“It Ends at Midnight” by Harriet Tyce is a rollercoaster ride through the lives of its characters, set against the backdrop of a New Year’s Eve party in Edinburgh that goes horribly wrong. The book starts with a bang—quite literally—as two bodies are found impaled on a railing, setting the tone for a dark and twisty narrative that unfolds in a non-linear fashion.

The story centers around Sylvie Munro, a successful barrister with aspirations of becoming a Crown Court judge. Her life seems to be on track, both professionally and personally, as she navigates a new relationship with a younger man named Gareth. However, the past comes knocking when her oldest friend, Tess, who is dealing with a terminal illness and a crumbling marriage, drags Sylvie back into a web of long-buried secrets and lies.

The plot weaves through the present and the past, revealing the complexities of Sylvie and Tess’s friendship. It explores themes of trust, betrayal, and the lengths one will go to for revenge. The narrative is cleverly structured, with the identity of the victims and the killer being skillfully concealed until the very end.

The novel explores the dynamics of friendship and the dark secrets that can lurk beneath the surface. The relationship between Sylvie and Tess is complex and fraught with tension.
“It Ends at Midnight” is a gripping read, offering a blend of courtroom drama, murder mystery, and psychological suspense.

This book had certain traits I liked and others I didn't, which doesn't make it stand out for me. While I enjoyed the legal aspects of the novel and some of the twists, Sylvie and Tess' toxic relationship, coupled with their characters themselves, annoyed me. Every time I got over them, something else happened that would take me back to putting the book down for a bit before picking it back up.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an e-ARC of this book.

The story starts off as a crime scene: a lavish party of a couple who wanted to renew their vows in front of around twenty guests and someone is dead.

Sylvie is a high powered lawyer who has ambitions of being appointed to the position of judge. She feels like her life is going just as she planned, plus she’s in a healthy relationship with a man named Gareth.
Tess is Sylvie’s high school friend , after Tess learns she has brain cancer, decides she wants Sylvie to help tie up a ‘loose’ end from their teenage years. You see Tess and Sylvia were involved in a murder case as witnesses at the court which then changed a young girl’s life. Tess wants Sylvia to reconnect with that girl to clear her conscious. Sylvie isn’t thrilled with Tess asking her to do this she wants the past to stay in the past. Tess also asks Sylvie if she will tell her estranged husband, Marcus of her diagnosis. Tess hopes Marcus after hearing the diagnosis will renew their vows and move forward. But as Tess keeps pushing Sylvie to confront the skeletons they hid in their closets, it seems someone is determined to make Sylvie pay for the secrets on their past. As the clock ticks towards midnight it’s soon obvious someone wants revenge and the outcome is murder.

Sylvie is a district judge, putting the time into her career to further climb the ladder. Her life is going really just as she could have hoped, with a new boyfriend in tow, when she’s struck by her best friend, Tess’s cancer diagnosis. This starts to bring up feelings of a burdened past for Tess which starts the unraveling of secrets their pasts that Sylvie would rather leave untouched.

Right from the beginning, this one had me hooked. The writing was gripping and trying to figure out what Sylvie was hiding from her past was entertaining. However, the ending was so very predictable. While I really loved the book, I think it was trying to do too much. There were quite a few too many subplots that were given too much depth and the timeline with the dead body was actually so confusing to me, I didn’t even realize what party it was referencing until about 70% into the book (maybe a me problem??). Overall, I still thoroughly enjoyed this one, though I think it could have been cleaned up a bit with a larger focus on the main plot. I’ll definitely be checking out other books by this author though!

I really enjoyed listening to this book. Kept my attention from the start and wanting more and waiting for what happens next. New to me author and will continue reading more books by this author.

This book definitely holds your interest throughout. It was a little surprising, when the ending is revealed, to realize that all the clues were right there if you had been able to pick up on them. I would definitely recommend this book.

I actually didn’t like this book as much as I thought I would!! To me it was ok!! I couldn’t stay focused on what I was reading and often lost interest. I kept having to put the book down until I just never picked it up again!! This is just my opinion!! This book just wasn’t for me

What happens when the world as you know it is turned upside down and the past comes back to haunt you? This is the reality for friends Sylvie and Tess when Tess is diagnosed with a brain tumour. Both are forced to question what they know and which parts of it are true.

Told in alternative timelines between past and present, the story culminates at a NYE party where revenge is real and someone winds up dead.

The story started off slow but picked up pace. It was fairly readable and, mostly, predictable although the characters are all unreliable in such a way that you're kept guessing until the reveals at the end. For me, it was an okay read but you might love it if the unreliable narrator is you jam.

So much tension in this book , had me at the edge of my seat well reading , couldn’t finish the book fast enough to find out how it ended. A very good book!

It Ends at Midnight by Harriet Tyce is a thriller set at a party on New Year's Eve. Someone wants to right old wrongs and someone will die. Or maybe more! It was a twisty mystery that built up the tension. Great book to read on a flight!

This turned out to be a good one! I felt it was fast paced and also suspenseful. I liked the dual timelines and the alternative POV’s, as well. The story was interesting and I liked the writing style of the author. Not being able to predict the outcome was another bonus!

Many thanks to Netgalley and to Sourcebooks for the ARC.

This was a really fun book! I enjoyed the pacing for the most part, although in some parts around the middle I lost sight of the overall mystery. The ending was good too - part of me was hoping it would be the other person but I understand why it wasn't. Overall, 4.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC giveaway!

It Ends at Midnight
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook and Audiobook
Date Published: 2/10/23
Author: Harriet Tyce
GR: 3.56

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and HighBridge Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this story. It is my first by Tyce but will not be my last. I listened to this a little while ago, with the move, I am behind on my reviews, so I apologize for getting this out so late. I love the opening scene, it starts with a bang and works it way back from there. The timeline is easy to follow. Tyce does an amazing job at hooking you from the beginning and provides a wild ride through the story. Tyce delivers an atmospheric dark mystery that will keep you guessing until the end.

The story is primarily narrated by Sylvia with some other guest narrations, in their POV. The story is also narrated in the past and present timeline, which I loved the split to fully understand what happened before. The story is set and carried out in London and Edinburgh. The author does an amazing job with details and makes you feel as part of the story. Sylvia is independent, fierce, and loyal to a fault, even with skeletons in her closet, even as an unreliable protagonist, the character is superb. Tess is manipulative, yet strong. The characters were well developed with depth, mystery, betrayal, and creatively done. The author’s writing style was complex, twisty, suspenseful, and just brilliant. Tyce does such an amazing job at the legal details weaved within the story. Tyce does an amazing job with the pace and flow of the storyline, just brilliant.

This had all of the qualities of an excellent thriller. Twist after twist. An element of mystery. Suspenseful. I highly recommend picking up the book or the audiobook!

Tyce tends to write in parallel stories that don’t quite make sense until about halfway through, though the payoff is usually worth it. I was reminded of Lisa Scottoline’s Dirty Blonde as I read.
3.5 Stars

I really wanted to read this one as it sounds very intriguing. However, I apparently did not download it quickly enough and can no longer access this one. I will hope to read it either from my library or by purchasing this title.

A very entertaining thriller with dark vibes. It's told in dual timelines and with multiple POVs and is most definitely a page turner that keeps you guessing as to how it's all going to unfold.

Review of It Ends at Midnight by Harriet Tyce

Thank you to @sourcebooks, @bookmarked, and @netgalley for the physical and digital copies.

I found this one entertaining. It was a bit of a slow burn but it held my attention throughout. This is my third book by this author and probably my favorite. I enjoyed the writing style and she always has the most despicable characters. She’s very vivid with the spicy parts so keep that in mind as well. Part of the ending was predictable for me but one aspect shocked me a bit so that was fun.

Quick synopsis: Sylvia is a successful barrister (I think this is the correct term) hoping to be appointed a circuit court judge. She has an exciting new boyfriend and things are going well when suddenly her best friend Tess tells her she is quite ill. She must help her friend reconcile with her husband but also Tess asks her to help make amends with a young woman from their past. The name alone terrifies Tess and she’s quite reluctant to dig up those old memories. She’s right to be concerned

Edinburgh at New Year, a setting I love but this book starts with two bodies as well, so it is clear right from the start that there will not be a happy New Years Party as this books moves a couple of months back to show the leadup to this night. Crime scene observers of all stripes from first responders to the coroner have their take sprinkled in between chapters so more and more of the outcome is revealed in bits and pieces.
The main characters are a disaster, they are self centred and manipulative. Just for my tastes an das a personal take it would have been nice to have one character I was really rooting for, even with thrillers that seems to be what I prefer.
What I loved from a professional stand point was the glimpse it offered into how English (yes, English not Scottish, a big part of the story is set in London) legal professionals become judges and what it takes.
As a judge myself in a very different system it was so interesting to see the required steps.
It's a slow burn. The tension is built by flash backs and things happening tot he main characters making the revelation of the „bad thing" in the past more and more urgent.
It is clear right from the start that the narrator may not be fully reliable and that the narrator is privy to information that she delays revealing.
There are a few twists and turns, a big one I saw coming from a mile away but even that was kept for the grand finale. This book has an ambiguous ending even at the end one can't be sure who was telling the truth and who wasn't. Since some are dead and don't get a final say a more definite might have been nice but that might just be me and my need for order.

Sylvie is a judge who aspires to higher office in the Crown Court. She is also finally in a relationship that appears will be long-lasting so, after nearly six months of dating, she is ready to introduce him to her best friend, Tess. But, before she has the opportunity, Tess reveals that she is seriously ill and asks Sylvie to help her tie up a couple of loose ends.

First, she would like Sylvie to help her renew her vows with her husband, Marcus. But the second request is a little riskier and could implode Sylvie’s career as well as her life. When they were teenagers they testified against a fellow student, even though their recollections of the event were somewhat murky. As a result, the defendant went to prison. Now Tess wants to make amends and Sylvie is terrified that if this terrible time in their past is revisited it could derail all her hard work.

It Ends at Midnight has a good premise but it wasn’t a book I enjoyed. The main reason was the unlikability of all of the characters. I think in order for me to enjoy a book I have to have at least one character I can relate to. There isn’t a single one in this book that I had any empathy for. Sylvie is obsessed with her career and her ambitions, Tess is self-centered and oblivious (even before her illness), and the whole plot revolves around the characters trying to get exactly what they want. I can’t imagine enjoying their company.

Ms Tyce is a talented writer but this book missed the mark for me. I give it a reluctant 3 stars.

Twisty turny who was the victim and who killed them story! Great book with lots of surprises and page turning story that keeps you on the edge of your seat.