other reviewers have said.

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC but unfortunately for me it wasn't the best I have read.

If you want drama, suspense and twists, with all the trimmings then this read is for you. Quirky, dark and scary enough to keep you reading. Loved it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of After the Party by C.L. Swatman due to be published September 13, 2025.

Hannah Hastings is investigating the death of Summer Carpenter, who drowned two decades ago. Amy and her friends tried but could not forget that dark day. Now the whole thing is coming back to haunt them. Are they all in danger?

This one is a mystery as well as a story of friendship and what lengths we are willing to go to keep secrets that may hurt others. It was a fast, fun read that definitely kept me interested throughout and eager to see exactly what had happened to Summer and who was involved. I highly recommend this one!

#NetGalley #CLSwatman #AfterTheParty #BoldwoodBooks

From the moment I started this book I was completely hooked! It gripped me and pulled me
In! Any noise I heard in the house I was on tenterhooks. It really did get under my skin. The book was fast paced and had me doubting everyone. I like the dual timeline and it flowed freely through the book!
This book had me thinking about it 24/7 , was even dreaming about it! Lots of twists, turns and red herrings!!!!!
If you like psychological books then this is for you. I have raved to everyone today about this book! Thank you for a fabulous book that my heart is still racing with!

Loved this one as it involves a podcaster who hosts The Ugly Truth, and the events of 2004 when the enigmatic Summer--a student--and her friends were in college and things went horribly wrong at a beach party. Now protagonist Amy begins hearing weird noises in her home and believes she may be going mad. How are these things connected? It's a both a great mystery and a testament to friendships and the secrets we keep when we protect those we love!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Summer, 2005: Five students attend an end of year party. As dawn breaks the next day, four of the friends are preparing to leave when they realise one of the girls is missing. That's when the screaming starts. 2025: Amy is at home when there’s a knock at her door. The woman on her doorstep introduces herself as Hannah Hastings, a well-known true-crime podcaster. She’s investigating the drowning of a young woman at a party twenty years earlier. Amy slams the door, but the damage is done. And a few days later, she receives a threatening note, telling her not to speak to Hannah… or she’ll regret it! Great book! This book had fantastic suspense, murder, mystery, intrigue, and a few jaw dropping moments! The story was interesting! I definitely recommend reading this one! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Thank you, Boldwood books for providing the copy of After the Party by C.L. Swatman. I liked the story and the dual timelines, and the characters were interesting, especially when they were young. I enjoyed the writing style, and it drew me deeper and deeper into the story. I liked the podcasts, and wish more of the investigation had been in the podcasts, instead of by Amy. This was a fast, easy, and fun read. The only thing I didn’t like was the epilogue, because it obviously pandered to a certain type of reader, and wasn’t necessary for the story. 4 stars

I liked it, but sometimes it got repetitive, and they were going nowhere with the notes and all the questions. Also, the epilogue didn't make any sense:



**SPOILERS!!************************************

Summer death was an accident, I mean, she fell, and well, Carl did not help her, but she was still alive when he left, why on earth was he sending threats to the group? Also, I hate when the main POV lies. Why the hell did Amy save Carl? He heard her coming to Summer that night, and she was the one that left Summer drown. Didn't Amy remember? Was she too wasted?

++++++++++++++++END OF SPOILERS


I'm going to give another go to C.L. Swatman books, this had potential, and I loved most of it.

This book is perfect for fans of Carla Kovach. It has enough twists and turns to make your head spin.

The dual timelines and the podcast theme suit this story perfectly. The past comes back to haunt a group of people who were once friends and now find themselves thrown back together. .Each of the characters has a weak spot and someone knows how to exploit these, making for a nail biter of a plot. I really enjoyed the writer’s approach to character development, dropping in little clues about potential weaknesses and past issues almost casually, with their relevance only coming to light later in the book. They are also masterful at dialogue, with every line carefully constructed to be realistic and suited to the time and place in which the characters find themselves. No time is wasted on describing what people look like or what they are wearing - this is all about feelings and actions. The epilogue is absolutely chilling - loved it!

After the Party opens with Hannah, who runs a podcast called The Ugly Truth. She talks about how back in 2004 a girl called Summer arrived at the University of East Anglia and joined a group of four friends: Michal, Henry, Olivia, and Amy. In the present day, Amy has moved into a house that she's renovating. One day she receives an email from Hannah asking her to meet her. Hannah shows up at her house anyway, so Amy lets her in and they discuss Amy's reluctance to talk about what happened back then. Afterwards, Amy receives a threatening letter telling her not to speak to Hannah. Soon after, her friends from university all report that they have been visited by Hannah and received the same threatening letter. Who's behind the letters and whatever really happened to Summer? Summer's daughter, Autumn, then visits Amy in search of the truth. Will they find out who killed Summer?

The novel is told in two storylines: 2004-2005 narrated in the third person past tense, and 2025 narrated in third person present tense. The latter took me a while to get used to and the first 7 chapters were a slow burn but once it picked up, it was GOOD!!

The characters were fun. I loved the introduction of Autumn, Summer's daughter. Olivia was a fantastic "did she / did she not" characters. When I thought I had it all figured out, something new would happen that would make me physically gasp out loud!

The epilogue sent shivers down my spine... wow.

Knocked off a star because of excessive use of swearwords. If you don't mind use of the F-word, S-word etc then this is a nice 5-star read.

A solid beach read!

I was immediately hooked from the moment I opened my kindle. It was suspenseful and thoroughly entertaining!

This book was wild read and I enjoyed every second I was reading it; it was full of twists and amazing turns that will have you guessing till the very end!

I’d highly recommend this book it’s definitely a must read! If you don’t read it you are missing out!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟stars!