The Last Party was such a good read. At one point, it seemed that every character had a motive to commit the murder, but as usual, the reader doesn't find out whodunit until the very end! That's what makes Clare Mackintosh's books so good. I am looking forward to the next installment. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I received an ARC of The Last Party in exchange for an honest review. This was a good thriller/mystery set near Wales. This would maybe have been a five star rating for me but for two things. The first is there are a LOT of characters. A lot of people to keep track of. Secondly, the story went back and forth in different timelines, which is OK. However, I felt like the timelines were all over the place. You had the current time, which was after the murder, and then the week or so leading up to the murder, and then you had to skip back even further. A lot of jumping around with the time. A good read, but if you don't like books with those two items, this may not be the book for you.

If you love a well-written, character-driven, police-procedural British mystery, this new series will be right in your wheelhouse.

The story begins with a dead body, of course, found in a freezing cold lake on New Year’s Day during the town’s Polar Bear swim. Yeah, that was a real buzzkill.

Ffion (yup, I googled the pronunciation - it’s Fee-on) is a major crimes detective in Wales, living with her mother and sister, with memories of her childhood as “Wild Ffion” in the same small town. Ffion is DEEP, such an incredibly well-developed character, and she had my loyalty from the very beginning. Oh, how I love a smart, ambitious, vulnerable, authentic female lead!

And the English detective she’s partnered up with to figure out the ‘whodunnit’ is equally as complex. This duo can lead me anywhere they want, through multiple books in this series, and I am ALL IN.

If you loved the Jane Casey series with Maeve and Derwent, you’re gonna get the same ‘feels’ from this one - enjoy!

The body of a crooner turned developer is discovered after a New Year’s Eve party that included a plethora of people with motives for his murder. On the case are two detectives, Leo from England and Ffion from Wales, who have history. Speaking of history, Ffion has her own reasons for wanting the victim dead.

The twists and turns of the story were well executed, as were the character arcs for both Ffion and Leo. While the cast felt at times unwieldily, it was fun to see their secrets revealed and to have such a large pool of suspects.

I adored Ffion and Leo, the secondary characters, and setting. I’m am thrilled to learn that this book is the first in a series. Welsh language and culture give the setting depth and authenticity, creating a familiar small town feel. Each of the characters were lovingly developed to the point that I hoped a few of them weren’t the murderer or if they did kill the victim, that they would get away with it.

The perspectives of much of the cast are given both, which nicely shows their sometimes skewed interpretations of events and their relationships with each other. In addition to the case, both Ffion and Leo deal with personal problems related to previous relationships.

Ffion’s integrity is put to the test as she knows the deceased and many of the suspects, which adds to the conflict. Her working relationship with Leo is often rocky due to the way they met, their different styles, and Ffion’s close personal connections to the case.

It took me a tick to get acclimated to the world and the large cast, but by the victim’s autopsy, I was hooked.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark, an imprint of Sourcebooks, for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley.

The first in a new mystery series revolving around DC Morgan. On the New Year's Day swim in a lake on the border of Wales and England, a body is found. It turns out to be Rhys Lloyd, a famous opera singer and land developer on the lake. Ffion Morgan is assigned to work the case with her English counterpart, Leo Brady. As they start to investigate, they realize that Rhys had more enemies than friends.

I really enjoyed this book! The mystery was good, with lots of intrigue and twists. I also enjoyed the characters and really hope that there are more in the series (Goodreads says DC Morgan #1 so fingers crossed!). I'd definitely recommend this for anyone looking for a good mystery.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m always so impressed when a story with a couple different perspectives, and one that jumps back and forth!, can still make you invested in each one.

This story does just that. The characters, especially Ffion and Leo, are well fleshed out. Even as the story spins away from them and tracks the movements of those at the Shore. You get a good sense of who everyone is and it’s fun to untangle what everyone is hiding.

There’s lots of surprises along the way but they’re well-earned.

Definitely a satisfying story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Last Party by Claire MacIntosh is a murder mystery. It’s also a book with a billion (slight exaggeration) characters and plenty of people who could/did/would kill the murdered dude. I like how the author built the suspense, but I would also say it reads a bit slow because too many unimportant details slog the story's pace down, and I feel the book would have benefitted from a wee bit of editing. Regardless, I enjoyed the story and thought the ending was well done. The lake setting between England and Wales was fun, and the atmosphere was always perfectly in tune with the entire story. This book will be published on November 8. #murder #Wales #England #lakefronthomes #celebrity #mystery #detectives #TheLastParty #clairemacintosh @netgalley

I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and the author for the opportunity to read this book.

#book #books #bookaddict #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookshelf #booksbooksbooks #readersofinstagram #reader #booklove #bookreader #reader #reading

Reese Lloyd was the boy from Wales who made it big and now he’s back with vacation cabins for the rich and influential. On New Year’s eve night he has a party and although he seems really tipsy the party goes off as a success that is until the next day when the locals go for an ice cold swim in the lake and they find him floating facedown. Leo Brady is investigating detective from the English side of the lake he’s a black man from Liverpool and his captain never lets him forget it. Fion Morgan is from Wales knows almost everyone involved in the case and some she knows too well. Both these detectives have monsters in the closet to start off with they had a one night stand in both gave each other fake names they weren’t properly introduced until they went to see the body at the corners office. Can they come together and salt this very involved murder? There’s lots of suspects and lots of questions without any answers before it’s over though , Fion and Leo will not only know each other‘s real names but will no their fears their wants in the deepest darkest secrets. This was such a good book it is super long but OMG so worth reading you get the story from multiple points of view almost everyone involved in the story has a chapter, but it is worth reading and oh so good I love this book it was a great mystery and an OMG ending! So many people want this man dead, but who killed him? That’s the question and it has a very long and involved answer I highly highly recommend this book it was so freaking good! I received this book from NetGalleyShelf in the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thanks to @Sourcebooks Landmark for the e-arc of The Last Party! Having enjoyed 2 books of Clare's, I was excited. That excitement fizzled out quickly.

Wales is the setting for this story and that was its immediate downfall - the names of some places in here, some dialogue in welsh, honestly had me confused and lost. I shouldn't feel the need to google places or sayings to understand a book better.

The MC, detective Ffion Morgan, was so annoying. Again, how do I pronounce that? I thought this book dragged on and on and was the next level of a slow burn with no payoff in the end. I didn't care who killed him because he was such a dickhead. I was just glad he was dead. When it was revealed who did it, I thought it was predictable and not shocking. Overall, I just didn't care.

The book itself is far too long and needs to be cut by maybe 75 pages. There are far too many POVs. Every chapter felt like a new character and the timelines of each chapter got confusing. Multiple times I had issues remembering whose POV it was.

I will not be reading book 2.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book as an ebook ARC.

The first thing that caught my attention about this book had to be the bright pink cover. I am a sucker for a well-designed book cover, no shame about it! I was also intrigued by the synopsis.

Unfortunately, I made it about 50 percent of the way through this one when I decided to call it quits. I was not enjoying the story, it was moving a bit slow. And I was unfamiliar with how to pronounce some of the non-English words, which was frustrating me a bit as I was reading. The back and forth perspectives were not totally making sense to me- Overall, I wish I would have felt more of a connection to the story.

I will look forward to the chance to read more Clare Mackintosh in the future because the author's voice and creativity make it worth trying a different title.

3.5

This book had a strong Welsh atmosphere along the edges of a lake, I could almost feel the wet air of the mist in the morning. Reading the Welsh words and names here and there I completely made up not knowing how to pronounce them, for that reason the audiobook may be nice.

I loved the format of this book. Many if the chapters follow the two main investigators but then other chapters are given the the wide cast of people who “could” be the culprit. Doing this weaved the story together using many voices in a creative yet uncomplicated way.

Where this book had a very strong sense of place it also had a strong sense of infidelity and rape rippled through the whole book. Usually I can handle that in a book, and I handled it in this one but by the end I was just kind of done with it. It got to a point of unbelievability for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advance e-copy of this book.

This was such a satisfying story, I didn’t want it to end. I felt like I was in a village in Wales near an eerie lake. The author weaves a complex tapestry of interesting characters who carry secrets. Anyone at the lake could’ve killed Rhys. They all had a motive. It’s up to Ffion Morgan, a detective from Wales, and her counterpart from England, Leo Brady, to solve the mystery. Just when I thought the book was wrapped up at the end, there’s a twist. I look forward to reading other books by the author.

Lots to enjoy about this one, but I had to bump my rating down a bit for the unnecessary length/amount of characters in this story. 50-75 pages could have easily been cut and at least 2-3 characters have no real effect on the plot and should have been eliminated entirely. I loved how atmospheric the book was though, and Mackintosh really has a way with delivering multiple plot twists that never feel cheap or (for the most part) predictable. Despite it dragging a bit at parts, I’m so impressed by how intricately the story was plotted out.

I really enjoyed this mystery by Clare Makintosh that involves a man who is killed at a neighborhood party. Turns out that just about everyone in the area had a reason to kill the man. Told from different perspectives and timelines over the course of a year, the plot is tightly woven with several twists. I loved how the author described the Welsh setting and use of the unique Welsh language. I could see this being developed into a tv series like Broadchurch (which I also loved). This was probably my favorite Clare Makintosh book and I have ready many.

The Last Party is the newest twisty thriller by Clare Mackintosh. It's told over the span of one year from one New Year's Eve to the next. The initial New Year's Eve has a party occurring and a dead body is discovered. The small town on the border of England and Wales has plenty of suspects in regards to who would have like to have seen the victim offed. It's up to Ffion and Leo, the police officers, to discover the truth behind the crime. Lots of secrets and drama keep this book moving right along. I'm thrilled to learn that a sequel is already in the works. Read and enjoy!

new-series, Wales, crime-fiction, thriller, murder, murder-investigation, procedural, suspense, family-dynamics, family, friction, friendship, frustration, relationships, cultural-differences, celebrities*****

As if it isn't enough that the lake where the body of a celebrity is found is one which divides England and Wales so that two detectives from different jurisdictions are in charge, teaming up for solving the case. The worst is that those two detectives (Leo Brady from Cheshire Major Crime and Detective Constable Ffion Morgan from North Wales CD) had a one night stand the night before they met as colleagues!
Neither wants to work with the other jurisdiction, let alone be partnered! But. That only adds to a story filled with wonderful descriptions of the area and the process they must both go through to bring a fraught investigation full of lies and half-truths to a close. A pretty great read!
Being a North American, my only wish is to find it in audio so I don't feel a dunce in mispronunciations.
I requested and received a free temporary e-book copy from Sourcebooks/Landmark via NetGalley. Thank you!

The Last Party is my first book by Clare Mackintosh but it won’t be my last.
The Shore brings a group of people to Wales that probably wouldn’t have known one another if not for the promise of a luxury development. They each have hidden reasons for being there. Rhys Lloyd, famous Welsh signer, has a lot to lose on New Year’s Eve but he wasn’t expecting to lose his life.
The author keeps the story moving by having each chapter follow a snapshot of one character’s view in the timeline. It changes forward & back but it was easy to follow. The ending definitely surprised me.
There are a lot of Welsh words in the book & I wish that the author had included a pronunciation key in the book. I kept googling words to hear the pronunciation.

The Last Party is a twisty story involving a New Years party, a dead man floating in the lake, and many secrets and lies uncovered. Rhys Morgan is a very hated man, and it became more of a who actually did it, because everyone seems capable of it.

I struggled through this book and ended up skimming quite a bit. There were too many characters and too many lies to keep up with for my liking, and it just made me lose interest in the tale rather than suck me in. I kept having a hard time picking the story back up. I’m probably in the minority with my opinions, I saw several people that really enjoyed it, but it wasn’t a favorite for me.

Thank you NetGalley and sourcebooks for my ARC in exchange for my honest feedback

This a well written, slow burn read. There were several twists that I never saw coming and lots of characters/suspects to choose from. I kept guessing (incorrectly) until the very end.
I absolutely loved this book and I hope to read more about Ffion and Leo in future books.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

There are too many characters in this book. It is long and hard to follow. The mystery aspect is solid, but between the timelines going out of order, it was hard to follow. The book examines a murder that took place on New Year's Eve, and the timeline goes from the present where they are trying to solve the murder, back to New Year's Eve. Only depending on the character, it depends on what time on New Year's Eve the story jumps back to.
This helps to build the timeline, but also is very confusing. So many characters jumping to different spots in the story makes this really hard to follow. It is a solid police procedural, and it seems to be the first in a series with these detectives. I liked the characters of the detectives and their banter, but there needs to be fewer characters in future books!