I find the name is a misnomer….there could have been a better title. The story, however, was quite good, niceLy written, good resolution. I would read more of this authors books.

What I liked:
✔️atmospheric, small, isolated town setting
✔️integration of the pandemic (so many authors have stayed away from incorporating it)
✔️conflict - the owners of the party house vs locals as well as pro vs anti lockdown/covid mindset
✔️author’s ability to evoke an emotional response
✔️suspense, intrigue and secrets
✔️twists
✔️forensic science
✔️unreliable, flawed characters
✔️web of deceit
✔️murder investigation


What I struggled with:
✔️slow start
✔️reminding myself some of the characters were youth
✔️abuse, rape and sex scenes
✔️unrealistic relationship between the groundskeeper and his girlfriend
✔️extra fluff of Joanne’s previous relationship

This was my first introduction to this author. I love psychological thrillers and I was interested in reading a book set in the pandemic and interested in the Scottish Highlands setting. The author delivered on both accounts.

I was gifted this copy by Pan Macmillan and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I would like to thank Pan Macmillan for the DAC and NeGalley
Prepare to be chilled to the bone with
Lin Anderson’s latest psychological thriller, The Party House.. I’ve come to the conclusion that if we’re put in the right environment and enough pressure or threats we’re capable of anything. We all have secrets and sometimes those secrets impact the ones we’re closest to.

There are many aspects of the lockdown period that readers will relate to and then the book gets really twisty and dark, when a hot tub is smashed and there is a death at The Party House. So much intrigue is built up about the secrets that people are trying to keep hidden. It is up to PC Harry McGowan and his team to solve the crime and to discover the truth of what is really happening within Blackrig, Scotland . Almost everyone is suspicious and hiding something and as the story develops, it becomes a very chilling.book packed with plot twists and surprises, a real page turner.

Alisa disappeared 5 years ago, this is where the book begins. The chapters then goes between Greg, and Joanne and how the estate and traditions such as The Highland Games was affected by the lockdown, a plan is discussed how to get events back up and running again after the impact of the Covid-19. There is discontent amongst the locals about the tourists returning to the reopening of The Party House

The Party House takes readers to Blackrig in the Highlands of Scotland, into what seems like normal village life, as also depicted on a map, then into its heart and soul with the residents. What emerges is that readers are cleverly lured into a false sense of security in its familiar scenic coziness.. When the small highland costal town is delved into deeper, it’s brimming with a dark atmosphere that is quietly sinister, which then, in turn, becomes a suspense filled read.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

I found this a throughly unpleasant read, peopled with unpleasant characters who lied to one another constantly. The premise of the book relied on a strain of 'the virus' (which I am not aware ever existed in real life) having killed one adult and five children/babies in a remote Scottish community. I have got to the point where I can cope with references to Covid in fiction, but this was a sort of pseudo-Covid in the present day and the basic fact of the 'outsiders' having intentionally infected the village was repeated very few pages and added to the general unpleasantness. There was also more emphasis than I felt was strictly necessary on Greg and Joanne's sex life.

I have enjoyed this author's police procedurals in the past, but this didn't work for me.