This an audiobook with enormous promise, author Triona Walsh having proven her skills as a fantastic novelist on the basis of my previous reads of her work.

I enjoyed an extract from this book, which is narrated in the voice of Lizzie, a young woman who is on the cusp of change having been dropped off at some location by her mother, and having had the realisation that she needs to get her act together following a road traffic accident she caused while intoxicated which resulted in injury to her brother.

I am highly motivated to read more, as the wedding celebration of Lizzie's mother and demise of her ex husband sound intriguing! Im anticipating a 'whodunnit' on the basis of my knowledge of this enormously talented author.

The book is narrated in an Irish accent, and on the basis of the extract, a good job is done!

My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this audiobook extract.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW


Review for 'The Party' by Triona Walsh.


Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Triona Walsh, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous


Publication date 23rd June 2023.


This is the second book I have read by this author. I have also read her debut novel 'The Snowstorm' which I would also recommend.



I was originally drawn to this book by its intriguing and eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. I enjoyed 'The Snowstorm' by Triona and of this is as good as that one I'm guaranteed to enjoy this one too!! The synopsis stated that this book is 'A totally gripping psychological thriller, packed with secrets and gasp-inducing twists. Fans of Lucy Foley,K.L. Slater and Shalini Boland won’t be able to put this down'. I am a huge fan of K.L Slater and Shalini Boland so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).


This novel consists of a prologue, 11 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!


This book is based in Ireland 🇮🇪, UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture.I have actually holidayed in Ireland so am intrigued to see if I recognise places based on anywhere I visited while there.


This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonist is Lizzie. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.



This book is fantastically written with vivid descriptions that absolutely grip the readers attention and puts them right in the middle of it all feeling the hair raise on your arms and feeling the sweat run down your back.


This book is an interesting 'locked room' mystery set in one of my favourite places in the world... Ireland!!! I listened to this book on Audiobook and absolutely loved listening to the Irish accents which Roisin did a fantastic job portraying along with bringing the characters to life. We meet Liz who is fresh rehab after an alcohol and drug addiction. Liz's mother Claire picks her up from rehab with her soon to be husband George and Liz's brother Liam, to take her back to George's isolated country house. Claire's first husband and Liz's father Declan has been missing for years and is presumed dead. When they arrive at the house Liz meets George's daughter Freya and Freya's husband Hudson. Liz is in for several surprises starting with finding out that her mother has in fact already married George!! Liz promises herself that she will do her best to get along with George, Freya and Hudson as she could do without the stress anyway. However, things are made even harder as her own brother Liam is even refusing to talk to her. The next shock is a mind blower for everyone when the door knocks during the dinner party to celebrate Claire and George's marriage and when the door opens it is to none other than Liz's missing presumed dead father Declan!!! Declan refuses to go anywhere until he wins back the love of Claire and his children. Why did Declan fake his death? Will he be able to win his family's love back? Is he really there to do that or is he hiding something? Why is George's cook Mia blackmailing him? To find out the answers to these and many more questions then grab your copy today!!! This book is a slow burner but it is also ram packed with tension, drama, twists, lies, mystery, family, secrets, red herrings and much more! The fact that it is based in a remote location gives the book a chilling and ominous atmosphere which makes it a perfect book to read on a winters day in front of a fire or wrapped up in bed especially during the moments that make the hair on your arms stand on end. The suspect list is quite small so you are continuously guessing which of the small group is a killer. There were several twists throughout the book. I love how everything is wrapped up and explained at the end leaving no loose ends which I am not a fan of at all so well done Triona. The only niggle I really had with the storyline itself was the fact that I expected more of a an actual party than just a dinner party and it was just that little bit too much of a slow burn for me. However it is still a gripping and intriguing book with shocks I never seen coming and considering how many crime books I have read that is definitely a huge bonus as it is getting harder and harder to surprise me.


It is set over multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture

This is one of the few books that I have listened 100% on Audiobook. If I listen to a book on audiobook I usually also read the physical book between but for the second time I listened to the whole book and I was impressed! I must say a HUGE congratulations to the narrator Roisin Rankin who did a great job bringing this story to life. I would listen to it in the car and while walking at any opportunity and Roisin did a fantastic job on both male and female characters voices!!! I'm not only looking forward to reading more books by Triona but also to listening to more books narrated by Roisin!


The characters were all realistic although I would have liked to see them more "filled out" as, personally they just fell that little bit flat for me. This normally puts me off a book but the twists and turns and Roisin's fantastic narrative skills made it easy to look past this fact. I wasn't a huge fan of many of them although I did like Claire and my heart went out to her throughout the book. This is a book filled with lies, twists and one where you have no idea which characters are telling the truth or who are hiding secrets so I won't go any deeper into my feelings of the characters as I don't want to spoil it for future readers.


Overall a suspense packed drama filled with twists you won't see coming!



Genres covered in this novel include Psychological Fiction, Crime, Thriller & Mystery Adventures, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Suspense Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Womens Psychological, Crime Thriller, Mystery ,Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction and Thriller amongst others.


I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Lisa Jewell, Rachel Abbott, K.L Slater, Melinda Leigh, Carol Wyer, Lisa Regan, Kendra Elliot, T.M Logan, Lucy Foley, DK Hood, Angela Marsons, Robert Dugoni, Rachel Caine, The Widow, The Housewarming, Shalini Boland.



349 page/10 hours 7 minutes


This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited, £8.99 in paperback and £20.03 in Audible via Amazon at time of review, which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!


Rated 4/5 (I enjoyed it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.


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I have such mixed feelings about this book. I can't decide whether I liked it or hated it.

The first third of the book was slow going and i nearly put it aside but I persevered and kept going. If I had been reading a physical book rather than an audiobook I probably wouldn't have.

The middle third got slightly better but I loved the last third. So many plot twists and unexpected turns.

The narration of this audio was wonderful. Ranking irish accent was perfect for the characters and kept even the most longwinded parts interesting.

Thank you to netgalley for allowing me to listen to an advanced copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review.

A remote location is the perfect setting for this dark twisted story. A wedding is supposed to be a celebratory time for all who are there. Well, not so much in this story. Suspense, surprises, a cast of characters that run the gamut from good to WTH. It took me a bit to get into it. A few starts and stops as I was determined to finish. Took a bit, but glad I pushed through.

I’d go into this one cold and you’ll get a few more surprises. This is one wild ride when you get finished. If I read the synopsis, I usually forget by the time I start the book. Somehow I was surprised where this one was heading from the start. Trust is at the heart of this one and while there is a murder and some nefarious deeds, this is really more of a family drama than a thriller. For being in an isolated location without any outsiders, I was intrigued to figure who was the murderer and why they murdered. Which is good because I didn’t think a lot of any of the characters. I did love the setting. An atmospheric remote home in Ireland. It almost seemed the perfect place to off someone.

Trust is at the center of all of this. Lizzie is not long out of rehab and has had issues for a while. Liam is acting quite shady throughout the entire book. Claire’s husband disappeared never to be heard from again and she remarried without including her children. No one knows much about George, Claire’s new husband, or his daughter Freida. Who can you trust and can you fully trust them.

I must say I was disappointed since I was waiting for the party that doesn’t really happen, but of all the things I guessed, I was not quite right.

If slow burn family dramas with a little mystery are your thing, you need to read this one!

This book starts with Lizzie being collected by her mother Claire who has just got married ,her new husband George and her brother from St Brigid's rehab where she has been a patient for 6 months.They travel to County Mayo in the West of Ireland for a few days before the couple head off on honeymoon.The house they are staying at is in a very isolated location.The story is full of twists and turns and really is the ultimate who done it psychological thriller.It was really brought to life by the brilliant narrator Roisin Rankin.
Would definitely recommend and look forward to more books from this author.

The Party (Audiobook and Kindle Edition)
by Triona Walsh (Goodreads Author)
My rating: 3-1/2 stars rounded to 4
Bookshelves/tags: 2023, audio, bookouture, crime-mysteries, ireland-irish, netgalley, read, thrillers, women-centered

I was happy to receive an audiobook ARC (and Kindle version) of this new thriller by Triona Walsh from Bookouture and NetGalley, which is set in a remote area of Ireland on a large country estate. A wedding takes place between 2 older, divorced people (Claire and George) who invite and welcome all of their children to this wedding and party. Combining families with adult children can be very difficult, especially depending on how it's done and who the personalities are... The gifted narrator, Roisin Rankin, gives voice and credence to all of the characters. The Irish country setting is amazing.

During the on-site estate wedding at George's "cottage" in Ireland, there appears an uninvited guest, Declan O’Shea, the "deceased" ex-husband of Claire who died 5 years ago. His 2 adult children (Liz and Liam) are shocked to see him, as are Claire and her new husband, George (and his adult daughter). Find out what happens and it might just involve a murder and a freezer.

I enjoyed how Walsh sequenced the story and created interesting characters and setting. This thriller also has some odd events and strangely behaved characters, which was a fun part of her writing and humor. The finger is pointed at possible suspects when someone is found dead, but was it that simple? And what about the many shady secondary characters? Towards the last third of the novel, my suspension of disbelief began to slide and it started to lose me. Regardless, it was an interesting story. This won't be my last novel by Tríona Walsh and hopefully narrated by the same woman.

A newlywed couple picks up the bride's daughter from rehab on the way to a weekend at the groom's cottage to celebrate and meet the family. There's an arrival of an unexpected guest, and the weekend unravels from there...

At the risk of saying this a million times - I really liked the premise of this book! I was won over at the start by the dedication to the author’s “favorite parents” which made me laugh.

Unfortunately, from there, my interest unraveled as quickly as did the characters' plans. This book was way too long, like, so so so long and hardly anything happened. It felt like a YA novel vs a thriller, the dialogue felt stiff and the characters even stiffer. That, in addition to the overall vibe being somehow twee, led the story to being predictable, even with all the twists.

The audiobook narration was well done. With so many characters things can get confusing, but it was easy to keep everyone straight.

All in, this isn't one I'd recommend spending time on, but I will check out the author's other book, as it seems to be getting much better reviews than this one.

2 stars, rounded up.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

It's been 5 years since Declan O'Shea's disappearance and assumed death, leaving his wife, Claire and children, Lizzie and Liam shattered.

Now, Claire has moved on, it's the day of her wedding to George, but Declan has turned up, wanting his wife and family back. By the next morning, Declan, is once more dead. This closed circle murder mystery leaves the new, blended family unsure who they can trust.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable thriller, full of unexpected twists.

This was my second book of Tríona Walsh's and I certainly don't think it'll be my last, looking forward to her next book.

I was skeptical of this book when it started, but ended up really enjoying it! There were twists and turns that I was expecting (which is what makes a thriller mystery good for me). I will say that I guessed who the “killer” was very early on, but other than that. I didn’t guess anything else.

I will definitely read/listen to more by this author in the future!

Quite enjoyed this book. Nice twists and turns and kept me guessing. Nice job Triona! I really didn’t see some things coming up in this book. Nice surprises!

The Party is a gripping domestic thriller centring around a family get together on a remote estate in Ireland. Complex family secrets, several flawed characters, a dead ex- husband rising from the dead and then being found dead for real, a cook who isn't really a cook and no phone signal in the woods! This book has it all and will grip you right from the prologue.
Fast paced, with lots of twists and turns as each characters' traits and back stories are revealed makes for an overall enjoyable read.
The narrator did an excellent job with the different characters' accents and used her tone to set the scene very atmospherically.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced audible copy of this book.

This book was your typical thriller. It had several twist that I was not expecting. While I did enjoy it, there were some slow parts. The ending was pretty quick and abrupt. Overall, I would recommend this book.

The idea of The Party was much better than the actual novel, it started of promisingly but quickly went from one cliche to the next and although there is murders within the book it didn't feel like a crime story, don't get me wrong its an okay read/listen but if definitely does not live up to the hype.
On the plus side Roisin Rankin does a good job with the narration.

What a sensational audio book this is, with a plot that unrolls like clockwork, and simmering tension that never lets up. Betrayal, double-crossing and the most delicious sting in the tail... I couldn't put it down.

3.75 stars

Another quick, fun, twisty thriller. I’m a bit of a sucker for drama and suspense stories set in remote locations, and this book was a good example of why. Fun stuff.

I'm not really sure how I feel about this book. I liked the idea of the book but it moved on from big plot points too fast. It was a fast read though..

The story started off strong but then just got too out there. I lost interest. This definitely wasn't a thriller as it was described. More eyerolling than anything..

Well that was a rollercoaster! It took me a while to get into it and for a few chapters I was not sure if I would continue as I thought I knew what would happen. Suffice it to say that I was wrong.

There were lots of twists and turns to keep me guessing, and some things that could be implausible but they worked for the story. It was well thought out and everything could be explained.

The narrator was a great match for the story and each character had a distinctive voice. .

I really enjoyed reading this book and will look out for more from this author and narrator.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for the ARC

The premise of this book is fantastic, the setting of a cottage in a forest in Mayo was written so beautifully I felt like I could smell the air. The main character Lizzie was pretty solid. Unfortunately it all fell away a bit in the middle for me and I struggled to stay with it. Still a 3 star worthy read. I’m pretty sure a beginner of domestic thrillers would absolutely love it. As I say the whole premise of the story is absolutely on point. The whole rest of the cast should’ve been strong but they all felt a little like but parts and a bit surplus. Never the less it all rounded up to a fairly satisfying end. I just wish I could’ve kept the pace I think I’d have rated it higher. Narration is done beautifully.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookature for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.