The Dinner Guest by B. P. Walter is a good who done it? mystery. You know right up front there was a murder, and you know the who said they did it is lying. The narrative moves really fast supplying the reader with a little bit more information at each turn. This is not a big twist novel but a series of twist that add up to tension and betrayal. The novel does look at the British class system which I found the weakest part of the novel. I haven't read a mystery in a while and this novel was just what I needed a good quick mystery that kept me guessing. I'm really liking these domestic mysteries that focus on a small knit family that is driven apart by a dark secret. The Dinner Guest is very LGBTQ friendly as the family that is torn apart is a gay couple. Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK , One More Chapter for giving me this ARC. The Dinner Guest was published on April 1st 2021.

The Plot: There's a body, Matthew that has been stabbed on the dinner table. Charlie the Husband looks on in amazement at the body, Titus, Charlie and Matthew's teenage son, sits silently at the table not looking at the body, and Racheal holds the bloody knife and calls the police, telling she murdered Matthew. Charlie thanks why did she confess to a murder she didn't commit. Secrets and lies lead up to this twisty murder mystery.

What I Liked: The way is was told having Charlie and Rachael tell the before and after of the death of Matthew, then at the end we get a new voice. The POV worked really well and added up to tension. I liked the family drama not dealing with the mystery at all was good. Titus is a handful. Blackmail is something all the characters do at one point. I liked the book club scenes and Anita is hilarious, I could have seen a whole lot more of her. The flow is really good the scenes lead to the next really easily. It is easy to understand which character is narrating at the moment.

What I Disliked: Every time the excuses go to class, I've read some good interesting class arguments, but every time it was brought up in this story it felt forced, there's not too many scenes, so it didn't hamper my enjoyment too much. A big secret is revealed which leads directly to the murder, where the individual just takes the word of someone and doesn't check if it is true, the person had it's own reasons for telling. Every thing I had read about that character previously would have to see it with their own eyes to believe it. So that felt false.

Recommendations: I will recommend this pretty good who done it? It is a good escapist read. It reminded me of Shari Lapena's The Couple Nest Door. I rated The Dinner Guest by B. P. Walter 4 out of 5 stars.

For some reason, the title of this made me believe that this was going to be about a dinner party in which somebody dies, but actually that’s not what this book is about at all.

We find out at the start of the book that Charlie’s husband, Matt, has been murdered. Their mysterious new friend Rachel has confessed to the murder but the opening prologue makes us wonder if it was really her that killed him.

Charlie meets Rachel in a bookstore and before long, she’s a member of their book club and becoming part of his and Matt’s life. Charlie is suspicious of her straight away but Matt dismisses his concerns. What follows are chapters in both the present (after the murder) and the past (everything leading up to that day).

The book starts fairly slow after the prologue but then it really ramps up in the final quarter. There’s a lot of secrets that come out - some more shocking than others. This is a good domestic thriller and an easy read. I enjoyed the fact that it was set in London. I also really enjoyed the switching of timelines and the perspectives of both Rachel and Charlie.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

4 1/2 stars

I really enjoyed this inventive and clever domestic thriller. It had twists and subplots that the reader wouldn't have initially suspected. The premise is that Matthew has been killed at his dinner table. A woman named Rachel is the murder suspect. Also present at the scene are Matthew's husband, Charlie and their son, Titus. The journey to understanding why Rachel would want to murder Matthew is quite enlightening.

The author did a wonderful job at keeping the reader on their toes. I kept second guessing myself throughout the story. I would come up with a theory and then throw it out, believing it wasn't realistic. This was one of those reads where you just HAD to finish to see what led to these events and how it would wrap up. Let me just say there was a lot going on. Do yourself a favor and grab a copy of The Dinner Guest, carve out some serious reading time, and enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

A compelling thriller which keeps you guessing to the end! I'm not usually a fan of thrillers but I did enjoy The Dinner Guest and would recommend it.

The book was very well written and I enjoyed the different points of views as you could relate more to the characters. It's a very gripping story with lots of twists and turns.

Book Review Time

The Dinner Guest by B.P. Walter

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Three people eat dinner. A fourth person walks in. Only three survive through dessert. But who did it and most importantly why?

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for proving me this copy in exchange for an honest review!

Things I liked:
-I liked the duel timelines and seeing what was going on one year before the murder
-I like that everyone has a “reason” for the murder
-I like that the ending was a bumpy road and the epilogue still left you wondering what would happen next!
-Great build up to the “final reveal” on what happened during dinner.

Cons:
-Titus. I found his character extremely unlivable. I felt his teenage angst was taken a little to the extreme side.
-I enjoyed the twists and turns, but once we got super close to the end it was a little predictable.

My thoughts:

I think this was a great mystery/suspense/thriller. It has a few suspects (but not too many) and I really feel like you get to know most of them. There is some good character development along with the plot! The pacing is great and I love the present day timeline along with a timeline that counts down from 12 months before til the day of. It was interesting to see how the past came together for all the characters. I liked that whatever you initial thoughts on who the bad guy was from chapter 1 to the end change constantly. Definitely recommend for anyone needing needing a fast paced read!

Wow. The ending was not anticipated at all. Kept me reading well into the night. An excellent thriller with plot twists a plenty.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

The Dinner Guest is definitely the gift that keeps on giving. I loved how the suspense kept a tight hold of me and left me hungry for the next secret to be revealed. With twists and turns throughout, I never quite knew what was happening and on more than one occasion found myself saying ‘who is she?’ about antagonist Rachel.

I found that the timeline of the book really helped to build on the suspense. Told in both the narrative of Charlie and Rachel the timeline would often shift between past and present. I liked how in the aftermath of Matthew’s murder, we would witness the police interviews where key information would be shared to then find it would be a smokescreen with the truth shared in a later chapter set in the past. This really demonstrated the way lies and untold truths were weaved throughout the story and the lengths the characters were willing to go to to protect the real events.

Faultless from beginning to end, a merry go round of twists and turns. Exactly what you want from a thriller!

The Dinner Guest by B P Walter is the first book I have read from this author, and it definitely will not be my last. I've already added his other books to my wish list based on how much I enjoyed The Dinner Guest.

I knew that one of the four main characters would be killed at the beginning of the story and we would spend the rest of the book figuring out by whom and why, but I wasn't prepared for the twists, interwoven lives, and startling revelations that happened over and over throughout this psychological thriller. The basics of the book are these: Charles and Matthew are married and living the old-money high life with their adopted son Titus (Matthew's biological nephew). The fourth main character is Rachel, a move-in stranger that the guys just happen to meet at a bookstore. Rachel gets invited to their next book club meeting and, before they know it, has infiltrated their lives on every level.

Every character has a secret or two that their close loved-ones are not privy to. Those secrets are teased out to the reader and then gradually revealed in this slow burn that I just couldn't put down. The story is told from alternating view points - usually Charles or Rachel - and alternates from the day of the murder to a few months before the murder, when Rachel first meets Charles and Matthew.

I rated it 4 stars instead of 5 because of material/language that felt too sensitive/explicit and really was unnecessary, in my opinion. The story itself had me hanging on every word and dying for more reveals. I really loved it!

I received an advance review copy for free. Thank you to Mr. Walter, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for this opportunity.

This was an interesting read. Rachel is arrested for the murder of Matthew after confessing to the police, but was she the killer? The synopsis mentions the word perfect four times – but were any of the four perfect?

The story moves back and forwards in time, as we discover more about how Matthew and Charlie met, and how they met Rachel. This story features secrets and lies, revenge and betrayal.

Few of the characters in the story were likeable but I was keen to keep reading, to find out who killed Matthew, and why. I enjoyed the story and I’m happy to recommend it. It is currently 99p on the Kindle in the UK.

The Dinner Guest was one novel that I gobbled up, in one serving! Just when you think you’ve read all there is in the thriller genre along comes this beauty and smacks you upside the head. The perfect couple trope on drugs. Uniqueness. An impending threat. Twists by the bucketload. If you think you have this one figured out be prepared for a grenade to literally blow your face to shreds. Walter lies in wait for the perfect moment then hits you straight between the eyes for a killer blow. Set in the super rich areas of London. It sets the scene. Things are about to be rocked to its core.

The Dinner Guest is the building blocks of the class system, death, grief, secrets and manipulation. The prologue is a deadly starting pistol and it immediately has the reader invested, shocked and literally reaching down to the floor to pick up their jaw. Its one hell of a start with kindly father Matthew being murdered whilst sitting down to eat dinner. Charlie can only stare on at his husband whilst the life ebbs away from him as their guest Rachel phones 999 whilst holding a bloodied knife.

The story is told in mainly dual perspectives, that of Charlie and Rachel. Charlie the Instagram sensation, sharing snapshots of his perfect life with husband Matthew and adopted son Titus. His fans lap it up. Matthew and Charlie are the perfect fathers, they live in the perfect area, with handsomely paid jobs and cars but something isn’t right beneath the surface which seems to become exacerbated when they meet Rachel. They meet her in Waterstones, it starts friendly enough but when they meet again in M & S Matthew invites her to his book club, they exchange numbers, and we see a different side to Charlie.

The plot was watertight. A dead husband, a suspect that has already confessed to the murder. Surely the case is opened and closed. End of story. I’m afraid not, things just spiral into a mind-bending series of events that tell a story as the layers are peeled back. Charlie’s narrative is one of a shallow, jealous and narcissistic character. I didn’t feel sorry for him one bit, he’s the kind of character that you wouldn’t tire punching! Yes, he has an incredibly good life, but he has absolutely no empathy for those in different circumstances.

The Dinner Guest can be summed by the feeling of a fog descending. The twists and turns kept creeping up on you especially when you least expected it. Little niggles, a finely painted parallel, the author grabs you by the jugular and fights to maintain control. The control the author held over me was immense. A sniper focused on its target. Try as I may I was never going to put that book down.

The Dinner Guest is a testament to Walters visceral prose. It will keep you hooked with its handbrake turns and a work of utter genius.

I could not put this down!! I love a good binge-worthy thriller and this is exactly that. I really enjoyed the two perspectives we got in two timelines. Some things I saw coming and some were a little out of left field (or didn't make sense with the character development or character we had gotten to know), but that's okay in a thriller sometimes. There were some things I didn't appreciate how it was represented, but I don't want to say too much for spoilers (but TW for a minor aspect of the story that deals with an underage and adult relationship). I will definitely pick up this author's next book!

I can't honestly don't know where to start with this one, I have mixed feelings.

Firstly, it's very well written, and the tone Walter used is engaging and made me want to keep reading.

Secondly, I really enjoyed the characters and how they evolve and slowly reveal their true selves in the novel. They're all complex and flawed, the all made mistakes, some bigger than others. The different POVs was what made me sympathise with them. More specifically, Charlie., one of the protagonists who tries to have a "perfect" life only to realise just how far from the true that is. I struggled to under Titus though, and it was hard for me to see him as a pre-teen and not a young adult in midst of his attitude and actions.

Finally, the plot is well thought, and the slow reveal of crucial information kept me reading until the end.
However, by knowing from the start who killed who, it was disappointing to me. I would have prefered to have an unknown character confessing in the beginning and try to guess who it was throughout the book. And then that ending... I prefer endings where all the loose ends are tied. Nevertheless, the open ending left me wondering what would happen next. It could potentially become a second book, if that was the authors' objective.

All in all, a good read.

"Thank you to NetGalley, The Publisher and BP Walter for an ARC in exchange for an honest review"

Previously reviewed on https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/the-dinner-guest/

Welcome to dinner at the Allerton-Jones household. Dinner might be delicious, but you probably won’t walk out alive.

Charlie and Matthew Allerton-Jones are leading the perfect life. They are popular, wealthy, and handsome, doting on their fifteen-year-old son, Titus. Until Rachel enters their lives, culminating in the murder of Matthew, with Rachel confessing to the murder. What went wrong and how did Matthew end up on the wrong end of a knife?

One year prior to Matthew’s murder, The Allerton-Jones family is out shopping when they run into Rachel, as she grabs for the same book as Charlie. Strangely enough, they run into her again a few hours later at another location. Charlie is immediately suspicious but Matthew, being open and inviting, tells Rachel about their book club and invites her to come. From the moment Charlie catches Rachel inside their bedroom, their entire life begins to unravel, as Rachel has a plan—and it has been set in motion.

The Dinner Guest is told from the point of views of both Rachel and Charlie and begins 11 months before the murder. The plot switches back and forth between the present, after the murder of Matthew, and one year before. While the book felt like a quick read, it is suspenseful and hard to put down. While we know who is murdered from the first page, and we know who the murderer isn’t, it definitely caught my attention. There were so many false clues, they kept us guessing until the very last chapter.

Most characters in this book are not at all likeable, with the exception of one or two. Matthew and Charlie both grew up with immense privilege, and their families and friends are all very wealthy and snobbish. There is reckless behavior, including drugs, alcohol, and teenage sex. Most of this behavior comes from Titus, their teenage son. I believe Titus is the most manipulative and also the most interesting character in The Dinner Guest. While he seems like your typical teenage boy in the beginning, though with a sound head on his shoulders, nothing is what it seems with him.

There is a sense of paranoia throughout, from most characters, suspicious of each other. The brilliance of The Dinner Guest is that none of the characters are who they seem to be. Everything is explained towards the end, but the surprise of characters and their motives gave this book such a satisfying end, even if the ending of the book is not cut and dry. The last chapter is unsettling at best and will definitely make you look at your friends and family differently.

A gripping read with characters you love to hate. Full of twists and turns this story takes you on a journey of revenge, love and betrayal. As we learn more about each character we understand their reasons for certain actions and become more entrapped in the story- I couldn’t put it down.

I LOVED this book. It is so easy to get into and I enjoyed hearing about how the other half live. With very few characters, we get to know each one well, as their layers are peeled away as the book progresses, until we know all about each one by the end with many surprises along the way.
The book starts with a murder and the question asked by the dead man’s son of the murderer is, “Why did she do it?” The book moves between a year before the murder and a few days after the murder, in the most part. It is entertaining yet thought provoking and I thoroughly enjoyed it. An easy 5 stars.

The Dinner Guest by B. P. Walter is a domestic thriller about Matthew, Charlie, Titus, and Rachel. Matthew and Charlie are married. Titus is their son. Rachel just started attending Matthew's book club, and she is full of secrets. Matthew has been stabbed to death, and Rachel is taking the fall for it. But, did she actually kill him? This book is pretty twisty, and I really enjoyed it Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

WOW!!! What an incredible read! Rachel appears into the lives of two men and their adopted son, and "takes care of business"! This is the story of love, hate, fear, loathing, and intricate strategy! Matthew is dead, and Rachel confesses and is convicted, but we find out that things aren't always as they seem. This book is well written and compelling, especially the last half. I highly recommend The Dinner Guest to all readers who enjoy a twisted tale with a reasonable number of characters and manageable chapters.

Thank you, NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review The Dinner Guest - I will tell all my fellow readers about it!

Really great chill thriller. Easy read, a little predictable but very enjoyable. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

This book had me hooked friom very early on. I loved the concept – you know who the killer is – or who we are supposed to think the killer is – but what we don’t know is why. The Dinner Guest works wonderfully at drawing you in be weaving you through two timelines and two points of view – Charlie and Rachel, starting about seven months before the fateful night of the murder, and just moments after it takes place.

There is something very real and eerie about the way Rachel draws herself into these two mens lives, by casual encounter and someone elses bright idea that she latches on. If I hadn’t been privy as a reader to the aftermath of her intrusion and seeing her side of the story, I too would have been thinking like Matthew – where’s the harm in having a new friend? She’s just moved to London and seems lonely. She’s just being kind, not creepy. But knowing what is going on behind the curtain, I was very much shouting at the book to get Matthew to listen to Charlie and his hesitations about her.

As we started to gear towards the big reveal and the end, things started to get messy. I think this book could have been perfect if it had in fact had less to it. I think it was trying too hard to be jaw dropping and having that ‘oh my god’ element to it, that it was overdone slightly. It should have ended sooner, without that last chapter at the end, and I think it would have been a much more satisfying, thrilling ending.

I also wasn’t keen on one of the storylines, which included Charlie and Matthew’s son Titus engaging in underage sex. Despite your attitudes to actually having underage sex, I just felt this wasn’t dealt with very well from a parents standpoint, especially when one of his sexual partners was over 18. They even discussed how it could get her in trouble, how at that age a 3 year age difference is massive, how he was still so young, AND how if the tables were turned and the situation was a 15 year old girl and 18 year old guy they wouldn’t hesitate to go to the school or the police, but then just brushed it off. Plus, I’m not really sure why it needed to be in the story at all. It didn’t add anything to the mystery element and I’m pretty sure we could have learnt about Titus just as well without it.

There was also the fact that in Charlie’s past, at the age of thirteen, he had been kissed and touched by a guy TEN YEARS HIS SENIOR, and then they got together as soon as Charlie was 18 and no one thought much of it. Again, don’t know why this age difference had to be included – it wasn’t relevant or vital and… I don’t know? Could’ve easily have had a more appropriate age for either character involved and the outcome would have been essentially exactly the same. Was it for shock factor? Just to show kids are having sex underage?

I felt it unnecessary and if anything just a weird little addition. There were a couple more things which didn’t seem to fit in and felt like they were too convenient – weren’t woven in from the beginning and just mentioned to make the plot make sense, but I don’t want to say them because spoilers.

So, while this did have me hooked to begin with, I think less is more sometimes, and the ending could have done with being reeled in a little. Still an enjoyable read though.

Having never read anything by BP Walter, I didn't know what to expect when I picked this up but BP Walter is now firmly on my radar as an author well worth reading. This book had me hooked from the beginning and I struggled to put it down, sneaking away from my family at regular intervals to read a bit more ..... and a bit more .... desperate to understand what happened.

The book starts with the murder of Matthew at the dinner table. 3 other people are present, - Charlie, his husband, their son Titus and Rachel. Rachel dials 999 and confesses to the murder - but what really happened? And how are the other 3 connected to Rachel?

The book switches between the past - the year leading up to the murder - and present and is told in alternating voices by Charlie and Rachel. The strength of the book lies in part in the characterisation - none of the main characters are particularly likeable, they are all flawed, but they are without doubt intriguing. The chapters are short, almost drip feeding information, and leave you wanting more, as the author builds the suspense throughout the novel. There are plenty of twists and turns and I was kept guessing as the surprises kept coming right to the end of this fantastic thriller that I will be recommending to everyone.