3.5 Stars

I was immediately drawn to this book because of how beautiful the front cover was. The flowers just made me want to read it and so, here we are. I was lucky enough to get an advanced reader copy of this book and I am glad that I did! I enjoyed reading it and will definitely be recommending it to all of you.

I wasn’t too sure how reliable a narrator Nadine was going to be for us. The story flops between her current life of planning a party for her mother as well as the past where an accident happened that she feels partially responsible for. I won’t spoil anything so if you want to know more about it you’ll just need to read it yourself!

The way that she discusses all of the people in which she interacts with throughout the story has you wondering who on earth the bad guy of the story is. The first chapter dumps us into the knowledge that there was indeed a death at the party, but the question we’re left asking throughout the whole book is “who died?” It definitely kept me hooked in as I was trying to figure out who on earth the dead person was going to turn out to be! It was great!

Overall, the burn of this story is SLOW. And you’ll want to try to pick apart the story as its happening in front of you. I had a pretty good guess of who the death happened to and I was right, but I think it got kind of obvious the closer to the end of the story you get. But, it was still good and you can’t help but be kind of impressed with Nadine for how clean everything went. Need a new mystery book? This could definitely be it!

⚠️TW: pedophilia, child death, drug use, adult/minor relationship

Thank you so much for this advance copy! This was an incredible slow-burn read for me. I really enjoyed reading this from Nadine's point of view. I loved learning the family secrets, the twists, and the long list of suspects. I really couldn't guess what would happen next. Thoroughly enjoyable read and have recommended to my bookclub! Thank you!

A DEATH AT THE PARTY
By Amy Stuart

This is a great cozy read! It takes place all in the span of one day.

It is a terrific family drama . Secrets abound from everywhere, I loved it.

The past is drawn into the present, and doesn’t disappoint.

I love this author’s writing style and will make a point of reading her other books.

If you need a nice book to curl up with then this is it.

Happy pub date : March 7, 2023

Thank you to @netgalley and @simonabdschuster for the ARC.

Have you read other books from this author? If so, what should I read next?

#arc #review#adeathataparty #amystuart #netgalley #simonandsxchustercanada

3.5 stars
Love a good slow-burn thrill read!
A Death At The Party opens with a death (yes, at a party), then backtracks into what led to the event.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and Netgalley for my eARC for review.
Canadian author Amy Stuart's latest novel starts off simply enough - Nadine Walsh is holding a lavish party at her home to honour the 60th birthday of her author mother, Marilyn Millay.
As with any great thriller, this is not the way things remain.
Throughout the day of the party, we are taken into the web of events and deceits that will lead to the title; back to the death of Nadine's teenaged aunt Colleen 30 years earlier.
Glints of unreliability arise, and reveals along the way leave many questions as to who will meet their demise, why, and by whose hand.
I did find a couple of plot elements didn't quite fit, and a lack of easy-to-research elements on insulin administration (tourniquet is never used for a subcutaneous injection), but overall enjoyed this read.
For release on March 7.

A Death at the Party was one of my most anticipated books of early 2023 and it didn't disappoint! I was obviously drawn in by the beautiful cover but this intimate thriller delivered much more on the inside.

What will Nadine do when she finds a body at her summer garden party? This was supposed to be a fun day! What a way to ruin the mood! It's her party, she can cry if she wants to..

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review!

A Death at the Party by Amy Stewart, Is a gripping, mind bending, who done it thriller. The story unfolds over the course of a single day, with flashbacks to times past revealing deep dark secrets. The opening starts out with a bang. Someone has died and the reader is not privy to who died nor how.

Nadine Walsh is throwing a 60th birthday bash for her mother, a famous author. With over a 100 people on the guest list, Nadine has a very busy day ahead. What could possibly go wrong? It couldn’t be as bad as her Mother’s birthday 30 years ago, where then 10 year old Nadine discovered the dead body of her aunt. History cannot repeat itself? Or can it?

What ensues is an unraveling of family secrets, and a long list of potential suspects and victims. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely be reading more books by Amy Stewart. She has a way of drawing the reader in from the start, stringing you along with tantalizing bits of information leaving you wanting for more.

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada, NetGalley and Amy Stewart for my electronic ARC of A Death at the Party in exchange for my honest review. A solid 4 ⭐️ read for me.
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023.

The neighbours all have cocktails, the catered food is exquisite, but Nadine finds herself standing over a dead body while her guests clink glasses upstairs.

This story is told over the course of one day. Broken up in three parts; morning, afternoon and evening, this thriller is one I could not put down.
There is so much I didn’t see coming, so many things I thought I knew but didn’t.
All these characters seem to be hiding something and when the secrets were all revealed, I was shocked.

*This novel contains subjects that may be a TW for some readers, including predatory behaviour*
I honestly didn’t like this book. I felt like the story was a bit all over the place and although being a story that takes place within the course of a day, it dragged on for the majority of the book and then just suddenly wrapped up. Although there were a few intriguing storylines within the novel, they didn’t really come together in a satisfying manner, and felt disconnected. The underlying plot line was a subject I personally struggle to read about, so I wish I had a bit more warning of what the story involved.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for a chance to read an ARC of this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley, and Simon and Schuster Canada for an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

'A Death at the Party' by Amy Stuart is a quick and tightly plotted read that intrigued me from its opening. The title makes it obvious (so no spoilers there!) that a death occurs at the party that is the central event of this book. It was a very unique approach to this genre in that the book starts off with us witnessing the main character, Nadine, involved in a murder but we don't really know who or why. The rest of the novel is then told through flashbacks to what occurred with Nadine throughout the morning, afternoon and evening of that day i.e. before and during the party. I really enjoyed the portions that explored Nadine's past and an event in her past that is key to the events at the party.

I really liked how the author tied all the events together, even though when you first come across them, they seem like one-off unique events. I think I would have liked a little more from the ending in terms of the fallout of the events of the party but that's less to do with the writing or the novel, and more that I prefer some resolution to the mystery novels I read. One gripe I did have with this novel was that it was slightly inaccurate scientifically and is an issue that could have been easily resolved with bit of research.

A Death At The Party by Canadian author Amy Stuart is a slow burn domestic neighborhood suspense.

Told from the point of view of Nadine, a wife, mother and daughter of a famous writer, this novel takes place during the course of one day, the day of her mother's 60th birthday party.

In the first chapter, we learn that the hostess of the party has killed someone but we don't know who that is. The book then goes back to the start of the day and works its way til the time of death.

Full of lies and secrets, this novel will have you guessing till the very end who the victim is.

I had wanted to like A Death at the Party, after really enjoying the Still Trilogy, but the complete misrepresentation of Type-1 Diabetes ruined this novel for me. As a Type-1 Diabetic since the age of 3, I can attest that everything in this book about this disease is incorrect and misinformation.

Insulin LOWERS blood sugar and the amount taken is based on one’s sugar levels. No one walks around with preloaded “doses” of insulin, the amount given changes if your sugar level is high or low. The majority of Diabetics would be using pen needles now, instead of syringes. Also tourniquets are NEVER used for administering Insulin. Insulin is injected in the back of the arm, thigh or stomach to be slowly absorbed by fat cells and not mainlined into the bloodstream, this would be lethal.

I am very disappointed that proper sources were not consulted in the writing of this book.

This was a great book! It did start off on the slower side (not going to lie, I almost put it down after the first few chapters), but once it really got into the story, I couldn’t put it down!

What I really enjoyed was the format of the book. The story was told during the span of one day, and was broken down into three parts; morning, afternoon, and evening. The morning section was mostly used for the backstory of the characters, and to better understand the character interactions. This was the slower section for me, but it did eventually pick up as it progressed further into the day leading up to the party in the evening.

The evening section (part 3) was by far my favourite. So much happened and so much was revealed during this part, and I found that I couldn’t put the book down! There were many likable characters within this book, and the reader really gets to see them flourish within this part ‘Evening’.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this mystery and would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a good mystery, and wants to be left guessing right to the end.

A Death at the Party was a quick and addictive read that hooked me from the first line. As hinted at with the title, the book starts off with a death at a party hosted by Nadine for her mother's 60th birthday. It then cuts back to the morning of the party and events that led up to that night, which included flashbacks from Nadine's past.

I enjoyed how this one was written as it kept me engaged the entire time. As the story kept building and building, it left me trying to figure out how things were connected, what all the secrets were and which characters were actually reliable. It was especially hard for me to get a read on Nadine's character which kept me on edge even though I found myself wanting to root for her. I wasn't able to guess the twists but it wasn't as twisty as I love my thrillers to be. I think I would have loved a little more from the ending as I wasn't ready for the book to be over and could have read more about the characters in this neighbourhood to keep unpacking all their secrets and history.

Overall, I enjoyed this one and rated it 4 stars. If you are looking for a quick, engaging mystery set in a tight knit neighborhood with dual timelines full of secrets, lies and drama written by a Canadian author, check out A Death at the Party (out March 7!).

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

A Death at the Party is a bit of a slow burn type of thriller, it wasn’t what I expected, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I would recommend it to any readers that love mysteries and thrillers.

I thought this premise of this book was interesting. We know from the start that there is a murder at Nadine Walsh’s garden party. The mystery is who/what/why. This entire book unspools over the day of the party.

What I didn’t really care for was: Nadine is an extremely unlikeable protagonist, all the detail of her mundane chores. The details didn’t add much to the plot, and just bogged it down. For these reasons, it dragged a bit.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada and Netgalley for providing me with eARC of this book to read and review.

Nadine daughter to the famous author Marilyn Millay is throwing her mother a 60th birthday party. The book starts with Nadine standing over a dead body. Very unique way to write the book with the reader knowing who the murderer is and has to figure out the victim. I figured out the victim fairly early on with a very obvious, in my opinion, red herring however still enjoyed the journey. The book covers one full day with Nadine and her family preparing for the big party. There was maybe too much time spent on the running of errands in the middle part of the book however the ending with a big secret reveal is worth the read. Really enjoyed the connection between the past and present with many of the characters knowing each other as teenagers and now all living in the same community. I just knew there was a story there!

Secrets, affair, overdose, creepy neighbor, nosey journalist and lies, to name a few, will keep readers entertained.

Liked that the ending is left up to interpretation on what the future holds and would start a great book club discussion.

If you enjoy mystery/thrillers this book is for you!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing an Advance Readers Copy via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

A DEATH AT THE PARTY is a tense and intricately woven story set over the course of one day. The first scene details Nadine (our main character and narrator) standing over a dead body in her own basement while a hundred guests celebrate her mother's birthday in her home above. This birthday party marks another anniversary as well and Nadine has the past haunting her memories and swirling with secrets. Rest assured this is not a spoiler and is part of the official synopsis.

Needless to say, I felt that the story started off with a 'bang'. I liked the uniqueness of knowing the killer from the beginning as we weave through the story to find out who the victim is and why. The pool of potential victims grows as the story progresses with the author sharing bits and pieces of Nadine's past ensuring that the tension and suspense amplifies as the pages turn.

As the scene is set, we see the story takes place over the course of one day with three sections: morning, afternoon, evening. I liked that each section was in the present with short passages/memories from the past that gave context to the bigger picture of what led to the death at the party. I truly couldn't piece together how everything connected until the last few pages as it was revealed. This alone had me suspecting each character as the plot slowly unraveled.

A DEATH AT THE PARTY is easily bingeable due to its short chapters, making it a relatively quick read. My biggest annoyance, you could say, with my experience was that I found the main character to be tiresome. Nadine is constantly being questioned by other characters about whether she is okay and there's several references to an accident that happened months prior that 'shook her head loose'. I can see how this would amplify her unreliability, but I generally found her to be annoying because of it.

Overall, I really enjoyed my first experience with Amy Stuart's work and will likely dive into her backlist to see what else she's written!

<i>I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, of this advanced digital copy for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review! All opinions shared are my own.</i>

A story about a mother protecting a number of secrets that ineveitably leads to a death at the party. The story started off very promining but soon got bogged down with Nadine's fixations about her past aunt's death and hot and cold attitude and sometimes hostile attitudes towards her guests and of the party itself. (Why do you still want to host this party after all this hostility towards guests and your mom, the guest of honor).
But if you push through, it all starts to make sense. Her recent accident and braIn changes,and the dark secret she keeps starts to account for her anger. However having dear Nadine be right about everything she guesses is well just a little too much. Also the way the Marvin story line gets wrapped up (because Nadine knows all) is just a bit too tidy.
3.5 stars

Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the chance to read an advance copy of A death at the party by Amy Stuart. A new author for me and I did enjoy the story; set over one day, it opens with the murder and the identity of the killer; then backtracks to the beginning of the day. I had some issues. the pacing was slow, and the main character was unlikable. I think some people will enjoy this book, and I plan on reading other novels by this author.

4.5 stars

In the first chapter, we learn that the hostess of our party has killed someone (but we don’t know who!) in the basement as the party happens upstairs. We then back up to the start of the day and progress until we find out what happened and who died and why. Nadine is our hostess, married, with two teenage kids. Nadine’s mother (Marilyn) is a famous author and it’s her 60th birthday.

Nadine insists on hosting a party for her, although Marilyn isn’t that excited about parties, and not only that, Nadine’s aunt/Marilyn’s younger sister (Colleen) was found dead at her mother’s 30th birthday party (Colleen was only 15 at the time – there was a 15 year difference between the sisters and Nadine was closer in age to Colleen than Marilyn was). Throughout the story, we not only lead up to the birthday party, we flashback in time to learn about Nadine and Colleen’s relationship and what happened 30 years ago.

I really liked this! I was pulled in right away and wanted to keep reading (and mostly did – I finished the bulk of the story in one (weekend) day!). It was hard to know if Nadine herself was reliable, though. She had had an accident previously, and though primarily it was her hip that was injured, she had head injuries, as well, that she was still recovering from. There was one twist that I feel like I should have seen coming, but I just didn’t. (But it’s always more fun NOT to figure it out first, anyway!)