Tess Little has crafted a fever dream of a novel, unlike anything you've read before. With multiple narratives, perspectives, and timelines twisting into and folding over each other, she slowly unravels the details around the murder of a Hollywood director. While the novel is chiefly an engaging murder mystery, it doubles as a chilling rebuke of Hollywood's culture of power and abuse. Daring and original, I can't wait to see what Ms. Little comes up with next.

If you enjoy murder mysteries in the Agatha Christie style, or if you like stories of Hollywood, then you may enjoy this book. 9 elite people, all connected to a famous Hollywood movie producer come together one night for a dinner party. Only 8 leave alive the next morning.

There is one other player in the book that I actually found the most interesting; Persephone the octopus.

I have read the occasional murder mystery but it’s not my typical genre of choice. This one did keep me entertained throughout, mostly due to the Hollywood secrets and/or Persephone.

Every so often, I wasn’t quite sure what the timeline was as the book jumped back and forth between the past and present. That could have been due to the fact that I was reading a galley, so maybe my copy didn’t have headers or proper breaks. That being said, it wasn’t too distracting.

The story did end up being much darker than I expected. I really hated the victim the more we find out about him.

*Thanks to Ballantine Books/Random House and NetGalley for the advance copy.*

This is one of those books that I ended up liking the premise more than the actual book. A few people get invited to Richard's party, but in the end a murder takes place and everyone is a suspect. One of those is Ellie, his ex-wife, and the whole book is told in her perspective, intercalating present with past. Little by little we get her recollection of the night's events, and also how was her life while married to Richard and beyond that.
I felt that at some points the book dragged too much, like the story could be shorter somehow. But I actually found it interesting, and I really liked how it slowly unveils what happens, taking time to savor everything.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis of this book sounded intriguing to me so I requested a copy to read.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during this 2nd attempt, I have
decided to stop reading this book
and state that this book just wasn't for me.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

Very hard to follow. Not enough details. So sad about this book. But it was not for me.character development was weak. Storyline was choppy.

This book opens at a marvelous party thrown by a self absorbed producer for his own birthday in Hollywood Hills. The plot then revolves around this producer dying and trying to figure out who did it. We dive into each of the guests pasts, relationships with him, and even examine his pet through the eyes of his ex wife. While this plot does seem over done, the book itself met all of my expectations and I was pleasantly surprised by the octopus friend.

4.5 stars / This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com on today .


You’re at a dinner party that goes late into the night. Next thing you know, you’re waking from the floor and staring at a person that is clearly no longer living. Is it real? Or the worst nightmare you could imagine? This is how we begin The Last Guest.

Elspeth is a woman who grew up in poverty in Queens NY. Her best friend wanted to be an actress and dragged Elspeth along to Los Angeles to achieve that dream. Only the friend amounted to nothing and Elspeth became the actress. It’s her ex-husband’s birthday party. Her daughter was supposed to attend with her but backed out. So here she is at a very small, intimate gathering that she never expected, with the man that she so clearly did not want to be married to.

And that is where the night begins.

Little takes us back and forth between the events of the birthday dinner and the past leading up to this night. From when Elspeth was a teenager to now. We learn about all the others at the party, some known, some unknown. We learn of the birthday boy’s horrible behaviors and attitudes toward the guests. We really don’t know what the purpose of this evening is until much much later.

Read it. Don’t put it down. This is a twisted account of how one person can alter so many other’s lives in so many ways. How a complete narcissist can push people to do, or not do, things that they never would have imagined. Tess Little may be a first time novelist, but this is a well written tale of accidents, deliberate choices, and secrets. I loved this one.

This book was compelling in that I felt that I needed to finish it to try to make sense of the mystery that it involved. But it was so slow-paced, with a complicated plot that went between the present and the past and with a ton of characters, all flawed and none reliable as part of the narration. The book was also long, with revelations made slowly. I was able to guess about Richard and his natural tendency to control, but I can’t say that I liked his character much before his cruelty was exposed. In fact, none of the characters was particularly likable. If I had to choose a favorite, it would be Lillie, Richard and Elspeth’s daughter who seemed trapped by circumstances and determined to escape. This book could definitely be rated M for mature audiences since there were expletives throughout, some really rough scenes describing the death at the party and general debauchery in the entire novel. It is not a book that I would pick up and read for pleasure because it is a deep dive into the lives of the rich and famous who are less than honest and certainly not people anyone would want to emulate. Mildly entertaining, filled with lies, secrets and more than a few disturbing chapters. My rating is actually a 2.5, rounded up to a 3 because at least I did finish it. But it was not a pleasurable read for me, but rather a chore to finish it.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

We are nearing the end of 2021, which means that those of us participating in reading challenges need to get to the bottom of our TBR list! As a participant of the 2021 PopSugar Reading Challenge, I had to read a "locked room mystery" this year, which is why I picked up Tess Little's literary debut, The Last Guest. A locked room mystery is a story in which a crime takes place in a "locked room" or other secure, intimate location, where the guilty party must be one of the persons in attendance. In The Last Guest, a murder takes place at a small gathering of friends and acquaintances, and the story's protagonist, the ex-wife of the victim, spends the novel trying to figure out who among the party guests has blood on their hands.

The Last Guest is a mixed bag of a book that has both good and bad parts. When it comes to the good, Little nicely creates an eerie atmosphere at the dinner party at the center of the novel and sets the tone for something ominous to happen. The addition of the Great Pacific Octopus, Persephone, to the story was also rather intriguing, and I enjoyed learning about the odd habits of the species and considering the octopus as a murder suspect. What didn't work for me was the pace of the story and its characters. It took me over two months to finish this book, when normally I read 1-2 novels a week. The story plodded on and really failed to grab me and invest me in the plot. Furthermore, I read for amazing characters, and The Last Guest was sadly lacking in that area. The novel's characters were just a confusing mass of names to me with no distinguishing characteristics or mannerisms to make them memorable. Honestly, by the end of the book, I still wasn't entirely sure who was who, which made the reveal a letdown, as I couldn't even remember who these people were and what was their connection to the victim.

If you like locked room mysteries, by all means, pick up this novel - there are many enjoyable aspects to it - but if you are looking for a whodunit that you will absolutely love, know that it has been done better before.

The Last Guest is advertised as an Agatha Christie and Mulholland Drive mashup. While it does have some characteristics of both, it is mostly a slow-paced behind-the-scenes look into the rich movie crowd’s symbiotic relationships.

Elspeth is invited to her husband Richard’s fiftieth birthday party at his stunning mansion. She goes to support their adult daughter, Lillie. However, after arriving at the party, Elspeth realizes that Lillie is not coming. The party is intimate with only seven other guests. There is also a resident octopus that serves as the most ironic red herring ever.

After a night of excessive drinking, Elspeth and the other guests wake up with only hazy members of how the evening ended. But Richard will never awaken again after choking on his own vomit after a possible overdose. Was it an accident? Was it suicide? Or was it murder?

I really wanted to read The Last Guest. The plot from the publisher’s blurb sounds so intriguing. However, the pacing was glacial. Like glacial two hundred years ago before global warming. Elspeth just keeps running over the case in her mind. Over and over again for half the book. When it finally arrives, the ending feels rushed and incomplete. Overall, not a book I would recommend to either mystery or thriller readers. Literary or serious women’s fiction readers might enjoy it. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars.

Thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

A dark mystery with lots of twists and turns. The story flips back and forth between the past and present. Elspeth agrees to attend the birthday party of her ex-husband and is assured her daughter will attend with her. She is supposed to meet her daughter there, but she doesn't show. Elspeth only knows a couple of the other people invited. As they sit down to a strange meal, she is wondering why the eight of them were invited. Her ex has always been manipulative and he usually throws huge parties. What is going on? After quite a few drinks, Elspeth wakes up on the floor by her ex-husband's dead body. What happened? Who murdered him? All of them has passed out or gone to sleep. Who killed him? As all the attendees reveal old hurts and motives, Elspeth is left to wonder if there was anyone who didn't have him.

This book just didn't do it for me. I didn't feel super connected to it and felt like I lost interest within the first quarter of the book.

This was interesting -- not very thrilling but atmospheric, for sure. I was hoping there would be more of a thrill, twist or escalation but instead it middled along. I liked the characters to an extent but I think there could have been a better development given that so much of current action in the book was based on what happened in the past. TW: abuse.

The Last Guest comes out tomorrow on October 5, 2021 and you can purchase HERE.

How easy it is to pretend you understand the conversation when you say absolutely nothing at all.

This awkwardly paced, locked room mystery had some great ideas and some characters that were less so. Not many people to really care about here and at times I just wanted to rush through pages or put this down because it started to feel tedious. It gets three stars because I just always want to know who-dun-it and why.

If you are looking for a good locked room mystery, this is it. This was written so nicely that it played out like a movie in my head. The Hollywood theme lent itself well to that. It's definitely a slow burn and took me a bit to really dive into the plot, but glad I stuck through with it. I wasn't able to guess the twist and that always wins me over in a book. Thank you to Ballantine book for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

For me this was a slow moving book, that was hard for me to get into. I am not a fan of books that move back and forward from time to time. For me there was a lot of repetition in the book, I really enjoy reading new authors but for me sadly this authors style of writing didn't connect with me. I would still suggest others read the book because I know not everyone enjoys the same style of books.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the opinions expressed here are my own.

This gothic novel takes place at the birthday party of a famous Hollywood director. It’s an intimate affair, including his ex-wife, Elsbeth, whose daughter is also invited. By the end of an evening that includes fine dining, raucous conversation and drugs and alcohol, the director is dead and everyone who attended the party is a suspect. This feels like decadent goth meets the movie, Clue. Each character is richly explored and the book deals with themes of power and money.

I received an ARC of this book. I found this book to be very confusing. The premise was good, but it jumped from past to present with no warning. I personally found it very hard to follow.

This is a story about a Hollywood murder. Elspeth is among a group of people at her ex-husband’s house when he dies. The story follows the investigation and trial. It looks at the relationship that Elspeth had with her ex and the abuses she suffered. The author looks at the lies we tell ourselves when we want to survive. The story also concludes on hope for the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine books for an eARC of Tess Little's novel The Last Guest.

This is a moody & spooky book that's perfect for this fall reading season. Not quite a locked room mystery, but the major question is "who did it?" This book does a deep dive on the characters present for Richard's 50th birthday party which he doesn't make it out alive from.

Read this one if you enjoy:
-Whodunit reads
-Books about Hollywood
-Reading about Octopi (Persephone is a fabulous character)

The writing is strong and I love the author's style - But keep in mind this book is not broken up into chapters but acts 1-3 which alternate very quickly between present, past, and the party. I was sometimes confused with this. Overall I enjoyed this read - the ending wasn't shocking but came full circle.

3.75 ⭐️ rounded up to 4 for Goodreads!