After a massive and elaborate New Year's Eve party, the host is found floating dead in the water. There were already tensions between the new vacation homes housing the wealthy, and the neighboring village, tensions the party was supposed to ease. But now that unease and resentment are growing. Ffion, born of the village, but sworn to discover the truth and impart justice, must navigate her way between the two worlds while hiding some of her own secrets.

This was a really good read. Everyone is a viable suspect, and Mackintosh dishes out secrets like party favors. There are clever flashbacks full of surprises, and current scenes where technology or a quick tongue spill out the truth. Ffion is a great character full of complexity, and when paired with her new partner, they both really come alive.

And that ending! Such a shocker, and so well done.

I'd read a prior book by this author that wasn't really for me, and I'm so glad I tried The Last Party!

The premise - a body discovered on New Year's Day and an investigation that involves both Welsh and British detectives, who have coincidentally hooked up the night before - was fun. The murder takes place on a lake in a small, exclusive resort community. The victim is a well-known opera singer. The suspects? Everyone!

This is basically a police procedural, which I love. And it's part of a new series, which I'm excited about!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC digital copy. I was not compensated for this review and all opinions are my own.

Quirky characters and mysteriously misleading action. In a way, everyone was both an informant and suspect.

4 out of 5 stars prior to the ending.

There was a major flaw in a final detail that I can’t stop thinking of, and it ruined the story for me.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3 out of respect for the author.

SPOILER:
The ricin powder added to one of Rhys’ envelopes was aimed at poisoning him. However, Seren worked for Rhys and likely would have been the one killed!

I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately it didn't engage me from the beginning. The summary made it sound like such a cool holiday thriller and it just didn't go there for me.

This is genuinely one of my favorite Clare mackintosh's I've ever read. The characters are beautifully flawed, the story is intricate with the right amount of plot twists, and the ending was enough to make me gasp out loud. I wish I could already reread this for the first time.

Clare Mackintosh
reviewed by Lou Jacobs


readersremains.com | Goodreads


This is my maiden voyage into the fiction and mind of Clare Mackintosh. The Last Party is much more than a police procedural as it morphs into an intricate mystery / thriller that defies the reader to guess the identity of the villain.

On New Year’s Eve, Rhys Lloyd is hosting a gala bash at The Shore, a set of five vacation lodges that line the shore of Mirror Lake. The lake forms the boundary between England and Wales. This beautiful idyllic setting is formed by Llyn Drych (“Mirror Lake” in English) surrounded by Pen y Draig (“Dragon”) Mountain on the Northern tip of the lake and the adjacent forest with the small village of Cwm Coed ( sounds like “Coom Coyd”) to the west.

Rhys and his business partner, Jonty, appear on the verge of a successful venture and decide to invite the local villagers for “champagne and canapés” to extend the proverbial olive branch in an attempt to win over their favor. The local community is not only divided by geography, but also by language, background, and wealth. Rhys is unfortunately at the nadir of his singing career and has previously enjoyed the fame and fortune of a “local boy” in his rise to operatic singing stardom. He needs this financial venture to succeed and rescue his failing career and avoid impending financial ruin. But, Rhys has returned to his father’s ancestral home site, and torn down trees to establish vacation homes for the affluent and wealthy. Bluntly put, the Welsh villagers do not appreciate the disruption of their serenity and the beauty of their lake ruined by a bunch of “rich English.”

The champagne flows freely as the guests mingle, but by midnight, Rhys will be floating face down—dead in the freezing waters of the lake. It’s obvious that not everyone was there to celebrate. By New Year’s Day, the party atmosphere has morphed into a solemn and grave crime scene, flooded with police and investigators and uncovering evidence and secrets.

Introduced into the fray is the main protagonist, Detective Constable Ffion Morgan, representing the North Wales Constabulary. She is partnered, due to proximity of adjacent England, with Detective Constable Leo Brady of the Cheshire Major Crime Unit. They are thrust into a working relationship, and charged with the investigation of not only a village full of suspects but numerous possible culprits: neighbors, friends, and even family. Ffion (“Ffi”) proves to be a feisty and contentious partner. Born and raised in Cwm Coed, and returning home after university to join the local police, she obviously harbors her own secrets, and has been plagued her whole life to tamp down the chaos in her relationships and friendships.

Neither Ffi or Leo are thrilled initially about the forced partnership, considering they were fresh out of a “one night stand” on New Years Eve, neither providing their real names or profession. However, something clicks, and the dynamics of their relationship grow into a burgeoning interdependence. They soon realize that a multitude of people wanted and would benefit from Rhys’s death. At one point, Ffi actually muses to herself: Rhys Lloyd is really dead. Thank God for that!

Clare Mackintosh proves a master storyteller as she gradually peels the onion to eventually uncover the real murderer, with multiple twists and reveals culminating in an epic denouement. She expertly weaves the many threads together to collide into an unexpected finale.

There will be no limit to reasonable red herrings, along this twisted journey. Secrets abound and are revealed. In my own mind, the obvious culprit changed frequently. As the investigation unfolded it was obvious that Rhys Lloyd was exceedingly deplorable, with more enemies than friends, and numerous motives were plausible.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. Hopefully we will enjoy further trials and tribulations of DC Ffi Morgan.

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for an advance copy to read and review! THE LAST PARTY by Clare Mackintosh published on November 8th, and is now available.

Ffion Morgan is called to the lake when a body is found on New Year’s Day. The local hometown boy made famous, Rhys Lloyd, is found dead in the lake. In a tale of twists, turns, and secrets where everyone has motive and opportunity, is anything really as it seems?

I love Clare Mackintosh’s writing. She really knows how to pull you into a story - even one where you detest most of the characters. THE LAST PARTY is the first installment in the DC Morgan Series, which follows Ffion. As a result, the pacing in the novel is fairly slow as we learn a lot about her temperament and backstory. She is a firecracker. Though flawed, her character is strong and independent. Ffion made this novel for me. I will likely read the next book because of her. If you decide to pick up this book know it’s more of a dramatic mystery exploring the many secrets of a small town than thriller.

CW: rape, murder, abuse, alcohol, language

The Last Party started out a bit slow, in large part because of the sheer number of characters. But it picked up, and I couldn’t read fast enough for the last 30% of the book. So many suspects, so many motives… who killed Rhys Lloyd?

“Out of the mist floats a man. Face down, and quite unmistakably dead.”

I went in expecting a typical murder mystery novel and discovered anything but. With each introduced character, another probable murder suspect appeared. I suppose making the murder victim one of the most hated people in town helps to keep things murky.

I was a bit thrown off by the structure of the book: each chapter not only switched perspectives, but timelines as well. Though I believe that ended up allowing the intrigue to last until the final page. Even as everything seemed to be tidied up nicely, there was still a bit of uneasiness.

A murder mystery containing dark secrets, hidden pasts, and forgotten histories. If you liked the TV series Broadchurch, I definitely recommend The Last Party!

***I greatly enjoyed reading this book, but other readers should check out trigger and content warnings as there are definitely some difficult topics covered that could be upsetting.***

Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!

I wasn't sure about this book at first. I'd recently read and loved Hostage (probably the best book I read all year), and I didn't see how The Last Party could possibly compare. I should have known that I was in the capable hands of Clare Mackintosh and would enjoy it very much. Now I can't wait for the next installment! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley!

Who could resist a lavish party celebrating the opening of the new Shore Resort? Add in glamor, wealth and gorgeous North Wales views of Mirror Lake and Pen y Ddraig Mountain (Welsh Dragon) attended by Welsh village locals and their wealthy British neighbors and we have a story. The setting is a Welsh town on the border of N. Wales and England.The host and founder of the resort, Rhys Lloyd appears intoxicated at the party and disappears. When his body turns up at an annual public event, we have a murder. The Last Party is the first of a series featuring DC Ffion Morgan, a Welsh police Officer and DC Leo Brady from England. They are tasked with working the case together. Their relationship and its lovely evolution mirror the cultural differences and prejudices of the two countries.. As Ffion and Leo investigate, the list of suspects grows. It seems Rhys gave everyone motive to end his life. The characters are plausible and multi- faceted. It is rare to read a superb mystery/thriller with such a well crafted human element. This book has all the components of an excellent read. Did I mention the absolutely killer ending? Just wow! Book two in the series is on my list. Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the digital copy of this ARC.

Ffian goes through quite a bit in this novel. It is apparent that she has not dealt with all the things that happened to her in her past and that shows through the movement of the book. My only fault with this book was there were too many characters to have to keep track off. And each had a connection to the crime. It became hard to keep them all straight. But the twists were delivered in quite the peeling of the onion way which is the best way to do it.

The Last Party is Clare Mackintosh’s latest novel and, like so many of her other books, it does not disappoint. Not in the least. One of the reviews describe it as part psychological thriller and part police procedural and that is the book in a nutshell.

The Last Party begins on New Year’s Eve at the vacation homes on Mirror Lake in the Welsh village of Cwm Coed. It’s a quiet, picturesque place and no one would ever expect to find a body in the lake during the New Year’s Day swim the following day. Is it the result of an accident or is it murder?

Besides the many residents who were present at the party. there are also the local villagers who are not happy with the development along their lake. In other words, there are plenty of suspects. Since Mirror Lake sits on the border of Wales and England, a detective from each jurisdiction is assigned to the case and they have their work cut out for them.

What develops is an intriguing and multi-layered story that is hard to put down. The descriptions, the character development, and the dialogue are all stellar. And the plot - how clever and entertaining! The story moves nearly seamlessly through different timelines and with multiple POVs. The two detectives, Leo and Ffion, are such a great match and their developing relationship, both working and personal, adds yet another layer to the storyline.

This is a book I highly recommend and I’m looking forward to (what I hope) is another book featuring the detectives.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

The Last Party is like stepping onto an escalator and looking around at your surroundings, observing all of the people going about their daily lives, unaware of any connections. When suddenly, your feet adhere to the step on which you stand, and the escalator speeds up. The higher the escalator climbs, the faster it goes. You’re looking around and trying to move, but you’re stuck. You’re riveted. I was fully immersed in this book, and it was hard to surface at times. It was brilliant, and I could not get enough.

The Last Party by Clare MacKintosh

This is book one in the DC Morgan series. We are introduced to the main character Ffion Morgan who is heading to a case that happened on New Years. Rhy's Llyod a wealthy famous musician is found dead in the lake at his vacation home. It is during the party he throws on New Years eve that he ends up dead. Who killed Rhy's and Why? So many people in the community do not like him. Ffion having her own little party on New Years eve hooks up with someone across the border and this is how she likes to do it. Simple little fun no complexities. She is assigned the case to Rhy's death as she arrives on the scene low and behold the guy she had a one night stand with Leo shows up to the crime scene as well. This makes things complex for Ffion and Leo both.

I like the slow drawn out thriller this story was it was a chance to get to know the characters which is a good way to start a series. I liked both Ffion and Leo both seem to be interesting and I hope in the future we see more of them together working cases or maybe even more. The case became clear as the story moved forward it came together as a who done it more so then just a mystery so many people did not like Rhy's so it was up to Ffion and Leo to figure it out.

Clare Mackintosh wrote a great opener to this series. I can not wait until the next book in this series comes out. I recommend this book if you like slow burning thrillers/mystery/whodunit then this book will be for you. It has the old school vibe of whodunit a nod to the past. I am giving it a five stars it kept me engaged in the story from start to finish.

Thank you to NetGalley and Source Book Landmark for a free copy of The Last Party for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

I started on e-book from NetGalley and ended on audio from Hoopla. I would have had a hard time if I had only experienced it via audio. Actually reading the first half helped map out the second half. Really enjoyed the audio, getting to hear all of the Welsh words and seeing them on the "page" and their spellings. I did have to listen to this one slower than my normal pace because the accents were so thick!
I thought it was so interesting how well Mackintosh did the POVs. You absolutely 100% thought one thing based on one person's POV ie (being in one person's POV and him thinking one thing and then being in someone else’s POV and realizing that what happened wasn’t true!) Very well done.
That being said, I gave it 3 stars. It took too long to take off and I didn't love some awkward parts or the very ending.
I did enjoy this tag team duo and want to read more of their adventures.

The Last Parry is a mystery about the murder of a not nice man at the New Years Party. The suspect list is long and the number of intrigue is pretty long too.

Rhys is killed at his vacation home in a small town in Wales. His family, neighbors, and locals are all suspects, and the team investigating his death, DCI Fifon Morgan and Leo Brady have their own secrets to hide.

This was the first book I have read by this author, though I have considered reading others written by her, but my TBR pile is very large (as I'm sure most are for avid readers). The location of this story is the center of this story, the author really describes the mountains, the lake, the weather (cold, wet and foggy most of the time), since the author lives in this area, it probably explains why she can describe it so well. On New Year's Day, Rhys Lloyd, a has been singer/actor, is found floating face down in a lake in a beautiful small village in Wales. The beautiful setting is the reason that Rhys formed a partnership to build a number of lodges (very exclusive) to sell to rich investors. Two detectives, one from England the other from Wales, are assigned to investigate (the body was found in England, the closest police is in the small village which is in Wales), it soon becomes apparent that Rhys was murdered. DCI Morgan and Brady, who had happened to spend an intimate evening together the day before they are assigned to investigate. Both detectives have issues going on in their personal lives and when they start to investigate the list of suspects grows with almost every person they talk to. I did find the cast of characters very large for such a small village, almost everyone in the village had a reason to hate Rhys. It also took a long time to get to the bad person, though overall I did enjoy and would recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC.

The first in a new series, this is a psychological thriller, police procedural and whodunnit all rolled into one. The writing and character development are stellar and there are lot of red herrings and surprises throughout. The ending yields some unexpected twists. The descriptions of the lake setting were the icing on the cake. I look forward to the next in this series!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Everyone loved dad. He was the nicest man you could ever meet.”

Read if you like:
- longggggg chapters
- who-done-it murder mystery
- multiple points of view
- with just a liiiiiitle romance sprinkled in

Rhys Lloyd is found dead in the lake after his New Year’s Eve party he threw to meet all his new neighbours. But everyone loves Rhys… who would have killed him??

This is a who-done-it mystery, with many different characters and perspectives involved.
I have been hearing about this book literally non-stop for months, I am so excited to finally get to read it!
The language (Welsh) in this was a little tough for me to understand and took me a little bit of extra time to get through; I looked some words up and I’m still confused 😜 lol.
I love when books are written from more than one person’s perspective, because it shows us 2 (or more!) sides to the story and I can slowly piece together the puzzle. There were a lottttt of characters in this one and at times it did get a little confusing trying to keep them all apart, but it all together well in the end.
I tend to avoid DI/DC so-and-so books as they are not really my taste, but this one was really enjoyable!
This is my second by this author, and I really like the stories she tells!
This was definitely more of a mystery than a thriller though. Some parts in the middle did drag on a little, and I would have loved more twist or suspense, as this book is marketed as a “thriller”.
I definitely did not see the end coming!! I love when I am so sure I have the ending figured out and then I am completely wrong 😜