Book Review - The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh

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Title: The Last Party

Author: Clare Mackintosh

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Sphere

Publication Date: 4th August 2022

Rating: 4 Stars

IN A VILLAGE WITH THIS MANY SECRETS, A MURDER IS JUST THE BEGINNING . . .

On New Year's Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests.

He's celebrating the success of his lakeside holiday homes, and has generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbours.

By midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake.

On New Year's Day, DC Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects.

She grew up in the tiny community, so the murder suspects are her neighbours, friends and family - and Ffion has her own secrets to protect.

With a lie uncovered at every turn, soon the question isn't who wanted Rhys dead . . . but who finally killed him.

I'll admit it took me a long while to fully get into this, but I think that was while the groundwork was being set, and I was trying to get my head around the rather large cast of characters and potential murderers. 

For it seems like almost everyone had a reason to want Rhys dead, to the extent that t was almost a surprise it had taken as long as it had for someone to kill him.   

But there was one particular moment right at the end of part 1 which had me gasping out loud and from that point on the book became incredibly moreish and unputdownable.  There are so many secrets to be unravelled. 

The story is told both in the present day investigation and also in chapters in reverse chronological order of events leading up to the New Years Eve party. At no point can you truly believe anything you are seeing. 

There is a lot going on in this book, and its a promising first book in a new series that I know I'm keen to read more of. 

Thank you to Sphere and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.