Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC. This was a fun mystery/thriller set in a small working class lake town in northern Wales. Rhys Lloyd, a local turned successful musician, returns home and uses his family's land to build upscale vacation homes on the lake shore for the wealthy. Rhys, however, is discovered dead in the lake during the traditional New Years day plunge after a New Year's Eve party gone wrong at one of the posh homes on the lake.
The book alternates between two timelines, before and after the murder. The murder is investigated by local Welsh detective Ffion Morgan and Leo, an English detective who is involved because the lake borders England. Ffion is a plucky young woman who you can't help but root for and I'm happy to see this will become the first in a trilogy involving this character. Tensions run high between the two detectives. Tensions additionally run high between the locals and the wealthy shore owners. Just about everyone, locals and outsiders alike, had a reason to murder Rhys creating a large suspect pool, which made it super enjoyable.

If you love a BBC police procedural, this will be right up your alley. Set on a lake town bordering England and Wales, 30-year old DC Ffion Morgan is teamed up with an investigator from England to investigate the death of a has-been singer after he dies at his vacation community's NYE party.

Rife with cultural and class conflict, this is "small town everyone knows everyone", and everyone's got a motive at it's best.. Although Ffion didn't always read millennial to me, I loved the dynamic between Ffion and Leo (and Ffion's give no f's attitude). MacIntosh keeps the action moving with the secrets revealed, and how the small town on the Welsh side comes together in the face of these new money interlopers.

A great first book in the series, I'll be back for more.

CW: Murder, predatory behavior, child out of wedlock, contentious divorced couple

#TheLastParty is a slow burn 'whodunnit" and also the start of a new crime fiction series. I first read author Clare Mackintosh when I devoured her 2019 novel #AfterTheEnd. I read this one on my kindle and enjoyed unraveling this mystery so much and it was a solid 4 star read. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for my review copies.

At first I thought I wasn’t going to finish the book but then it completely captured my attention and I had to know what would happen. Since finishing I have recommended it to all of my friends. Wish I can read it again for the first time.

Full review & instagram post linked now


I loved this book!!! The way the plot played out was fantastic. I loved the atmosphere that was set with the descriptions and I loved the relationships between all of the characters. The multi pov multi timeline was excellent

I’m a huge fan of this author as I’ve read everything she has written. The best part of the book is the setting at a lake community in Wales. Absolute stunning. Unfortunately, I did not find any of the characters likable and barely redeemable.
The mystery had many twists and turns which kept me on edge. On New Years Eve there had been a murder of an home town celebrity singer. There is much tension between the rich residents who just moved into an high end development. The main character is a detective in wales on the border of England. She teams up with a down on his luck English Police Detective. Apparently, her story is continued in a forthcoming book. Thanks to Net Galley and Sourcebooks for ARC for an honest review.

Solid 4 stars for me on The Last Party. I felt it was a *little* slower paced than I normally prefer but I liked it! It also felt a bit long but there were enough twists and turns to keep me reading. Big fan of Clare Mackintosh's books and I love the Welsh setting!

I absolutely love thrillers that have aspects of law enforcement. This book was a great thriller with tons of twists and turns throughout the book.   
  
The book focuses on the small town of Cwm Coed in Wales that intertwines with The Shore, an exclusive resort on the English side. There is a lot of us vs. them in the book. Rhys Lloyd the owner of The Shore washes up dead on the shores of Mirror Lake during the communities annual swim in the freezing cold water. In the book, two detectives Ffion (from Wales) and Leo (from English side) are trying to figure out who killed Rhys while dealing with their personal problems. The list of could be killers is long because Rhys was not a good person. Rhys is a famous singer who happened to be from Cwm Coed. He inherited the land that The Shore is on from his Dad.   
  
The author really ties in all of the stories throughout the book. The writing is fantastic, so descriptive that I felt like I was there! The characters had real depth and personalities, although most are unlikable. I am excited to hear that Clare Mackintosh is already working on a second book with Ffion and Leo! Can't wait to read it.

**4.5-stars rounded up**

On New Year's Day, the remote Welsh village of Cwm Coed has an annual tradition of taking a community swim in the pristine waters of Llyn Drych, or Mirror Lake. A bit of a polar plunge, if you will. It makes sense as the lake is so much a part of life for the village.

It gets the blood flowing, the community spirit popping and overall, is a solid way to start the first day of a new year. When a dead body is found floating in the lake in the early moments of this tradition however, it's clear, this will be a very memorable year indeed.

On the opposite side of the lake, a new, luxury living community, The Shores, has been built. The instigator of this travesty, according to the locals, is Rhys Lloyd, an opera singer, who also happens to be a local boy himself. In fact, he inherited the land from his father.

The previous evening, on New Year's Eve, Rhys, along with the other owners at The Shores had thrown a lavish party, to which all were invited. It appears this body may have floated over from that side, but is he, or she the victim of foul play, or just a terrible accident?

When it's discovered the body is actually Rhys himself, this draws attention from both sides of the lake. Jurisdiction could get tricky, so a partnership is proposed. DC Ffion Morgan, from Cwn Coed, will team up with a DC from the English-side of the lake, Leo Brady. A match made in heaven, IMO. The snark and chemistry between these two characters gripped me from the very start, which made for a super fun investigatory aspect.

This story is told through the use of many different perspectives, both from The Shores and from the village. It's clear the stars are Ffion and Leo, but in order to get the full scope of this mystery, additional insights were required.

The residents of The Shores were all terrible people. It was captivating getting to know them and all of their various dramas. If you're a fan of the 'rich people behaving badly' set-up, you will most likely end up enjoying this one as well.

We also learn a bit about both Ffion and Leo's personal lives. I liked that. It helped to build them out and I felt like by the end, I was quite attached to the two of them. They were both sympathetic characters, who it was easy to root for.

The mystery of this was very well plotted. There were some huge reveals and twists. One in particular had my literal jaw drop to the floor. I was gobsmacked. I did not see it coming. Overall, I would say this was fabulously fun, packed with unlikable characters, twists and OMG-moments. I had a blast trying to figure out whodunit. With a victim as despicable as Rhys, it could have been anyone!

I loved Ffion so much. She definitely stole my heart. She's such a complex, yet likable character. I am really looking forward to more books in this series. Of course, I am keeping my fingers crossed that the rumors are true and this actually is this first book in a series. I would definitely be down for going on more investigations with Ffion and Leo.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Sourcebooks Landmark, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I've enjoyed Mackintosh books before, but this one is definitely a new fave!

Loved, loved, loved this book! So excited it’s the 1st in a series! I cannot wait to read more. At first, it started off slow for me, but it picked up and I felt wrapped up in the atmosphere, very descriptive storytelling and the characters were all so interesting. It was twisty and had me guessing until the very end, unlike so many other books.

Gosh, I tried with this one, and I tried really hard. I wanted to love this so much, but I didn’t. I found this novel to continuously drag. The only thing I really enjoyed was in the first couple of chapters between the two main detectives, and their sarcasm. I also found a lot of the foreign lingo in here very annoying, and difficult to understand. I’m sorry to say that this one was not for me.

“𝑩𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚.”

Clare Mackintosh’s writing is always a win for me, and her latest release (the beginning of a new series) doesn’t disappoint.

I loved the atmosphere of the small town of Cwn Coed in Wales, where everyone knows your business; it made the animosity between the residents at The Shore and the townspeople realistic. We met a lot of said characters as guests at the party, learning why they have a reason to hate Rhys Lloyd; there are no lack of suspects! Although more procedural than Macintosh’s other books, her writing style continues to shine with complicated characters and an intriguing mystery. I really enjoyed the relationship between Ffion and Leo, and found myself rooting for them as friends and possibly more? Although the Welsh names were tricky to understand the pronunciation, I loved their inclusion and it pushed me to try to look them up. Once the investigation gets going, Mackintosh gives out well timed reveals, providing logical explanations for some things (mostly red herrings) and her classic twists. I loved the way Mackintosh weaves earlier mentions and clues about Rhys from part 1 into part 2, with the different character perspectives of key scenes. My only complaint was that it maybe could’ve been trimmed up and shortened a little, however this is very minor.

The Last Party is a story about home, regrets, secrets, and family. Mackintosh introduces a wonderful new world, where I hope many of these character make a repeat appearance in the next book! Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the ARC!

The Last Party
Author, Clare Mackintosh
Available now!

Thank you @netgalley and @bookmarked for my #gifted e- arc! This was my first novel by Clare Mackintosh and I have Hostage on my tbr!

The Last Party was atmospheric, set in small town North Wales in the winter centered around a party on New Year's Eve and the events that occurred before, during, and after. The host with the most, Rhys Lloyd, was mysteriously found dead floating in the lake behind his home the next morning. It's not so much who wanted him dead, but who actually killed him?

There were several characters and back and forth between many of them, so you really need to pay attention to keep them all straight. And many of the characters are unreliable and unlikeable, so Ffion Morgan and her team have their hands filled with a community of likely suspects- a community of people that happen to be Ffion's own friends and family, which clearly complicates things. Not to mention, Ffion has a few secrets of her own.

A psychological thriller with lies, secrets, deception, and a twisty murder mystery, The Last Party is a perfect atmospheric read for the winter and New Year's, but was just a little too long for me.

This was another great domestic suspense novel from Clare Mackintosh. There were lots of surprising twists and it kept me guessing the entire time. I will definitely read the DC Morgan series. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

There is a lot going on at The Shore which is A wealthy resort built by Rhys Lloyd. The problem in is no one likes him! When he is found floating in the lake there are plenty of suspects. Ffion and Leo investigate the death and it’s soon clear he has been murdered. The story goes into great deal about these two characters as well as their investigation and interviewing suspects. They uncover secrets, lies, deceptions in the village. There are a lot of characters and side stories to keep track of and you won't see the ending coming!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

"The Last Party" by Clare Mackintosh was a great, thrilling read. I love anything Clare writes and this did not disappoint.

I really wanted to like this one. I thought the idea of it was good and the setting was VERY good, but I just couldn't get into it. I didn't really like or connect with the characters. I thought the opening scene was the 2 detectives was hysterical, but it didn't continue that way for me. The setting was the best part of the book. I have never been there, but could really visualize the lake and village. The story was too slow and by the end I didn't really care who did what. I was just happy it was over. Lots of people loved this one though so be sure to check out some reviews with an opposite opinion. I would also try another book by this author.

Thank you Sourcebook for providing me with ARC, in exchange for my personal opinion.

On New Years Day, the people of Cym Coed cold plunge at the local  lake where Rhys Lloyd's body appears.  It appears that something happened to him last night.  The story evolves around what happened to Rhys the night before was he killed or did he die naturally?  What we know is that he was awfully drunk last night. 
New Year's Eve Ffin is at a local bar and meets someone who she hooks-up with.  Unfortunately, the next day when she is called on site for the investigation of Rhys death.   She is placed in a very awkward position, as it turns out she assigned to work on the case with the very person she went home with night before.  It's very embarrassing because she gave him the wrong name.

As the story unfolds we learn about the small community, Ffin's backstory, and learn more about Rhys' character.
I enjoyed reading the book and found it interesting. I found the book to be a long read and it took me a while to get through it as there were lots of Welsh words in the book.  I did enjoy the story but felt it was a bit long in some parts.  I enjoyed learning  about Wales and some of the backstory to the local history which was new to me.
I am looking forward to reading the next book I the series.  I found the twisty twists good and I wasn't quite able to guess where this one was going.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader's copy of this publication.

This is one of those books that can't be set aside for long periods of time. Exciting plot lines and great descriptions. I really felt like I was a neighbor in the storyline looking out my window.

I love this author and was so excited to start this book.

This was a great twisty turny book and then BAM I didn't see that last twist. I love the author even more for it. This book had many characters and it was a little hard to keep straight. I did end up making que cards for this so that I could keep it all straight and to keep my own little notes of who I thought it was.

I loved how dark and grimey this book felt to me. I really wanted to know who did it so that I could shake their hand. I also really enjoyed the Welsh names as they aren't usually names I would hear in my own every day life.

10.10 would absolutely recommend.