Talk about red herrings in this book! I guessed wrong the entire story which NEVER Happens! That was a first. And I was so loving it.
This story spanned 19 years! (2000 through 2019) and it was truly easy to follow it along and it kept me on the edge of my seat!

Thank you so much to #NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

3 stars!

When the dog (who is ok!) is the best part of the story, you know you're in trouble.

I feel a little lied to about "The Summer Party" by Rebecca Heath. This book is "absolutely glamorous," if by glamorous you mean "the kind of book with people who only care about money and status and clout." But, "unputdownable"? "A jaw-dropping twist"? Nah, not even close. It's a well-done ending, but my jaw wasn't on the floor or anything.

This is a decently written book that unfolds in the present and in flashbacks as readers learn information when it is pertinent. Unfortunately, it is also told from many different points of view, and I found the combination of these methods to be a little disorienting. I had to reread several passages and chapters to make sure I had it all straight in my noggin. I didn't connect with most of the characters, though I totally appreciate how complicated and messy they all are. Most of them are so despicable that I wished ill on them, truth be told. I thought Lucy acted like a feckless, selfish, pitiful child in flashbacks. In the present, it's like she hasn't grown beyond her teenage obsession with the Whitlams, their fame, and their money. Are there people like that in real life? Yikes. I also thought the pace was ploddingly slow, until the last 10% of the book when it jumps into hyper-speed. It was over before I had time to blink.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rebecca Heath, and Aria & Aries, Head of Zeus for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

Heading home to her grandmothers house after her death, Lucy is at the wrong place at the wrong time. A body washes up on the beach and she is in the center of a murder investigation. Mixed with people from Lucy's past secrets begin to come out and things start to take a turn. The Summer Party is a quick page turner and a fantastic debut novel. from Rebecca Heath!

Thank you netgalley and publisher for my ARC!

This story had serveral POV’s which I enjoyed because it was done well, but the pacing was a bit slow. The characters were extremely unlikable. There was twists and turns and I eventually couldn’t put this down, but something was missing for me.

This book was simply amazing! It was thrilling, had so many twists, and kept me guessing until the end. If you love who-done-it mysteries then this is the perfect read for you. I am looking forward to reading more novels by Rebecca Heath in the future.

Thank you netgalley for this ARC. I am leaving an 100% honest review.

The Summer Party is a near perfect mystery novel. Plenty of plot twists to keep the readers guessing and invested in the story.

Do not start this book if you don't have time to finish it right away, because you will not be able to put it down

The summer party is a well-paced “popcorn thriller” from a debut author. The story is told over dual timelines 19 years apart, as Lucy return home and has to put the pieces of a past summer together. The story is a mystery with family dynamics at the center. The Australian sea setting was well drawn and captivating and the plot twists and turns to a final surprise ending. Well done for a new author and will be looking forward to seeing what she does next!

Arc provided by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There was just something about The Summer Party that had me intrigued almost immediately. I do love a good thriller with an Australian setting; add the murder investigation and a powerful family with secrets and I was sold. I've been looking forward to this debut and I'm not sure if my expectations were simply too high, but the fact is that sadly I ended up being completely underwhelmed by this story. There were a couple of things I liked, but as a whole I came close to DNFing it more than once.

I did love the Southern Australia setting. The descriptions of Queens Point really made the town come alive for me, and it made for a great backdrop for this story. I still love the premise of The Summer Party as well, and the murder mystery and secrets had a lot of potential. It's such a shame that there was more focus on different elements instead, and it seems like main character Lucy's strange obsession with the Whitlams is way more important than the actual murder investigation. An obsession that quickly becomes extremely annoying, and isn't exactly easy to swallow considering she only met the family one summer years and years ago. She basically follows them around like a puppy both in past and present, making me lose all respect for her very quickly.

I struggled with the main characters in general. I think the only character I liked was Hades, and he's a dog. Not being able to connect to any of the characters made it very hard to care about what happened to them... Lucy is probably the worst, solely because I don't think she was actually ment to be an unlikeable character. She comes over as extremely immature, self-centered and shallow as she fawns over the Whitlams even when they treat her badly. I mean, desperate much? To make things worse, there is also a love triangle in play and a cheating vibe to deal with... Making me detest the story even more. And then I'm not even talking about the cliches (including artist bad boy/player vs. good cop).

I also struggled considerably with the pace of The Summer Party. The pace was SO slow especially during the first half, and certain parts of the story dragged considerably. I came really close to DNFing more than once, and even started skimreading at one point... Which is never a good sign. I did like the multiple POV structure and the flashbacks to 2000; this ment I didn't have to spend too much time with the same unlikeable character in one go, and the flashbacks at least make Lucy sound her age (she acts horribly immature in the present timeline). Certain elements were quite underdeveloped though... For example when it comes to the whole mystery around what happened at Lucy's job (which was never fully explained and so milked out that the 'reveal' was a total disappointment).

I think you might have guessed already that The Summer Party and me most definitely didn't get along... It's a shame, because the premise was promising and the Australian setting a bonus.

- Multiple POV
- Dual timeline
- South Australian setting

Twisty whodunnit mystery with a few surprises along the way that I didn't see coming

The Summer Party is told through multiple POV and a dual timeline. The story starts slow but as you get closer to the night of the party, the pace picks up and I found myself racing through for one more chapter

Lucy is naive and at times frustrating. Her obsession with the Whitlam family, even after 20 years and only spending 1 summer with them, seemed a bit far fetched. I also feel like the reason she had chosen now as the time to return to Queens Point was a bit rushed and poorly explained

Each of the other characters are messy in their own way and give you moments where you wonder whether they did it. Certainly a lot of red herrings

Overall, it was a captivating read that kept me guessing throughout. A promising debut from Rebecca Heath

I sorry I just canno’t complete this one to fully review as I started it a few times and restarted and tried to get into it to enjoy but it was just quite dry and a bit confusing with jumps. I will therefore give the three stars as it is the average for a DNF and the fairest to give as a result I believe.

I love a good murder mystery, especially one set in Australia. When Lucy Ross returns to her family mansion to pack her grandmothers belongings she thinks it will be a quick trip. She doesn’t anticipate human remains washing up on the beach and the entire town shutting down. Fast paced thriller.

This book was a great read, it held my attention and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I felt like some of the characters were lacking some depth but the storytelling from Rebecca Heath was great.

We meet Lucy who has come back to her house that she grew up in as her grandmother who she was close to has passed away and the house needs clearing and packing up. She reunites with the children she grew up with and lots of secrets come to light and we learn about some events that happened many years ago.

In some places the writing for me seemed slow and I did find my attention wavering but I did persist and really glad that I did.

A good read if you enjoy a fast paced mystery/thriller.

Thanks to Netgalley, Rebecca Heath and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Aria & Aries for this good read. I was not expecting this be such a solid read. Great pace as I can not handle when a book is slow and rushed at the end. This was not that. The book was atmospheric to the point I was envisioning how it was during the party. Good read and something that would be worthy of a read for others.

You want a who dun it, this is a great one!
Well done Rebecca Heath!

Lucy is going back to her childhood home in Australia to clean it up since her grandmother passed away. She thinks it’s going to be a short visit to pack up belongings and get rid of stuff. While she is there something washes up on the beach from her past. She is soon sucked in to a whirlwind of events that almost ends up deadly.

Reliving her past with her old friends the Whitlams she is fighting for the truth and trying to stay alive.

Great characters, great story line and a cute pup. Grab this is you’re looking for a page turning mystery.

I was pleasantly surprised by this one after a bit of a slow start I was excited to see the action not only pick up but the twists and turns starting to form. I kept questioning everything and everyone and really enjoyed the way it all came together in the end. A thoroughly good thriller

I was really excited to read this one as I’d heard quite a bit about it but for me it did fall a little flat.
Not really sure why but I do know that I really didn’t take to any of the characters. Lucy frustrated me in the way she fell to the feet of the privileged family of the Whitlams, especially as it seems they had totally ghosted her years after ‘that’ party.
The story is told in two time lines, summer 2000 the time of the party and in 2019 when Lucy has returned to pack up the house of her grandmother who had passed away months before and who incidentally, worked for the Whitlam family for many years….and what a toxic family they were!
I do admit I certainly didn’t see the ending at all and I did keep reading but I couldn’t totally engage with the story.
Thankyou to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to review

I just couldn’t get into it. I’d pick it up and would read a few pages and then put it down… finally after a few days I just decided to DNF… the main character did not interest me at all. Maybe in the future I will pick this up and come back to it.

Lucy reads about bones in a shoe turning up by her grandmother's home. She decides this is the time to go to her grandmother's home to clean it out after her passing. I figured she was probably a nosey nelly like me and wanted to see what was going on. Her husband also passed away recently. While she's at her grandmother's house she runs into the Whitlam siblings. Lucy is still obsessed with the Whitlam family years later. She is completely enamored with their wealthy lifestyle. She only ever spent one summer with them. I could understand if she was like this in high school or maybe even college. But, a grown woman in her 30s? 🤷🏻‍♀️ She has a MAJOR crush, borderline obsession on Harry, one of the Whitlam siblings. Also, her relationship with Jake was unhealthy and kinda random. I think it was how she dealt with her husband dying + her obsession with Harry.

The murder mystery part of the story was okay. Nothing I would consider earth shaking but entertaining enough.

Personally, the dog is the star of the show! Most likely because I just got a puppy. But, Hades was pretty great taking care of Lucy. No animals were harmed so don't worry!

On the Scale of Buy, Borrow, Bargain, Bud or Bust I'm rating this one a Borrow.

The Summer Party is a very solid mystery/thriller, and a very strong performance for Rebecca Heath's debut adult novel. The characters were well built out. The prose was simple, direct and effective. It was non-stop action from the start to the finish, with layers of the story built out in two different time periods.

I could tell that Rebecca Heath owned a dog! I was nodding a lot when the dog was part of the scene. Very believable dog behavior!

Overall, I thought this was a fun, quick read. Definitely would recommend it for all lovers of mystery/thriller. Looking forward to what Rebecca comes out with next.

I quite enjoyed this book! Loved seeing how truly dark and twisted the Whitlam family is behind the impeccable exterior. I really liked the flashbacks from side characters that really rounded out exactly why seemingly everyone had a reason to want Mrs. Whitlam dead. I felt somewhat let down by the ending however which is why I am only giving this book 3 stars when I had been leaning more towards 4.