Superb! Fantastic! Amazing!

Clare Mackintosh does it again, with ”The Last Party.” I was so excited to see this new novel coming, and even more excited and grateful to be offered an eARC! Clare Mackintosh is one of the few writers that can cause my jaw to drop, and throw twists and turns that you just don’t see coming. Her novel, “Hostage” was an incredible, fast paced, relevant, and should become a movie! This new novel, combines her trademark thriller with police procedural thrown in, and is the start of a series featuring DC Morgan.

The story is set in Wales, North Wales actually and centers around a fabulous New Year’s Eve party in an incredible mansion in an exclusive neighborhood, resort areas, called The Shore. The guests include wealthy residents and locals who seem put out by the whole thing. After the party, the next morning, the resort owner, Rhys Lloyd, is found dead. He was still to popular by the way…

In comes DC Morgan, she is a flawed and fabulous character who has balls and is a strong female protagonist. She must not only look into her friends, she is a local, she must also look to those who resented the resort area. The body was discovered in Mirror Lake, which borders Wales and England, so Morgan, must work with a DC from Cheshire. This does not make her particularly ecstatic, as she is more of a fly solo kind of gal. However, as the book progresses we get a glimpse of the two of them learning to work together, and some of the dialogue is quite catty and fun. It will be interesting to see how their relationship develops over the course of the series.

The plot is fast, well developed, I love the atmosphere of Mirror Lake, and the relationships between friend and foe. The author has the ability,to,draw you in, you feel emotions for these characters, and not always good ones!
All characters are well drawn out, each is developed accordingly so you don’t feel cheated. There is a lot going on in the book but it flows and never seems disjointed or to much. There are multiple POV’s and it takes talent to keep them all going, interesting, and not overwhelming. Clare Mackintosh’s construction of all of it is incredible, because a less talented writer would of taken 16 POV’s and made it a train wreck.

DC Morgan left quite an impression on me. I though of her long after I finished the book. She is definitely flawed, but she is as sharp as a tack, and has an incredible wit. She is one of the first characters I’ve really enjoyed since DC Helen Grace in The M.J. Arlidge series.

I look forward to forthcoming books in this series. Clare Mackintosh is by far one of my new and favorite authors.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my,own.

I think this is only the second book I've read by Clare Mackintosh, so I definitely want to go back and read the rest of her backlist because I really enjoyed THE LAST PARTY. The setting at the lake along the border of Wales and England was very unique and was perfect for this story contrasting new vs old, traditional vs modern, and more. The two main characters, a female police detective from Wales and a male police detective from England, were multi-dimensional and had fully fleshed-out backstories. And EVERYONE in this book has a secret that will keep you guessing until the very end. I would love to see a sequel featuring detectives Ffion Morgan and Leo Brady working on another case!

A Solid Start

3.65 stars

“Is anyone at The Shore who they appear to be?”

The Last Party is a procedural mystery about the murder of a hateful man at a New Year's Eve Party. The suspect list is long ….and the number of secrets surrounding the murder is even longer.

The plot centers on solving the murder of local celebrity Rhys Lloyd 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 Ffion Morgan and Leo Brady, have their own secrets to hide.

The action takes place in a small town in Wales with a lake at the center that divides the rich from the poor, locals from the tourists.

Ffion’s character and the atmospheric setting were what I liked best about this book. Ffion’s banter with her partner, Leo, and learning more about those who inhabit the town and their wealthy neighbors kept me invested.Ffion's voice is most prominent, followed by Leon's. They are new to being partners and share a very interesting connection.

On the other hand, there are too many characters, and the timeline is nonlinear. I had trouble keeping track of who was who and when the events were taking place.

I was in solid like with this book until about the 60% mark, and then I was finally immersed.

The mystery isn’t hard to solve, and the twists are intriguing but slightly obvious. Ffion and Leo’s characters and the setting add a layer of depth to this novel. This was a solid start to the series, and I look forward to seeing Ffion, and hopefully Leo, again in the next book.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Sourcebooks in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed that this book provided lots of twists and turns. Every time I thought I knew what had happened, I was thrown for a loop. However, I found this book to be much too long. The overall pace was slow, and I found myself sometimes skimming pages rather than really reading them.

I really did not like Ffion as a character. I found her to be very realistic, but she was abrasive to me, and I became annoyed with her often. I did, however, like Leo. I found him to be likeable in spite of his obvious character flaws. I think that readers would be able to identify with him moreso than Ffion. I will also say that there were a LOT of secrets that the town had. I don't know that I believed that one place could contain that many "juicy" secrets. Also I did lose track of the characters at times.

I will also say that the Welsh slang and names of places made it difficult to read at points.

Overall, I enjoy Mackintosh's books, but this one was not my favorite.

The first of a new crime mystery series by an author also new to me. It is set in Wales with some unfamiliar language, kept me on my toes, fun to learn about new dialect and culture. The chapters alternated focus between the two main detectives and some new area residents. The book is separated into two parts, the first time period around Christmas and New Years holiday visits to the Shore, the second part backtracks to the summer months.
The locals aren’t fond of the new resort lakeside lodge development infringing on their small village. The unwanted transplants converge for a New Years Eve party at Jonty and Blythe’s home for The Shore residents. He’s the financial backing for the project. They’ve invited a few locals in an attempt at smoothing over resentment. Rhys inherited the prime lakeside property and partnered with Jonty to build these new expensive cottages. The owners include a former boxer, an influencer, an opera singer, a consultant, retirees, a single Mom and some teenage kids.
There’s a dead man’s body discovered floating in the lake the next day. The body’s position in the lake presents a jurisdictional feud since it borders England and Wales. The introduction to the detectives from each area starts off with a bang. DC Ffion Morgan and Leo Brady are dispatched from their units. Both of them have personal battles and dark secrets, but must learn to work together to solve the murder. With a lot of possible suspects and motives to sort through the crime leads them down a twisted path including some dead ends.
The couples have affairs and trade partners like baseball cards. Fi and Leo have differing approaches and a wary working relationship. Resentment escalates with wealthy out-of-towners vs locals unable to afford the increased costs created by The Shore. The excellent character descriptions set this up to become an interesting series. The area was painted clearly enough to make me shiver in the snow. I felt like I was there and it’s a place I knew nothing about. The angles and social issues were fresh and thoughtful without being preachy. There were almost too many clues, motives and suspects – I couldn’t decide who was the murderer, kept me guessing to the conclusion. I would definitely recommend and will anxiously await the next In series.
A sincere thanks to NetGalley for the digital advance reader copy of “The Last Party DC Morgan #1” by Claire Mackintosh and to Sourcebooks. These are my honest personal thoughts and opinions given completely voluntarily without compensation.

With a literal boatload of suspects-all with a motive to commit murder- and a victim so despicable it's hard to summon any sympathy for him, a good time was not had by anyone at The Last Party (except for the reader!). Some were scammed financially by Rhys Lloyd, some fell under his predatory spell, all have an ax to grind. A musician turned real estate developer, the true mystery of The Last Party is how come no one offed Rhys sooner! What Clare Mackintosh does better than almost anyone is keep your interest through multiple twists that turn out to be dead ends. She is a master of the red herring. The Last Party has a beautiful setting-The English and Welsh countryside- inhabited by some not so pretty people (this includes a few of those investigating Rhys death). It holds your attention as you discard suspects and add others. While The Last Party is a murder mystery, the underlying plot is the tension between "the have's and have not's" living on Llyn Drych (Mirror Lake)-with the locals on the English side and the wealthy "weekenders" residing at The Shore-Rhys's upscale community on the Welsh side. The Last Party is driven as much by the characters as by the plot-the most intense moments are the back stories of Ffion Morgan and Leo Brady-detectives from each side of Llyn Drych- and others who unfortunately found themselves in Rhys's orbit. The Last Party is both fast paced and slow burn-you'll reread parts just to figure out what you missed the first time. The Last Party cements Miss Mackintosh's status as one of the most brilliant suspense writers of her generation.

It definitely was the last party for Rhys Lloyd.

Was it an accident or did someone kill him?

There were quite a few people who didn't like him so there are many suspects for the police to interview.

We meet Ffion and Leo in the opening pages as they crawl out of bed after a one-night stand and then when they are shocked that they are assigned to the same case.

We follow the investigation and the stories behind the these two characters and others.

THE LAST PARTY was a slow read, a bit confusing, difficult for me to keep track of the many characters, and not one I was anxious to get back to.

There were a few surprises, but I was disappointed because I always enjoy Ms. Mackintosh's books.

I hope it turns out better for you when you read it. 3/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

I did not know what I was reading in the first chapter. Maybe this one is just not for me. I have enjoyed other books by Clare Mackintosh before but even the location threw me off.

I’m glad I didn’t score an invitation to this party!

Gossip grows an audience. It destroys reputations. Just ask Rhys Lloyd. Mackintosh explores how people use gossip to hurt people, to feel good about themselves and to feel like they have power over others.

I enjoyed the Welsh culture and countryside, the isolated lakeside resort, and how the secrets, grudges, revenge, jealousy, and entitled wealthy resort goers played off each other.

A huge cast of characters, a town full of revenge-seeking people, rape, swearing, names I couldn’t pronounce, and an incredibly slow pace made engaging with this one extremely difficult. With Hostage, my attention was hooked immediately and so, I’ll admit, disappointment set in with this one. I found myself checking how many pages were left…frequently. This tells me it was both too long and failed to capture my interest. I did stick with it, warmed up to some of the characters and was eventually caught up in the action. A little too late.

Sadly, this won’t be as memorable a book for me as the New Year’s Party was for those at Mirror Lake.

If you enjoy police procedurals and my cautionary points don’t phase you, this one’s for you! It’s been optioned for TV and is the first installment of a crime series featuring a spiky, unfiltered DC Ffion Morgan.

This series is not for me, but I’ll be watching to see if this author writes any more thrillers. She excels in that genre.

I received this advance copy by SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.
.

New Years Eve and The Shore is throwing the party to be at. Too bad one of the residents doesn’t make it to see the next morning and washes up during the New Years Day lake swim. Now it is up to FFion and Leo to figure out who killed Rhys Llloyd. Fffion has some secrets of her own she doesn’t want to get out though…

Oh man, there was a point in this book where each and every person was my main suspect for who killed Rhys. He was such a total jerk off, it seriously could have been any single person in town, and maybe some from out of town too! This book had so many different layers and characters that were all connected in such different ways. It definitely took me some time to figure it all out, but I really enjoyed the story.

This wasn't my favorite by this author. The first two chapters hooked me, but then it drug on until about halfway. Because I read this for free from NetGalley, I pushed through. I didn't figure out who the killer was, which I like. I realized I didn't really care about any of the characters or what happened to them. I probably wouldn't recommend it, but that being said, I saw she is working on a second book with the main characters that I will read as long as I don't have to pay for it.

• Thank you to #Sourcebooks Landmark and #NetGalley for providing this Advance Reading Copy. Expected publication date is November 8, 2022.

#StoryGraph: fiction thriller dark mysterious tense medium-paced
448 pages | first published 2022

This might be the first book I’ve read set in Wales. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

This is the first in Mackintosh’s DC Ffion Morgan series. I have very high hopes for this series based on this first installment. The characters were realistic and I really liked the way she handled the romantic tension between Morgan and Brady.

In this story, an influential musician disappears, and later found dead, after a New Year’s Eve party that he was hosting. This is basically a closed door mystery because it takes place on a small Welsh island and practically the entire town was at the party. Now, Ffion has to find the murderer in an island full of suspects.

It took me a while to get comfortable with the unfamiliar names, but once I sorted it out this was a five-star book in every way. I am definitely looking forward to the next episode.

4.5/5 stars! On New Years Day, while the village of Cwm Coed is taking place in their annual plunge into the lake, a body is found. Who is the body? Is it a murder? And how did they end up in Mirror Lake on New Years day? Ffion Morgan has a village of suspects and each person seems to be a suspect and have had a problem with the victim. Everyone in the village seems to have secrets, even Ffion.

This book takes place in Wales (and partly England). I really liked that Clare stuck to some of the Welsh roots and used names and words that were Welsh. I had to look up many phrases, especially pronunciations, but I think that added to the charm. The books flips from present day as two detective work to solve the crime and the recent past leading up to the murder from many of the suspects perspectives.

This book is deeply layered, with all the connections and relationships that are going on. Things we think are true, are not and some things we never even considered are happening right in front of us. Everyone in this book seems like they have a motive and the author kept me guessing until the very end! Everyone in this book has a secret, and Rhys has the most!

If I did have one complaint it would be that there was a little bit of dragging in the middle, but it quickly picked up again and I was hooked. This book is a slow moving book, which is something I have grown used to with Clare Mackintosh's books. It allows you to sit with the plot and make your own discoveries and decisions. A lot of the mysteries that are in this book, I managed to figure out, but it also didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.

I loved the stories of both Ffion Morgan and Leo Brady . I thought it didn't feel like either were finished and then I saw that Clare Mackintosh is writing a second novel in this universe! I am so excited!

This was a solid mystery, with some thrilling aspects. I found this novel a solid mystery that made my brain work, which is what I am looking for. It is a nice addition to Clare Mackintosh's array of works. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine

This was a book I couldn’t finish. I wanted to give a good review. I couldn’t get past all the f bombs and I quote “woke culture”. Unfortunately, this book was one I couldn’t finish

This book was everything I wanted it to be. It had me turned pages without even realizing. It was so good!

I loved the wintertime setting in Wales. I could see many people enjoying this book under a blanket near the fire. The many points-of-view and varying timeline also added interest and kept the plot moving. Ffion and Leo were great characters to root for. I really liked how the author tied many elements from the various characters together at the end!
My only critiques are: 1) all the infidelity, simply because I'm not a fan of reading about people having affairs, and there were so many in this story.; and 2)The overall length seemed excessive. Almost 450 pages? It seemed like it could have been told in under 400.

It's New Year's Eve night, and during the annual night swim, Rhys Lloyd is found dead in the lake. DC Ffion Morgan and Leo Brady are on top of the case and soon discover that Rhys certainly had more friends than enemies, and nearly everyone is a suspect.
Told in multiple perspectives, we learn about grudges held, and secrets kept and broken among the village citizens. Even secrets from Ffion herself.

This book was a slow burn, and I had a hard time staying engaged in part 1, but does pick up in part 2. I enjoyed the twists, especially the final one, and believe this is set up for a sequel (or series.) I'm not sure what didn't work for me. I certainly didn't know who the culprit was, as it seemed everyone had motive! There were many characters and the reader does get a good amount of backstory and detail on each, but it was hard to keep them all straight at times.
I was very much anticipating this book as I love all of the author's previous books, but this was different from her usual style. If you like a good whodunit, I'd recommend this read. Personally, I will check out the follow up to this book to see if my interest is piqued even more.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free advance e-reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
I love everything Clare Mackintosh writes, and "The Last Party" had me guessing nearly to the end! A fast-paced mystery set in Wales (I might need to get the audiobook just to learn how everything is pronounced), the novel opens with the race to identify the body floating in the lake at the end of chapter one, and continues with a detailed exploration heavy on character development to discover which of the many, MANY characters with motive among the townies and the posh residents of "The Shore" resort alike actually did the deed. The novel had me totally engaged from the "meet cute" of the two detectives working on the case from either side of the English / Welsh border who were themselves well crafted and sympathetic in their own rights, through the slotting of the final piece into the puzzle at the end. I highly recommend this novel, and am thrilled to read that a sequel is planned. What a great book. Five stars.

Clare Mackintosh knows how to tell a good story! I have loved all her books and this one is no exception!! I highly recommend!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for my ARC in exchange for my honest review!

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

A truly fantastic book- part thriller, part mystery, lots of community and relationship dysfunction, romance and police procedure and best yet, some culture ( I love to learn while I read as an armchair traveler).

In The Last Party, Rhys Lloyd, a Welsh hometown boy who has made it big as a singer, is discovered floating in Mirror Lake on New Year's Day. The border of England and Wales runs through the lake, thus two police organizations are involved. Ffion Morgan comes in to investigate representing the Welsh part of the area while Leo Brady is assigned to the death from the English side. The two have already met and are as opposite as can be.

I've read that Mackintosh is former police and her knowledge and experience shows in the perfect plot and procedural components. Mackintosh is also an extremely gifted writer and she is able to breath new life into situations that might have been tired elsewhere - such as a new workmates introduced after a one night stand.

Every character is interesting and all of the relationships are thoughtful and realitist. I truly never wanted this book to end and I look forward to book #2. If you like a good police procedural, a mystery with lots of human interest or just want to visit a charming town with secrets, The Last Party is for you!




With a lie uncovered at every turn, soon the question isn't who wanted Rhys dead...but who finally killed him.