Member Reviews
When holidaying with his family in Greece Oliver meets Alastair and they begin a whirlwind romance. When they get invited to dinner in a luxury villa by an associate of Olivers father they do not refuse. Once there the night takes a dark turn and an offer is made. They can end the life of someone who has committed terrible crimes and there will be no consequences. The decision they make will change their lives. Told in alternating timelines from past to present this thriller is full of twists, betrayal and murder.
This was so fast paced and kept me gripped. It shocked me so many times and I never knew what was going to happen. This was very well written between the characters and the setting. I would've liked more of the horror aspects throughout as I feel it could've been more horrifying. Still highly recommend.
It took me a while to get into this storyline which was a pretty dark read in parts
It didn't really keep me on the edge of my seat but I had to keep reading to see the outcome.
Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK (OMC).
What a story! I had no idea what was going to happen until the end and would never have guessed. I really enjoyed this one and couldn’t put it down. I recommend this one.
30. As always, BP Walter writes a dark, twisting thriller that turns more sinister than you would ever expect.
I’ve long past the point where I attempt to guess where the plots of this writer’s books will go! Let yourself be taken along for the ride with the complex characters of this story, you’ll end up being drawn completely by this dark thriller.
This was another well written, intriguing plot by BP Walter. It was dark and sinister just like his others. I had no clue what was going to happen from one page to the other.
Oliver and his brother Douglas head to the island of Santorini with their parents for their annual summer getaway. Whilst there they meet their father’s business associate, Argento who seems to be causing problems. Oliver meets Alistair and together they visit Argento’s private island and learn his shocking but addictive secrets.
In the present day Oliver is at a wellness retreat trying to overcome his addictions when someone from his past whom he believed to be dead turns up.
Are you capable of murder? This is what Oliver needs to decide. How far will he go to save his father?
My only complaint with this book is the length! A good (but short) enjoyable book that will leave you wondering what will happen next.
I have read and enjoyed a few of BP Walter’s other books and this was no exception. A must read for his fans!
Thank you to NetGalley, One More chapter and the author for this arc. It did not disappoint.
🌟🌟🌟💫
What circumstances would drive you to murder?🤔
Told in two timelines:
In the past:
Oliver meets Alistair while vacationing in Greece with his family. Oliver is quickly pulled into a dangerous game.
The present 20 years later:
Oliver's past catches up to him in an explosive manner. Reminding Oliver - you can never truly walk away from your past.
Hmmmm….
This is the third book I’ve read by this author. I am very familiar with his style. The flow of his writing and storylines always just a bit different. And it has always worked for me in the past.
But for some reason it just didn’t fully come together for this latest. I lacked that needed connection with the characters.😩
Most readers are loving this book so please take the time to read their reviews!
And as a loyal fan of this author I’ll be looking forward to his next, knowing this was just a one-off for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter
A promising read with a dark central plot which unfortunately falls flat.
I really wanted to enjoy this book but I struggled to get into the pace and tone of writing. The plot is promising, it's dark, the beginning is a good start to a thriller, there's blackmail - the recipe seems promising. I just don't feel it was executed well and was a marathon to finish for me.
A well-paced thriller that seamlessly swaps between past and present which Ramos up the tension to the very end. Intriguing from start to finish and wrapped up neatly.
N͟͞o͟͞t͟͞e͟͞s͟͞ o͟͞n͟͞ a͟͞ M͟͞u͟͞r͟͞d͟͞e͟͞r͟͞
By BP Walter
Release Date 11/23/2023
1. What was your favorite part of the book? * that it makes you think!! What would you do if you had to choose between two lives and save one? Could you commit murder?
2. How quickly did you guess the twist? * I absolutely couldn’t guess this book if I tried !! It was a page-turner!
3. Discuss the point of view and whether it worked for this book. * it alternates between the present day and 20 years ago. It works perfectly for this story - told in the main character Oliver who is so lost in the past and present.
4. Which characters in the book did you like best? *the mom. She wasn’t much of a mom to her boys. But she was entertaining and oblivious. She had to check her horoscopes for every thing. 😝
5. Did you find the author’s writing style easy to read or hard to read? Why? How long did it take you to get into the book? Yes!!! I loved his book! I can’t wait to dive and read more by this author
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️S҉҉T҉҉A҉҉R҉҉S҉҉
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Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ecopy
I really enjoy reading thrillers and this novel was a great read. It had me hooked.
I really enjoyed the switch between the island and the present day.
The writing and the pacing in this novel was compelling and really gripped me into the storyline.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.
I really enjoyed this slick thriller. I found the plot compelling both in terms of what happened on the Greek island and what was happening in the present. They both switched back and forth in the perfect places. The story was evenly paced throughout and the central character, Oliver, was really interesting.
Fast moving murdering mystery! Think Talented Mr. Ripley for sure.
When Oliver is stuck on Santorini island with his parents for another summer he is sure he will be bored to tears. Luckily he meets Alistair and the two embark upon an affair. When Oliver's father's work friend invites them to his personal island, they don't hesitate and find a luxurious resort - style mansion. Oliver finds out the the mysterious man however, has brought them for one reason only. And it's a game of cat and mouse. Notes on a Murder moves quickly and captivated me! #harpercollinsuk
Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for my approval to read and review this book.
This was my first time reading a book by B P Walter. The story is set over two time periods - then and now 20 years apart. It begins with Oliver is at Wood View Wellness Centre (in the present) when he notices a person from his past approaching the building. He travels back to his past when on a family holiday with his parents and his older brother, Douglas, at their family villa on the island of Santorini. The first night of their holiday, his Dad goes off for a business meal with Argento and Nita. The boys being curious follow him to the restaurant and are introduced to them. Soon after, Oliver meets Alistair and they begin to date. One day, they meet Argento, who invites them to his island. So begins the mystery of what happened 20 years ago. No more spoilers as you will need to discover for yourself the truth. It was well written and very descriptive and I could imagine myself on Santorini. I recommend this book.
This book was brilliantly written. It was fast paced with well developed and credible characters and an exciting plotline. I can see this book becoming a film as it will have audiences gripped..
This is dark, twisty, intriguing, and unique. The writing style took me a while and I can honestly say that I have not read anything like this before.
The storyline was quite epic and the characters interesting and at times very dark.
There were many twists some which literally shocked and all which surprised.
A triumph.
This was a read that completely took over my life for a day I just couldn’t put it down and ignored everything else until I finished it. The story is a very dark one but starts off very normally with a summer holiday in Greece but then it quite quickly began to fill my mind with a very disturbing sense of unease as the story progressed and oh boy it was one heck of a good read. There is a lot going on the book and it’s almost impossible to describe it’s told in a then and now format which worked very well and just plays with your mind over and over again. The characters were all well crafted and believable, the writing was superb and built the tension up to a brilliant and extremely satisfying conclusion that shocked the life out of me !
So a great read and many thanks to B P Walter for a dream of a book.
My thanks also to Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
3 stars
The writing isn’t bad at all, however the synopsis is very misleading. It is not at all the closed room Murder mystery I was expecting.
I give it 3 stars because it is a ok book, just not what was advertised.
Oliver and his brother Douglas along with their folks are visiting Santorini, for their annual villa holiday. Although both in their early twenties, it is expected the young men will accompany their parents, who continue to treat them as children. When Oliver meets up with a handsome stranger, Alastair, the holiday becomes much more appealing.
First of all, do not expect what the blurb implies!
Written across two timelines twenty years apart, the story follows the adventures and events of the holiday and the up to date wellness retreat break that the MC is undertaking. There is no mystery or surprise.
I have read this author before, with mixed results, and though I am definitely in the minority, this was not a good one for me.
The writing style is naive and although I can see a rare flash of Highsmith inspiration, it all feels dated, with a very forced plot. Would two young men really go on holiday with their parents when it was so obvious that they hated it? There was a lot of lot of “bumping into”! The hostility towards both young men by their father, and to some extent their mother, was odd and not fully explained.
A thought by Oliver on Alastair’s lack of interest in the book he was reading sums up this review - “no two people could be expected to always agree about something as subjective as literature”.
2.5*
Thank you NetGalley.
Notes on a Murder by B P Walter is a compulsive and twisted read that has you on the edge of you seat.
This was an intriguing title and premise, so I was eager to dive in.
And Walter didn’t disappoint. The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle.
This is another fascinating book from B P Walter.
I would like to thank NetGalley and One More Chapter for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.
This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and unfortunately, it wasn’t as expected per the provided blurb. The concept of dispensing your own justice was interesting, but it wasn’t even executed until halfway through the book. So, until that point, the plot moves pretty slowly. And while the character in the story is shown convincing evidence of the perpetrator’s depravity, the reader isn’t – it’s only hinted at as deplorable, with the character exclaiming to ‘turn off the video.’ But actually knowing what was on the video would certainly help the reader decide if the person depicted did indeed deserve to die. I mean that’s the crucial question – how horrible does someone have to be to make an ordinary person want them dead? You have to provide specific details!
Up until this point, we’re introduced to Oliver, a middle-aged man in treatment at a wellness center. He spots a ghost from his past and the story begins to split between the present and two decades ago, when he was on vacation with his family in Greece. There he meets and becomes infatuated with a man. Yes, the same man he had glimpsed in the wellness center. Except that he alludes to this man being dead, and himself the one who killed him. This isn’t a spoiler; it’s all given away at the beginning of the story.
Oliver also encounters some strange clients meeting with his father while they’re on vacation. That’s another thing, the interactions between him and his father, or him and his brother with his father, are just weird. He’s hostile towards the brothers all of the time for absolutely no reason. And they just live like that. You can’t just accept that odd tension, there has to be a reason the father is like that towards his sons and it’s never explained.
I can’t think of the exact word to describe it, but the story just feels off, or incomplete, or something. Are we supposed to be shocked that a normal young man would be prone to violence towards those whom he feels deserve it? Because that’s not shocking at all. He is naïve, completely unaware of how evil those close to him are. But that’s not shocking, either. I don’t know, I wanted to like the book, but it just felt unsatisfying, like it was trying to be so much more, but wasn’t.