I was really excited about this book. I enjoy domestic type thrillers - an innocent event like a dinner party going tragically wrong. I had really enjoyed “The Guest List’ by Lucy Foley and imagined this might be something similar. I am not spoiling anything if I tell you that the novel starts with a murder and that Rachel has a bloody knife in her hand. Charlie and Mathew are married - if you don’t read the blurb all the relationships and characters at the start feel rather ambiguous and the early part of the book is a bit of a teaser as we work out who is who. The narrative is also deliberately vague about Titus and his relationship with Charlie, Mathew and Rachel. Having started with a murder, the book casts back over the previous months to piece together a picture of how we arrived at murder. The narrative switches between the main characters, building up character and motivation. Although Rachel has the knife in her hand, it cannot be this simple…Curiosity drove me forward, simply because I needed to know what had actually happened and why. My response to this book feels very mixed and it has taken me time to assemble my thoughts. On the one hand my curiosity absolutely would not let me put this down, on the other I did not like any of the characters - in fact I actively disliked them and I was uncomfortable with the reliance on a narrative of rich versus poor, which was overly stereotypical. What was more interesting was how these stereotypes led both the characters and the reader to assumptions and misunderstandings. There is one scene which feels a little out of character with the rest of the book and made me feel rather uncomfortable. Finishing the book, I felt like I had been put through the tumble drier, wondering what I had actually read and where the truth lies. This is very much how I felt when completing ‘The Silent Patient’ and I have no doubt this will make perfect book club material, with plenty to discuss! With thanks to Netgalley and One More Chapter for this compulsive read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!

I unfortunately dnfed this book at 35%.
I was originally so excited to pick this up and be delved into the story of a suspenseful thriller but there was just no... suspense.
Chapter one was super gripping and I was sooo hooked on finding out what actually happened but as I read more, it really didn't feel like a thriller. Not much was happening at all and I really did start losing interest, which is not what you want in a thriller. The writing style wasn't bad by any means but it really did excite me or entice me to carry on reading. I love thrillers that constantly keep me on the edge of my seat where I can make up theories and see if I'm right but... this book just lost me.

In saying that though, I would say that perhaps this book is better for those starting within the thriller genre.

Firstly I want to say a huge thank you to @onemorechapterhc for sending me this to read and review via @netgalley

Oh my WORD!!!!! Where do I even begin?? This book is INCREDIBLE!!!!!

I LOVE a good thriller and I genuinely could not put it down.

The Dinner Guest is such a clever book, it’s told from several POV’s and flits from different times in the year. The way all of the characters are interlinked is pure genius and every time I thought I’d guessed whodunnit, I was always wrong. I was constantly second guessing the plot and I had soooooo many “what the f**k” moments!!

Sheer brilliance in my opinion, and more than worthy of this rating!! I can’t wait to read more from this exciting author ✍️

I can't believe it has taken me about a month to find the words to write this review, and to be honest, I still don't know if I have them! This was such a wild ride. Its a book told from only Charlie and Rachel's point of view and its told in both the present and the past so that we the readers get all the details!
So many secrets, so many lies! So much going on!!!!! I don't want to spoil it at all, but it was not what I thought at all and it was an ending I didn't see coming!

Thank you so much to #NetGalley and One More Chapter for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, B.P. Walter and HarperCollins UK for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first novel by Walter, and I have to say that I was impressed. I was immediately interested in these characters and what kind of madness led to the murder that starts off the novel. I had a few inklings of who the culprit was, but you have to continue reading to make sure that you find out the most important part - the why! This one was fairly quick paced and I wanted to just read the whole thing at once and know everything right away! Definitely would recommend.

This thriller took me for a ride. I was totally surprised by how it went.

The Dinner Guest starts out at the murder. Those present are Matt, the deceased, his husband Charlie, their teenaged son Titus, and friend/acquaintance Rachel. And Rachel calls the police and confesses to the murder.

Case closed, right? Wellllll…not so much.

The story then goes back in time and leads up to that desperate moment, as told from both Charlie and Rachel’s points of view. We learn more and more about each character, and we soon discover the depth of secrets and deception that are hidden in an pretty instagram life.

Full of secrets, deception, lies, and blackmail, the story unfolds and keeps you hooked.

Wow, this story was a rollercoaster ride and that last drop was mind blowing!

Rachel fell into Charlie’s and Matthew’s laps by chance, and she quickly weaved herself into their complicated lives. It all started with an invitation for Rachel to join Matthew’s book club, but Charlie had his suspicions from the get go. Somehow she was always happened to be in the right place at the right time. She moved into a flat nearby, saved their son (Titus) from muggers, and quickly received a job opportunity from one of Matthew’s friends from book club. It all seemed too good to be true...until Rachel called the police, confessing to Matthew’s murder. But the details leading up to that night revealed so much more than Rachel’s simple confession. Rachel was not the only one keeping secrets and they all led to one thing...the truth.

This was a fantastic suspenseful read, and I really enjoyed getting the story from multiple POVs. The story seems to be pretty straightforward in the beginning, but as more secrets are revealed, the reader begins to question what really happened the night Matthew was murdered. I didn’t see it coming and was glad the end surprised me. Definitely worth the read!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3871702647

THE DINNER GUEST
BY BP WALTER

This was honestly torture for me to get to the part where it becomes compelling and suspenseful. I have never taken this long to read a book and was really quite ready to give up. I have wanted to give up on this because so much of the beginning seemed like disconnected details that didn't seem to move the story forward. I had to force myself to not abandon this since I have to honestly review it and therefore not put it down. When I got to about fifty percent through it started to become more cohesive and really my arrangement with a request that I have made is to stick it out. I am only giving it three stars because no matter how good it became halfway in and I might be generous for thinking it finally drew my interest at 60 percent in. I am so glad that I finished it so that I didn't do what most have done because I honestly couldn't take the slog that this took to hold my attention. For a thriller it must be suspenseful and it shouldn't be torture to get to the 40 percent that did finally make it enjoyable. I am not going to summarize the synopsis because every single review that I read talks about this dinner where they describe the action taking place. The Title is not even fit for the story. If I wasn't so honest I would have summarized the synopsis instead of saying that this did redeem itself and it did get better but honestly this isn't worthy of the book length slog of pure trivia that it took. I am not a writer and I hate to sound uncharitable to the author but this was awful until it suddenly got interesting. I had the worst time with this and my last request which is my fault for not being more discerning when choosing them. Let me just say that I am glad that I am done and I can say that I did like it but I am glad that it is over. I wouldn't recommend it because it just took me two weeks and I am not embellishing. Honestly, I would not have finished this if I had bought it. It may appeal to other's but it wasn't for me and I am truly sorry to offend the author who was able to write a good portion but it shouldn't take so much effort to reach the point where the words start to mean something. I can't in good faith recommend this but I really wonder how so many people have written about a dinner. It has nothing to do with a dinner guest unless I have forgotten what may have happened as filler but I can tell you that I feel like I read a different book. But as far as a novel this needs some work. I am not that picky, but I think that between this one and my last one-( I kept alternating them) and they are my least enjoyable reading experiences in my year's of doing this. Life is too short to spend forcing yourself to endure punishing yourself to finish something that feels like it is sleep inducing. I will give it 3.5 stars at best. This is simply nothing like Donna Tartt whom I have read all of her books. It is shameful to market it comparing it to her because that is why I requested it. You might love this, I however found myself struggling more with this one and one more and I am taking a hiatus from this. It pains me to not enjoy reading because I love doing it more than running and I love running. I don't like false marketing. I can't get over how so many people read this and say that the action takes place during a dinner. I must have read something different!

Publication Date: April 1, 2021

Thank you to Net Galley, BP Walter and HarperCollins UK/One More Chapter for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and *honest* review. All opinions are my own.

#TheDinnerGuest #BPWalter HarperCollinsUKOneMoreChapter #NetGalley

Four people round a dinner table; Charlie, his husband Matthew, their son Titus, and their friend Rachel. By the end of the meal, Matthew is dead from a stab wound and Rachel is holding the knife. But is all as it seems? This was a hugely enjoyable thriller read, full of morally grey characters, secrets and lies. I was thoroughly engrossed by this, really enjoying the multiple perspectives and timelines. I think you're better off going into this pretty blind, but it's an excellent examination of class, privilege and expectation versus reality..

This has been such a terrible enjoyable read. From the beginning I got the feeling that I was being transported into a Desperate Housewives-esque setting and the tension was amped up to the max. I don’t really understand how some people might have DNF’ed this since the structure that B. P. Walter undertook serviced for the whole novel to be a mystery until the end. Without to spoil anything B. P. Walter sets himself up as being one of the best authors who manages to tease its reader by giving them a piece of information and then straight away not giving it to them. 🙊

I enjoyed this book, and read it quickly. The description sounded interesting so I thought I'd give it a try, and I'm very please I did.

Charlie lives an amazing life with his husband and teenage son, Titus. They have a beautiful house, are well off and life is just fab.... Until a chance meeting with a Stranger who ends up becoming very involved in their lives.

Rachel isn't a likeable character but I suppose she isn't supposed to be, to be honest none of the characters are likeable, but as the story goes on it makes more sense. It's one of those books, that once you start reading you need to have all the details. The ending left a lot to the imagination too. I'd highly recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK/ One More Chapter for sending me this eARC in exchange my honest opinion!

Such an enthralling read! I could not put it down!

This is a dual POV book set across two timelines that slowly converge. This structure kind of reminded me of Vicious, by V. E. Schwab, which I LOVED.

This follows Charlie and Matthew, the perfect couple, with their adopted son Henry. They stumble into Rachel at a bookshop, then suddenly their lives are intertwined. We start the story with Matthew dead at the table, while Rachel calls the emergency services, bloody knife still in hand.

As it's a thriller, the less you know about it, the better. I started this book confident in my guesses of the murderer, but as I kept reading, I kept getting hit by plot twists one after the other. It was such a thrilling ride and I really enjoyed it.

I highly recommend this book to all lovers of this genre!

4.5 stars

This book starts strong and doesn’t falter all the way through. It’s one of those books that I feel is best to go into blind. With a great cast of unlikable characters it’s hard to know quite who to root for in the end, but that only makes it better! Told in alternate voices of a short time before until after, the reader is never quiet sure if either is reliable until much much later as the story unfolds. Totally engaging, this was a very good read.

I thought I was going to be disappointed in this after what sounded like a book right up my alley in the mystery/thriller field because it seemed fairly obvious who the culprit was…but then there were surprises so I’m glad I stuck with it to the end. If you like surprises twists this is a book for you.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love these kind of books. It's a slow burn read but it's packed full of secrets and betrayal. Matthew has been murdered and someone has confessed, but why did they confess when they didn't do it? I enjoyed the characters and getting to know their backgrounds. I loved how the story jumps from past to present. Lots of twists and surprises. I didn't guess who did it!

Wow!!...Wow!!...Did I say wow?! Let me just say this novel should be on everyone’s want to read list! And the good news is the release date moved up to April 1, so you won’t have to wait long! The Dinner Guest is told from points of view between two primary characters, Charlie and Rachel, and covers the time periods from well before to well after that fateful dinner night. I found myself immediately absorbed into the characters’ worlds and couldn’t wait to keep reading to see what happened. Lots of layers to unfold and just when you think it’s over, it’s not. This is one novel that will sit with you long after it’s over. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the ARC!!

This is a domestic suspense/classic murder mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end 😃 The characters are filthy rich, posh, snobby and to be honest, quite unlikeable, and the way the story pulls you into the world of the wealthy, we begin to realise that not everything is as ‘glamorous and perfect’ as some may think their lives to be.

I really had no idea what to expect when it came to the murder, and my biggest question was “but... why did she do what she did?” So it was an intriguing read as the background story built up to answer this for me, and big secrets are revealed that made me think WOW!! (One particular character was harbouring a lot of secrets, I don’t know how he did it!!) I also really felt for another main character, Charlie, because he really had no clue to the secrecy surrounding him, the poor thing!

This is a great suspense that fans of psychological thrillers will really enjoy. It was unique in the way it was done, which made it different to the typical murder mystery so I liked that about it. Overall, an enjoyable book and fantastic weekend read. Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for an ARC of this exciting and suspenseful book. I loved it!! 😊

The Dinner Guest had me hooked from the outset, Matthew is murdered at a dinner where he his husband, Matthew, their son, Titus and their friend, Rachel, are present. Who killed Matthew and why? Rachel confesses, did she actually kill him? If not, why would she confess? If not her, then why would his loving husband or 15 year old son kill him?
The book is so utterly gripping, each chapter made me want to read more. At every point something more is divulged to add to the picture of the jigsaw and I had to read on to reveal the remaining pieces (I really couldn’t guess the whole picture until reading the very final page of the book!).
The book is written from the point of view of Rachel and Charlie. Each take turns of written a chapter. The chapters are also written before or after the murder. This works really well. Both characters have distinct voices and I enjoyed reading both perspectives. The differing timelines were also really easy to follow.
I highly recommend this book.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fast paced thriller
Which you will want to read in one sitting
Well written and different

Who killed Matthew and why?

Only one way to find it out

READ IT ....................

Thank you netgalley, B P Walker and Harper Collins UK for allowing me to read and review this book

This story starts out with a huge surprise with a murder of Mathew at a dinner party which was also a book club which was attended by Mathew, Rachel and Titus. Rachel standing with the murder weapon in her hand, calls the police and confesses. But did she really do it?
This story goes back and forth in time told by two different points of view.
I felt this book though starting out strong, lost its momentum and just went flat afterwards. I lost interest
I thank Netgalley for the opportunity to have this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.