Lucinda Berry never disappoints! At times I was a little overwhelmed with the friend drama, but I spent every minute aching to know “whodunnit” - and boy does this book twist and turn to get you there! Definitely give this one a read!

I’ve enjoyed many of Lucinda Berry’s books, but this one had too many preposterous twists for me. Sometimes I felt like I should be taking notes to keep track of each woman, her children, her spouse, etc. I’ll still read this author in the future, because there’s no denying she’s talented.

This is a wild one! Each of the characters has some pretty serious secrets, and slowly, all is revealed in a jaw-dropping way. This was a quick, very entertaining read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a good read! I literally could not put it. This book starts fast paced and with a bang and the pacing was so good till the end. This book follows wealthy moms there who are in a friend group, when the book starts we see that one of the women in this group was found dead in the pool which sparks an investigation. As the detective and 4 women in the friend group try to figure out what happened to their friend so many secrets are revealed and they realize that there are so many lies, drama and secrets between them all.

So this was juicy I thought of it as gossip girl meets desperate housewives with a murder to figure out. The drama kept me so interested in figuring out what these women were hiding. I love the way everything unfolded, there’s money problems, spousal issues, deranged lies and so much more. I thought this book well written and flowed so well. The ending was twist after twist. I wouldn’t call any of the twists very shocking but I liked it because it was earned. The book built up to twists at the end and it felt in line with the characters that I’d been reading about.
Overall this was a great read and if you like mystery/thrillers with a lot of drama you should read this!

Thank you Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for this arc for an honest review.

This was a pretty good domestic thriller about the destructive results of leading a “perfect” life at any cost. The characters were interesting, but I did sometimes have to look back to a chapter title to remind myself who was narrating, so it would have been nice to have more distinctive voices for the characters. Even so, the plot kept me interested throughout the entire book, and I read it in two days.

She’s back with a banger guys! This story revolves around the Hollywood elite and tests the power of friendships and what happens when they are broken. A wild but thrilling ride!

The West Hollywood Mom’s Club party ends when host Kiersten McCann is found floating in the family pool. Her severe head injury shows that this was no accidental death. The police have three immediate suspects - the women who were still at the party when the body was discovered. Whitney, Jade and Brooke don’t seem to have had reasons to kill their friend but, as each narrates her version of the events that led to the party, they slowly reveal the deep secrets they have been hiding. And what secrets these are! Adultery, domestic violence, addiction and much more have been hidden behind the closed doors in their exclusive neighborhood. The events that precede the shocking conclusion are both disturbing and heartbreaking.
Keep Your Friends Close is a tightly plotted, character driven thriller that is impossible to put down. As you get to know these women, you won’t like them but you will feel sorry for them. And you won’t want to live in their neighborhood! 5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Lucinda Berry for this ARC.

The first part of this book, I wasn’t super invested but I’m glad the last 50% redeemed itself.

A group of friends are at a party, where they find their friend dead in her pool. Nobody knows how she drowned but the police suspect foul play.

All the women have secrets, their husbands have even bigger secrets.

This is quite a friend/family drama that I was 100% invested in finding out how kiersten ended up drowning at her own party that she had thrown.

I received this book for free from netgalley in return for my honest opinion. Thank you to the publishers as well for this free arc.

I this was my first Lucinda Berry book and while it was a decent read, it wasn’t my favorite. The book followed a group of women with money in an exclusive moms group. I feel like this plot set up has been done a lot. One of them died and the book revolves around figuring this out amongst other drama. The twists were not overly crazy until the end and then I felt like it got so far fetched that she should have just quit while she was ahead. This was a fast read and it was interesting, but still just an average 3 stars for me. Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the ARC.

Good book! This book had a bit of everything! It had suspense, Action, intrigue, mystery, revenge, murder, great who done it, great plot twist, and some crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle! I definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

If you were a fan of Desperate Housewives, this book is for you. A group of friends, high powered in an exclusives moms group. One of them is murdered at her home during a party. There's six suspects. As the story goes on, lies and secrets all come out culminating with more than one deadly and sad reveal.

Okay, so hear me out. Picture the ladies on Real Housewives of Orange County or New Jersey all apart of a murder mystery. They all have the drama that would be perfect for this type of book 😉 Real Housewives meets Clue. Someone was murdered with some type of weapon, now we have to solve the crime. The perfect whodunit, the perfect psychological thriller, the perfect book to keep you on the edge of your seat. Also would be the perfect movie.

I loved every part of this book. I loved the different points of view. I loved how we jumped from past to present and learned little tidbits throughout. I loved how I was constantly second guessing my ideas on who the murderer was because every person in the book had such different pasts that could make them unstable. The ending to me I couldn’t decide if it was a cliffhanger or you can kind of just use your imagination for what happens to the characters, but either way I enjoyed every minute of it. Would he more than okay with a second book coming along eventually!

This book was fun! I love a good rich people behaving badly story and this definitely fit the bill. Had a bit of a Big Little Lies vibe which is always a good thing!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and finished in just a few days, I needed to know what was going on! It was a fun read with the different perspectives, and the present vs past to see where each characters head space was. I thought I had it figured out, but I was wrong, and DANG there were 2 twists that sent me reeling! Rating this a 4.5 ⭐️ - subtracting a half star for the overuse of “Ohmigod” - it was SO overused. Also for the use of so much branding, TikTok, Covid, etc I personally don’t like when I have to lock my brain into a specific time/space because I feel like it takes away from me putting my own imagery into the story.

I was immediately intrigued by the plot of Keep Your Friends Close. It falls under one of my favorite categories: beautiful people behaving badly. Unfortunately, I could not root for any of the characters. They all came off shallow and one-dimensional. Maybe this was the author's intention; either way, it wasn't compelling enough to motivate me to keep reading.

Thank you Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for giving this beautiful chance to ARC read this book!
This is my first Lucinda Berry book and i was not disappointed. I loved it.
A friend is found dead at a party and all three other friends are suspects so who did it?
This is a fast paced thriller that unfolds with multiple POVs. This book kept me hooked right away and it was so well executed. Major love!

Kiersten is found floating in her pool during a Mom's Club get together. The party guests are all regarded as suspects when it is found that it was no accident, she was likely dead when she was placed in the water.

The friends seem to turn on each other, and so many secrets are revealed. The story is told from multiple points of view.

There is just so much to unpack in this book! Lucinda Berry does a sterling job of keeping the reader engrossed and I found when a finger was pointed at one person, I should have been looking in a completely different direction!
Lucinda Berry is a master story teller, and I have no choice but to award 5 stars. My mind is still reeling!!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

ARC review 12 Aug 2023
Pub date: 7 Nov 202
Rating: 3.5 out of 5. Rounded down for Goodreads.

Desperate housewife meets murder mystery.

After reading the description and first few chapters, I was excited to read this - however, I feel the story didn't have much to it and dragged on a bit.

The ending/ last chapter was also unbelievable (not in a good way) haha, and was a bit daft. Is data protection/ security not a thing in clinics anymore?

The "killer" was kinda obvious to me aswell (I've read enough to know its not the person the author is trying to push it towards).

I'd have liked more back stories on the women, especially Brooke.

Didn't like abby, didn't like any of the husbands.

Shame!

This book was a WILD ride!

I always struggle finding mystery/thriller books that hold my attention but that was definitely not the case with this one. Throughout the book I found myself thinking I knew the outcome multiple different times, but boy was I wrong. Exactly how a good thriller should be! With a few draw dropping moments no one could ever see coming, this is one I just couldn’t put down!

Murder. Lies. Deceit. This one isn’t for the faint of heart!

Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the copy of Keep Your Friends Close by Lucinda Berry. This is a fast read. If you like stories about dysfunctional rich women, all with secrets, you will love this book. I thought the book started out great, but then when one character got more and more unhinged, it began to go over the top and I had trouble staying engaged in the story. The ending was overblown too, with so many unbelievable things occurring I had to roll my eyes. If you want a popcorn thriller and don't mind outrageous events, this is the book for you. I prefer more believable reveals, not gratuitous ‘twists’. 2.5 rounded up to 3 because a big portion of the book was great.