4.5

Did you get your dinner invitation? Ok, good. Bring a bottle of wine and then pour yourself a large glass, take a mighty big gulp because you’re going to need it for what ensues. Four people are in the dining room, one won’t leave alive. There’s Matthew the much loved husband of Charlie, their son Titus and the cuckoo in their perfect, wealthy, cashmere lined nest is Rachel. Charlie has doubts about her ever since their meeting nearly a year ago, he senses an cold wind blowing in from Siberia .... One thing is for absolute sure, no one’s life will ever be the same again.

On the menu tonight is a huge vat of dishonesty, secrets and lies, seasoned liberally with revenge and ‘justice’, with added heat from red hot anger and hate, sprinkle in a large spoonful of betrayal, a few grams of hypocrisy, leave to bubble and watch as all comes to the surface and and then serve with a side order of cold shoulder. The most appropriate drink to serve comes from the perfect storm brewery which blends to perfection with the main course.

This is a really good psychological thriller, it’s very well written and has a twisty plot which flows extremely well and with surprises you don’t see coming. The plotting feels like a coiled spring, it’s taut and tense with ripples of unease, a sense of impending danger and you wonder when all the turbulence and altered dynamics will unfurl. One of the characters drops little bombs so casually into conversations which is so effective as you watch the tsunami effect it causes. The novel is character driven, they aren’t necessarily likeable but they are well portrayed. You can feel their growing stress, anxiety and you can to a degree understand the growing anger of betrayal. There’s sex, drugs and rock n’roll in the equation and some of this links to the past. There’s class privilege, elitism, presumption, assumption, supposition, suspicion and it’s oh, so clever. The end is excellent and a perfect way to round off a really good reading experience.

Overall, I want to read more by this author and I recommend this high quality psychological thriller.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins p, One More Chapter for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, author B.P. Walter, and One More Chapter for giving me a free Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
4 stars
The book was a crazy ride. This book centers around four people. Titus, the son, Matthew, the husband, Charlie, and Rachel, a stranger. This story as parallel timelines told in different povs alternating between the past and the present. I will not go into too much detail because it will give away too much of the mystery. But I will say the characters were really interesting. Each character has their own secrets, which threaten their peaceful lives. The writing and the pacing were well done. The author did a great job building up to the big reveal. The clues and threads that linked everything together made for an enjoyable climax. The concept of this book had an unique twist on a classic murder mystery trope. The ending left me a little disappointed. I would have like a more solid conclusion which might have included how their lives turned out as well as the reason for their decisions. Overall, this was my first book by author B.P. Walter and it won't be the last. I would recommend this book to those who like murder mysteries.

The Dinner Party is a twisted tale of love, betrayal, grief and murder. “My husband Matthew died on an unseasonably chilly August day at dinner time” begins the prologue. We know that there were four people at this dinner: Matthew, his partner Charlie, their teenage son Titus and Rachel, an uninvited guest. Rachel calls the police and confesses to the killing. “But..why?” asks Titus. “Why would Rachel confess to a murder she did not commit?”

Why indeed? Told in alternating voices by Charlie and Rachel, the story weaves between the months leading up to the murder and the present. Matthew, Charlie and Titus have successful careers and live in an exclusive London neighborhood. The men meet Rachel by chance at a neighborhood bookstore and she slowly becomes part of their lives. Matthew is much happier with this than Charlie, who is suspicious of Rachel’s behavior. Of course, he should be but not for the reasons you might think. Actually, nothing in this domestic thriller is how it seems to be. Slowly, page by thrilling page, you come to the surprising conclusion. Or maybe there’s more to come…

B P Walter has delivered a unique, incredibly suspenseful puzzle of a novel. The characters are all flawed but you want to know more about them, why they do the things that they do. Deft plotting, interesting supporting characters and one of the most interesting book clubs ever make The Dinner Party a 5 star read.

Thank you to NetGalley, One More Chapter and B P Walter for this ARC.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. It was a well written book. I hope to read more books by this author.

Charles and Matthew have a wonderful life with their teenage son Titus. They are rich and live the high life, enjoying the envy of others on Instagram, to them it’s perfect. A chance meeting with Rachel sets a little ripple in their lives which ultimately causes the breakdown of everything.
This was a very good read, I felt the characters were interesting and I enjoyed the story. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Do you really know the person with whom you live? Do you know your spouse? Does your spouse know you? Charlie and Matthew live a perfect life. Wonderful adoptive son. Supportive friends and family. No money proplems. Then, Rachel appears. Things are not the same.
Rachel becomes a part of their lives until one of them is dead and Rachel confesses to the murder. Told through different voices we learn the events that lead to this murder. Who is guilty?
I was totally sure had it figured out and then ...a twist. Then another. Even at the end I wondered how things would turn out for those involved.
I thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read this and discover the author.

Charlie and Matthew and their teenage son, Titus, seem to have the perfect life until a stranger enters their life. Rachel is new in town and runs into the couple who quickly take her under their wing. But who is Rachel? Is she really a stranger? There are many secrets hiding from all the characters but who is the murderer? This book goes back and forth from after the murder to counting down when the murder happens and is told from multiple character’s view. It’s a delicious read with devious ending!

DINNER HAS BEEN SERVED-and it was DELICIOUS!

THE APPETIZER:

Four people were at dinner that night.
Charlie and his husband, Matthew
Their son, Titus
And, their new acquaintance and newest book club member, Rachel.

Charlie never wanted her to be invited.

But, Matthew won’t survive and as Charlie stands over the body, while Titus sits in shock at the dinner table, Rachel with the bloody knife in her hand, dials 999.

THE MAIN COURSE:

I don’t share more than the book blurb, and for once this one is vague, allowing you to dive in blind!
WHICH YOU SHOULD DO!!

What I will say, is that this book was VERY SUSPENSEFUL, and I was completely STUMPED well past the 50% point! More Questions than Answers for MOST of the book!

THE DESSERT:

The ending is a bit ambiguous and a little INDULGENT as are most desserts!
It’s also very ENJOYABLE!

Isn’t that why we partake in good meals and good books?
4.5 ⭐️

Thank you to the publisher, ONE MORE CHAPTER, for providing a gifted copy through NetGalley.
It was my pleasure to provide a candid review!

THIS release date was just moved UP to April 1, 2021!
You won’t have to wait long to read it!

Hidden truths and messed up pasts, a compelling story that keeps you wondering until the very end.


4/5

This was told in separate first person POV from Charlie’s and Rachel's perspective. It switched between the past and present as we slowly learn the truth about everything.

The Dinner Guest would have been at least 4.75/5 but that ending left me quite unsatisfied. I would have loved to know how their lives had turned out and what decisions they made. Unfortunately, the ending dropped it to a 4… it was vague and questions were left unanswered. It was mysterious indeed, but not in a way I would have liked. Instead it felt like it was a book left unfinished.

The gay representation was done really well in my opinion and I loved the plot; It was unique and there were twists in unexpected places. I was a little confused in the beginning but as I read on, things became more obvious.


【Overall, an amazing story with a thrilling plot and interesting characters. Will definitely recommend to thriller and mystery lovers but there were some pretty... explicit scenes and language not everyone will be able to read about, but this is an adult book so that’s pretty self explanatory.】

<i>03/05/21</i>

I really enjoyed this! What a story full of twists and turns. I compulsively read this in two sittings and did not see the ending coming. A real page turner and perfect for fans of domestic thrillers. Definitely already know some customers who will love this!

Four people walked into the dining room that night. One would never leave.

This is one of those books where the less you know going in, the better. Sooo...I'm just going to say this: The Dinner Guest was a pleasant surprise. It was very well plotted, the writing was crisp and clean, and it was extraordinarily engrossing. I read it in two 2-hour sessions.

Major kudos to B.P. Walter.
This story gets my seal of approval. Recommended!

Available April 1, 2021

My sincere appreciation to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for my review copy.

I really enjoyed this book, it kept my attention from the very beginning and had lots of twists and turns throughout! Also, that ending?! 😱

Information is fed to you in miniscule pieces of bread crumbs. The crumbs are so small I felt I was starving to death for SOMETHING to feed on to figure out where there this story was actually going. The murder of Matthew and the search for his true killer happens right at the beginning but everything leading up to that is doled out sparingly and painfully. I liked the different points of view between Charlie, Mathew's husband and Rachel (the stranger who just shows up with an ulterior motive) but to all of a sudden add another character at the very end of this book (Elena Ashton) was just too much to accept for me. Overall a good read because I did not want to find out what the heck is really happening here and the story was original ....but I should not have believed all the hype surrounding "The Dinner Guest". I had to force myself to finish this one.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and give an honest review.

This was really very good indeed! It starts as a really classic whodunnit with the suspects being only a few people who are sitting around the dinner table but the obvious killer, the one who confessed, surely that’s just, well, too obvious?
I spent the most part of the book desperately trying to work out why on earth this person would confess, why their life was so strange and what’s going on!
Utterly compelling.

Then the revelations start coming, fairly thick and fast, with a few red herrings thrown in for good measure. Each time I felt I finally had it sussed in my head then another twist came along.
Brilliant and ingenious, thoroughly enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for allowing me to read this ARC.
A family dinner that's interrupted by a relative stranger and ends in murder.
Charlie and Matthew seem to be the perfect couple with the perfect son until Matthew invites stranger Rachel to their book club meeting. Slowly, but surely Rachel starts to worm her way into their life more and more. Secrets, betrayals, and confessions are all revealed in this captivating thriller.
I thought this was a really good thriller! While I was reading my hunch of who the killer was kept switching as well as the reasoning behind it.
I thought the clues were laid out well throughout the story and that B.P. Walter did a great job of setting up the big finale.
The only downside was that I didn't like ANY of the characters. They all made stupid decisions, or were manipulative, rude, patronizing, etc. I would have felt bad for how things played out if the characters had any redeeming qualities.

Dinner may be served but death comes before dessert.

Matthew, Charlie, and fifteen year old son Titus appear to be the perfect family. That is until they meet Rachel at a local bookstore. Matthew who hosts a book club decides to ask Rachel to join since she is new to the area. Charlie doesn't approve of the quick friendship between Matthew and Rachel but there is little he can do about it.

It seems Rachel has infiltrated their lives. She's managed to score a job and living quarters with Charlies godmother. She strikes up a friendship with Titus even coming to his aid during a mugging and Matthew seems to think Charlie is a snob for not accepting her. How can this stranger from only a few weeks ago become such a big part of their lives in so little time?

Then dinner comes. Matthew lays dead and Rachel is holding the bloody knife. Where did it all go wrong? You'll have to read this to find out.

This was my first book by B.P. Walter but I assure you it will not be my last. I was glued to the pages of this one. The writing is sharp and it flowed beautifully. I liked the tension and menace Walter was able to convey on page. Revelations are given to you in bits and pieces only making you (me!) salivate for more. I had to know what was going on and I was not at all disappointed. I honestly don't have any complaints with this one. It's a winner and I highly recommend it! 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK / One More Chapter for providing me with a digital ARC.

The Dinner Guest was a domestic thriller which held my attention with the story taking place before and after the murder. I enjoyed the many twists this book had just when I thought I had it all figured out, Nope. This is was my first book by B P Walter and definitely isn’t my last.

This book was quite the thriller. Kept me reading instead of getting housework done. I didn’t quite enjoy the parts that discussed “class differences” in England but thankfully there was not a lot of that. Those parts made the book drag for me and because of this I give it 3 stars. The ending was grand. I am going to address the elephant in the room- if you have a problem with same sex relationships, you may not be ready for this book. Sorry if I am not being politically correct in noting that, but it set me back in the beginning.

I've strugled with the The Dinner Guest for longer than I thought but I did finished it. Yeey.
Definitely not my cup of tea. I think one star rating speaks on its self but to further clarify: I don't give this ones often.

REVIEW:
I found the book lacking in action but what really bothered me is the writing stile. The idea of the story is interesting but the first half of the book it just drags to no end. In my opinion the beginning was interesting sadly all those repetitions between chapters where annoying and could be done better for sure.

Another thing that I found strange is that the whole book just slowly flows around the main characters and then at 70% the ending starts. And it contains everyone confessing. Umm what? Why couldn't you give some clues in the book? Make the reader guess, keep me on my toes, take me along ... and don't just pack everythign that is fun in random confessions at the end.

I'm disappointed by the book and do not recommend it.

Just wrapped up this netgalley read and WOW. This book is so good.

I really liked the way the alternate time lines in this book were set up. It sets the tone with a stabbing, then rewinds to a year prior. The whole book goes back and forth between these time lines until you meet in the middle and find the reasoning behind the murder.

This book reminded me of The Woman in the Window. There was endless kinks and turns throughout the book. Right when you think you know who the murderer was, something happens and you now suspect someone else!

Highly recommend for people who like a good whodunnit read!