This was solid police procedural/mystery story. The murder mystery was intriguing and I couldn't wait for the next reveal. My favorite part of this novel was seeing the same scenes from different perspectives. It made you really dislike Rhys even more as the book went on.
I also loved the descriptions of the lake and the surrounding town and countryside. It sounded wild and beautiful. I'd love to visit.
While the one twist was pretty obvious early on, it did not take away from the story. If you like detective stories I would recommend this novel. Thank you to #NetGalley for a copy of this book for an honest review

The Last Party by Claire Mackintosh

At midnight, one of them is dead.
By morning, all of them are suspects.

It's a party to end all parties, but not everyone is here to celebrate.

The Last Party is a police procedural that takes place in Wales. Rhys Lloyd , a local celebrity, is celebrating New Year’s Eve with neighbors, family and locals at his vacation home at The Shore. Everyone there seems to have a secret or a grudge against someone. By midnight Rhys will be found dead. Who killed him and how did he die?
DCI Ffion Morgan and Leo Brady are called in to investigate. Ffion grew up in this neighborhood and knows all the locals and some of the secrets they are hiding. Leo has never worked with Ffion before, but they develop a relationship that seems to work most of the time in their investigation. Ffion is also a holder of a secret, one that she finally admits to Leo. He also has a troubled relationship with his ex-wife concerning their son.
This is a twisty murder mystery that leaves you guessing all the time to who the murderer is. There are numerous possibilities and Ffion and Leo work through them over the course of the novel. I loved the various characters and their different personalities. It was difficult at times keeping the characters straight, who was married to who and who was having an affair with who.
This novel is nonlinear, with the same story told from different viewpoints. It was hard to put this novel down as you wanted to know how Rhys died and who was responsible. There were many believable theories and I was completely surprised by the ending.
Many thanks to both NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read an ARC of The Last Party in exchange for my honest thoughts.

✨Ｂｏｏｋ Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ✨

The Last Party 📚 by Claire Mackintosh

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I really wanted to enjoy this book, and I'm not quite sure what was lacking for me. I think with it being 400 pages the plot felt entirely way too drawn out...it could have been done in 200 pages. There were twists and parts that kept my interest, but this one overall just didn't do it for me! But hey, at least we tried a new author!
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Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh.

Whenever I have the chance to listen to a book, rather than reading it, I do. But sometimes, to really dive into a story and relish every moment, you have to curl up and give it your full attention. The Last Party was one of those times.

Ffion is a detective who, at one point in her life, was known as Ffion the Wild. She is efficient and no nonsense. But when Rhys Lloyd ends up dead after a big New Years party, Ffion is deeply shaken. Living in a small town means that everyone knows everyone, and getting close to this case may mean some serious trouble for her and her family.

I read a ton of thrillers, they're fast and fun and often forgettable. But I REALLY loved this thriller. It truly had everything, and the author does such a good job making it rich and layered without dragging. I was hooked from the very beginning to the end, it was worth the extra time it took to sit down and read.

I enjoyed this book. The first half was a bit slow and there are SO many characters to keep up with. The Irish words were sometimes confusing, but I got over that quickly. I enjoyed trying to figure out the twist and every time I thought I had it locked down, another twist happened. Overall, I give the book 3.5 stars and would definitely read another book by this author! Check it out if you like mysteries with crazy twists!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Really great book and looks like the start of a new series that I will definitely follow. I read another book by this author before and liked it so I figured I would see how this one was. Didn’t disappoint. Perfect book to begin the year with too.

I really enjoyed The Hostage by Claire Macintosh, so was excited for another engaging mystery! Unfortunately this one wasn’t as action packed and engaging as her last book. I found the pacing of this one to be a bit slow. It took quite a long time to build up the plot line and the amount of characters to keep track of was a bit confusing to keep up with at times. I did enjoy the police procedural part of this book! There were a few twists I didn’t see coming’s high is always enjoyable when you’re reading a mystery! Overall a solid 3.5 star read!

This is a new to me author and I will definitely be looking for more of her works. I thoroughly enjoyed the two main characters and their interactions, and although there was a lot of other characters, to me it was easy to keep up with them. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys suspense and mysteries.


I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This was the perfect read to begin the new year. It starts on January 1 and the murder investigation goes until January 10th (with some backstory scattered throughout, ranging in dates and multiple POV).

I read this for The Gloss bookclub and can’t wait to discuss. I don’t know that I get the title, but I felt like this story kept me interested and I was intrigued how all the lives in this Wales/English lake area were intertwined.

Rhys Lloyd, who has been a famous musician, began developing his father’s land with expensive lake homes. One New Years Eve, the owners host a major party, inviting the townspeople, who haven’t been excited about the development. He feels yucky one evening, as we trace his life and meet all the people he treated wrongly. We explore the mystery through the eyes of two police Ffion Morgan (from Wales) and Leo Brady (from England).

The Last Party, the first in the DC Morgan series by Clare Mackintosh, is a complex, multi-character mystery that is both interesting, layered and compelling. This multi-faceted plot is challenging to keep track of with its multitude of characters and countless red herrings, but it’s worth sorting through. This is a high drama psychological thriller with the wealthy and elite behaving badly, countless secrets that have been covered up, and a multitude of motives for murder and revenge.

The storyline shifts between two timelines, past and present, and various perspectives to give you a ample angles of the plot. The Last Party is a bit slower-paced in its build-up, but the atmospheric North Whales lakeside setting sets an intense mood.

The conclusion of the story is intriguing, surprising and rather satisfying, but the novel closes on a bit of a cliff-hanger that left me a bit baffled. While I enjoyed this story, would recommend it, and will definitely be picking up the next installment, I felt the plot was confusing at times. Since I couldn’t fully follow what was going on, I wasn’t as invested as I expected to be. I always like whatever Clare Mackintosh writes, but this wasn’t my favorite, though I imagine the series will grow on me as it continues.

This is a drama/mystery set among a cluster of lodges built on the shore of a lake that divides Wales and England. The townspeople are not very happy to have these English with their wealth buy up some prime real estate on this lake they feel is their own.

The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh

Clare Mackintosh is a pretty solid author for me, I loved I Let You Go and liked I See You. The Last Party is a bit of a different feel from her previous books, though. Here we have a character-driven police procedural. I feel like the cover of this one is a bit misleading as it looks more like a thriller. So, once I knew what I was reading, I was able to settle in. The writing is great and full of detail. There are lots of characters and we get the full detail on all of them! It’s a little difficult to keep straight on audio, especially because many of the names are Welsh. The mystery/detective work is smart and there’s nothing overly lucky that helps the detectives out which I like.

The setting in this novel is also very interesting. North Wales sounds beautiful and unique.

The good news is, if police procedurals are your thing and you end up enjoying this book, it’s the start of a series!

Mackintosh has strong writing and I really wanted to know what happened but the pace was just a little tedious for my taste.

It was thought out and had good characters but compared to her other books but was just ok
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers fur letting me review this book .

My opinion is definitely different compared to other reviews I have read.

I struggled with this book. I found it slow and I had a hard time with the pronunciations of names and locations.

I liked the multi pov and timelines and the character build ups.

But overall, this book was just not for me when I really wish that I enjoyed it more.

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. A New Year’s Eve party that ends in a death. This is like a game of clue trying to figure out who the killer is going backwards and forwards and living the days and nights up to the death. I honestly thought I knew who it was but this one took a right turn that had me shook. Highly recommend. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I always enjoy Clare Mackintosh’s books. The Last Party was a little difficult at the beginning since it is set in Wales but it becomes more comfortable quickly - the plot and characters are complex and masterfully woven together. I loved it!

This book was such a page-turner! I finished it in a day. There were so many twists and turns and all the characters were so well developed.

You know the feeling when you are reading an excellent book, and you see the number of pages towards the end thinning.....and at one point, you want to stop reading. You want to stop there because once you stop, the characters are still going, you're thinking about the mystery, and you haven't let go just yet. This is one of those books; I was so hypnotized that I wanted to continue, but seeing that I was almost finished with the story was very disheartening. (Good thing this book is the first in a new series!)
This was the party to end all parties! The party was an excellent adventure until a body was found in the lake. Then everyone involved was a murder suspect. I loved that DC Morgan was a female detective! The characters and the plot were well-written! It was a tremendous psychological whodunit type of book. I loved it very much! However, my only complaint is that parts were very lengthy, and the story could have been written with the same greatness minus a few pages.
Nonetheless, this was a fantastic, excellently written book with great characters and a devious storyline! I recommend it to anyone looking for a good thriller that they will not be able to put down! Thank you, Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark, for the extraordinary opportunity to read and review this book! Sorry for the late review!

I am not a huge mystery reader, but the writer, setting, and summary caught my attention on NetGalley when I requested this book. While I would have liked to have known the correct pronunciation of some of the character's names (so that the voice in my head didn't sound like an ugly American) I really enjoyed the glimpses into the Welsh language throughout the book. And yes, I googled some of those names, in case you were wondering. Ffion, geez. I loved the main characters and, though I am also not generally a series reader or TV series follower (unless I can binge it), I think that either would interest me if there are more DC Morgan books on the way. I really loved this oddball cast of characters, and the tense dynamic between the town and its wealthy interlopers. The hometown boy who spoils their sanctuary is perfect, and his long list of enemies is completely understandable. A perfect read to ring in the New Year.