Nadine, devoted wife and mother,will stop at nothing to protect her family. What about murder? While Nadine is portrayed as an anxious person, full of insecurities she shows uncommon strength when it counts. Amy Stuart does not let you down if you like thrillers and mysteries. An easy but excellent reac.
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This book is similar to attending a murder mystery party/dinner. It commences where it ends and you the reader attempt to make conclusions re the murderer. Thee book reads in reverse order with the 24 hours preceding the murder! The author does not disclose the murdered victim until the book’s conclusion. I enjoyed trying to solve the murder mystery!

This fun mystery begins with a midnight murder in the bathroom as guests mingle during a garden party celebrating the 60th birthday of best-selling author, Marilyn Millay. With the killer’s identity revealed in the opening paragraphs, the question is: Who is the victim and why was he killed?

The story unfolds in a unique way, going back to the start of the day and following Nadine Walsh through the course of her day as she prepares to host the gala for her famous mom. Nadine wakes early the morning of the celebration, which is also the 30th anniversary of her aunt Colleen’s death, anxious to have everything perfect before guests arrive that evening. Having armed herself and family members with lists of what still needs to be done, Nadine encounters friends and neighbors as she runs errands and tends to last-minute details. As the day progresses, she recalls the events of 30 years ago. The past is seamlessly woven into the present, and Nadine uncovers evidence of who was responsible for Colleen’s death.

The first-person narrative drew me into the mind of a killer and propelled me toward a satisfying conclusion with many twists and turns along the way. With so many suspected victims and reasons for their possible demise, author Amy Stuart kept me riveted.

This hard-to-put-down thriller will have you racing through the pages as pieces of a puzzle come together, exposing not only the motive for the garden party killing, but also the 30-year-old secrets that led to this shocking murder. A great read!

Highly readable and easy to just keep turning the pages and finish the book in one day. But, not unique. No interesting twists. I can’t really call it a thriller, as the tension wasn’t there for me. The book opens with someone dying, and we know who is there not calling for help, and then we go back to the beginning of that day. Because we essentially know the end result, the mystery is simply: who is dying? And why?
Luckily this book is reasonably short, which helps its case a lot. I think people who are new to domestic stories like this will enjoy this novel more. As someone who has read quite a number, this didn’t do anything special or memorable for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC to read and review this before its release date.

When Nadine was 10 she found the body of her 15 yr old aunt in the barn the morning after celebrating her mother, Marilyn Millay's, 30th birthday. They never talk about Colleen - ever. Today Nadine has organized a party to celebrate Marilyn's 60th birthday with the help of her 16 y.o. daughter Isobel. By the end of the night there is a dead body in Nadine's basement. The entire novel takes place in one day. The plot is fast paced and intriguing.

Definitely like this style of novel and looking forward to more Amy Stuart suspense books.

It's clear from the start of this page-turning novel that the main character, Nadine is on edge and burdened by secrets that have clouded her life for a very long time. The story unfolds over the course of one day as she prepares to host a sixtieth birthday party for her mother, a best-selling author. Right for the onset Nadine seems suspicious of other people's motives, a little paranoid and not a little unlikable as a person. But she's a fiercely protective mother to her two children Isobel, 16 and Damien, 14, both of who are struggling with their own personal crises.
We already know from the prologue that someone at the party will be dead by the end of the night, so Stuart artfully builds up the tension, introducing characters who may have a motive to uncover some secrets Nadine would like to keep under wraps.
Set in a small town somewhere in North America, the setting felt a little generic and lacking atmosphere, though the author does capture some of the drawbacks of small town life where all eyes are on you at all times.
A well-written and interesting read.

This was an interesting and engaging novel. Knowing the crime and who did it right from the start made the rest of the novel a case of "who died and why?"
I page turner that I spent too many nights past my bed time trying to figure out what the next twist was going to be.
I will be looking for more by this author. Thank you for the chance to read an advance copy.

An enjoyable read with an interesting plot. Suffers from a bit of genre oversaturation and some very odd pacing that at times threatens to overwhelm the story. Very happy to see an entry into this genre from a Canadian author and excited to see what she does next.

This was my first book by this author. Overall I did like this book but I did find some parts of it to be a bit boring and I was hoping for more of a thriller or mystery aspect to it.

This was a very enjoyable thriller! It felt like an easy read more than a dark and twisty thriller and I didn’t mind that.

I read it pretty quickly and was drawn to pick it up once I got going. The characters and backstory kept me interested and I wasn’t quite sure where it was going until close to the end. The main story takes place over only one day with flashbacks throughout, both starting and ending with the death.

I would classify it as a lite thriller. Great for a quick, bingeable read.

Thank you for the eARC netgalley!

This was a quick and entertaining read which follows Nadine as she prepares to host a party for her mother. The party doesn't take place until the final third of the book which left me nervous that the ending wouldn't be worth the build up that takes place in the first two thirds of the book. My only issue was the medical inconsistencies with insulin. As a nurse, I've never seen anyone inject insulin into a vein to manage diabetes at home. The plot didn't feel wildly unique but it was an entertaining read nonetheless.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love reading books by Canadian authors so this was great. It was told in an interesting way - almost backwards? This book takes place over only one day and opens with the end of the murder scene (a death...at a party 😜). You spend the rest of the day going backwards - you don't know who it was that was murdered at the beginning so you're piecing different plots together to figure it out. Really liked it.

I have been a fan of Amy Stuart's since her first novel, Still Mine, so I was excited to read A Death at the Party. It didn't disappoint.

There were lots of twists and turns, and it kept me guessing to the end. I enjoyed the way the story was structured, starting with the murder and then detailing the day leading up to it. I'll be recommending it widely.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I read this as an ARC.
For a lover of mysteries, reading this was a different experience. I'll have to be careful what I say here or I'll too easily give the game away.
Nadine, the main character, gives her mother a huge 60th birthday party one July on the 30th anniversary of her cousin's death. A body is found at the beginning of the book and at the end. The rest of the book tells the story of the party day's activities prior and during the event and is filled with flashbacks of Nadine's young life that contains all the characters in the book. This is masterfully done as the story weaves back and forth. It's complicated too.
"A Death at the Party" is about family secrets and how hard they are to juggle.
I found it difficult to engage with Nadine, whom I disliked from the start, but I stuck with it. I'm glad I did.
Recommended for those who love mysteries surrounded by a good dose of psychology and laced with some surprises.

I liked this book. It’s well written and the story is intriguing. However it feels like a story I’ve read several times before. There wasn’t anything really surprising or overly original. If you like mystery thrillers you will enjoy this book but don’t expect to be blown away. It’s a good beach or holiday read , that is fun, engaging and won’t require much brain power to enjoy and understand. The characters are relatable and likeable when meant to be. A good read.

"A Death at the Party" is a mystery set at a garden party for the hostess' mother. This "whodunit" mystery is wonderfully written and keeps you guessing. This was my first Amy Stuart novel and I really enjoyed reading it. I thought the characters were well crafted and I really enjoyed the inter-connectedness of the character's stories.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC.

"Death at a Party" is a revelation for any reader who likes a page-turner with great character development and unexpected plot twists! It is a non-traditional murder mystery, set over a 24-hour period, whereby the reader knows who the murder is but has no idea who, in fact, was murdered.

As the reader parses through all the suspected victims, one can only become sympathetic to human frailty and criminality.

Overall a fun, easy, very entertaining read! Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC

What I loved about this novel is the entire story takes place in one day. And not just any day, but a significant birthday for the mother of the main character Nadine. It's divided into three sections - morning, afternoon, and evening, but even more compelling opens with a death. Who died? You have to wait until the end to discover that.

For me, this was a cozy mystery rather than a thriller. It made me think of Agatha Christie's works.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Amy Stuart book and I'm definitely interested in reading more of her novels.
This story follows a day in the life of Nadine as she prepares and hosts a party for her mother's 60th birthday party. The guest list includes 100 people and as the title suggests, someone will die before the party ends. The host and guests provide plenty of motives for murder as secrets, lies, and infidelities come to light throughout the novel.
Overall, I thought that the plot, while not unique was interesting and kept me guessing until the end. The only thing that kept me from loving the novel was Nadine. She came across as an over-protective, controlling, and unlikeable character. She seemed detached from her actions and I couldn't understand how she could characterize her marriage as perfect while cheating on her husband. I don't have to like the main character to like a book, but I just couldn't empathize or really care about what happened to her.
Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.

This book was a bit like a bag of potato chips - enjoyable while you are reading it but not much substance. I really liked that the book took place all in one day. The opening with the murder having already happened, captured my interest and held me through the twists and turns - some very predictable and others less believable. While I appreciated the dark and twisty nature of the familial relationships the ending left me disappointed.... Read this if you are looking for some quick entertainment.