In this locked room (if you replace room = camping site) thriller, four college friends reunite for a glamping weekend with their families. One child goes missing. I really liked the underlying premise being that the bonds of these close friends are tested as they start to turn on each other in confusion and suspicion. There was also more to it than just the original mystery, and I found the ending very satisfying.

This book was fast-paced and had my adrenaline pumping. I really liked how the story was laid out and that the timeline jumped from present and past, between the police interviews after the event and the weekend itself. There were characters that I liked, ones that I hated and ones that I had my suspicions over, A solid, easy thriller read that's got more than meets the eye.

The Search Party follows a weekend of "glamping" by a long-time group of friends and their families that doesn't go according to plan and ends in a way none of them expected. I enjoyed reading this novel - it was eloquently written and engaging enough to grip my attention. It's one of those novels that you swear the entire time you know how it's going to end, only to be proven wrong.

I would have loved more character development for some of the glamping attendees to really enhance my understanding of the friendships of the group.

Thanks to NetGalley, Hannah Richell and Atria for an e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion on this novel.

Pub: January 16, 2024

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada, Atria Books and NetGalley for the gifted eARC.

I really enjoyed The Search Party! I'm a big fan and regular reader of locked room mysteries and Hannah Richell has crafted a memorable story that plays with traditional elements of the genre in a compelling way.

There are lots of characters to keep track of, but once I got into a reading rhythm the POVs were clear and everything flowed smoothly. I especially enjoyed the children's perspectives - they added a richness to the story and helped bring things together. Richell spends time on plot and character development. The book is nice and twisty with good tension as the storm builds, but it does move at a steady pace as opposed to fast and furious twists at every chapter.

The atmospheric setting and the way the building of the storm mirrors key elements of the plot, really adds dimension to the story, especially at the ending.

The Search Party is really satisfying read and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys locked room mysteries!

Annie, Max and son Kip decided to move out of the big city and start a Glamping site. Kip aged 12 had had some issues in school and found it hard to socialize with other students, so the idea was to have some space, fresh air and to be able to home school Kip.

When the Glamping site was almost ready to open to the public Max decided they should invite 4 of their old friends they had known since their college days and their families. Annie was a little more skeptical but went along with it. A fun weekend so they thought.

The four groups arrived and soon the “fun” did begin! The emotions ran high, from love and happinesses to anger and hatred to name a few. There were secrets revealed and tragic events happening, all in all you could call it a disaster! But no spoilers, I recommend you read it for yourself, you won’t get bored! I give it 4.1/2,.

Book Review | The Search Party🔎

Many thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book to review.

The Search Party is a thriller that takes a disastrous turn during a glamping weekend. Annie and Max Kingsley and their troubled son Kip had made themselves at home in their recently acquired countryside property perched on the cliffs of Cornwall. They invited their old friends and their families for a weekend gathering to test their newly established glamping site for the upcoming tourist season. With multiple perspectives and a non-linear timeline, this story keeps readers on edge until the end.

Initially, I had reservations about keeping track of the extensive cast of characters, especially since many of them are children. However, this concern was unnecessary as each character has a unique personality, and it was particularly helpful that the author provided a list of characters and the families they belonged to at the beginning of the book. The narrative switches between different adults and occasionally a few children in each chapter, gradually unveiling the events of their ill-fated trip to rural Cornwall.

The story's pace is not particularly rapid, except when you are closer to the end, yet the interpersonal conflicts among the group of friends add an intriguing element. As one of the children disappears, tensions rise, and secrets are unveiled, exposing acts of betrayal. Most of the issues that arise from the story are due to the lies and secrets amongst this group of friends.

The mystery surrounding a child’s disappearance is exceptionally well-crafted. Despite thinking I had everything solved at various points, I was genuinely surprised by the conclusion. Numerous misleading clues keep the reader diverted from the actual truth.

The Search Party is a captivating book that engaged me late into the night. If you enjoy reunion thrillers, this is the book for you. Publication Date: January 15th, 2024

As someone living with chronic pain, the concept of glamping is far more appealing to me than roughing it. You wouldn't catch me doing so with people I didn't trust (or merely tolerated), but to each their own.

The secrets/plot twists are half the fun of reading a mystery/thriller. I can't say that any of them surprised me in this one, but that didn't affect my overall enjoyment too much.

The tension/setting were impeccable- and, even though I found some pov's more enjoyable than others, all of them were easy to follow.

I liked this book set in rural Cornwall, England, a lot. The concept and the storyline was very intriguing and kept me guessing throughout the whole book. I’ve read the book in less than 24 hours and especially during the 2nd half couldn’t put it down. What I particularly liked was that I thought I guessed the twist about 4 times and was wrong nonetheless in the end. A very well crafted mystery!

For the characters, this book contains too many of them to address their characteristics individually here, but what I can say is that all of them were quite well crafted and seemed suspicious enough to keep the reader guessing. I loved how they all were somewhat distinct and recognisable in their way of speaking as well as behaviour to keep them apart while reading and guessing. Although, at times, the number of characters felt as if the book could have done with 1-2 less points of views, but that was ok.

Wanted to be riveted to your seat and never know where a book is going to lead you? Then this is the book for you. Half way through I thought for sure I knew what was going to happen. Was I ever off!

A thriller/mystery set in a rural region of Cornwall with a group of friends, who really aren’t that nice to each other. What could go wrong?

If you are a thriller or mystery lover then I would definitely pick up this one!

Thank you to @netgalley, and @simonschusterca for the opportunity to read the advanced copy of this book. Thank you to @hannahrichell for writing a book I enjoyed reading.

The Search Party is a atmospheric tense read that keeps you guessing and turning those pages as quickly as you can.

Four college friends are getting together for a reunion at a remote glamping spot owned by one of the couples.

One child goes missing and the tension mounts.

Secrets are revealed.

Feelings held back for years come to the surface.

Someone is lying.

All are hiding something.

What would you do to protect the ones you love?

The story is told from multiple POVs and this works very well.

This is my first book by Hannah Richell but it certainly wont be my last.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada, Simon & Schuster for a spellbinding read.

2.5 stars
It always feels crummy to leave a lower review for an ARC, but honesty is also key. I think this could be enjoyable for someone newer to the mystery/thriller genre, but for me it felt too similar to too many other books I’ve read with nothing that stood out, or made it memorable. A group of people, all with secrets, all selfish, in a remote place when a storm comes in and they’re trapped but also trying to figure out what happened. Unfortunately I’ve read it before. For me, when I don’t particularly care for a single character and get all of the perspectives, and they’re all selfish, it takes all of the stakes out of the narrative and makes the plot plod on. I’m sad to say that this just didn’t work, for me.

Thank you to Net Galley for proving me with the opportunity to read the eARC and provide my genuine review.

📚 BOOK REVIEW

⭐️⭐️

In "The Search Party," a group of old university friends and their children reunite for a glamping weekend that quickly goes awry.

The book's prologue throws readers into the action, but the next dozen or so chapters are dragged down by a confusingly large number of characters and their mostly uninteresting drama. The story eventually picks up, though the frequent jumps between past and present made it difficult for me to get fully immersed in either timeline.

Overall, I found the book disappointing. It's more of a family drama than a thriller.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for sending me this book for review consideration.

Publication Date: Jan. 16, 2024

A twisty page turner that has you questioning every characters motive.
I really enjoyed the way the author wrote this story. With all the different POVs and time stamps. It felt like watching a movie and pulled me into the novel quickly.
I spent most of the book being like “okay it’s obvious who didn’t do it” and then thinking I knew the whodunnit and was pleasantly surprised with that last final twist at the end.
The atmospheric writing of the peninsula added to the story. It was a character itself.
Usually when children are used in a thriller plot I’m left feeling very uncomfortable, with this author however she did it in a way that the children’s trauma and roles were not a shock factor but more to move the plot along and show the true colors of the adults around them.
A really great quick read. I will be checking out more from this author

A captivating twist on the "locked room" mystery unfolds as college friends and their families find themselves isolated in a new Glamping site during a storm. The narrative weaves in an engaging exploration of the age-old nature vs. nurture debate commonly found in literature.

his is a story of a group of friends that met in college, twenty years later, meet to camp, er glamping, for a long weekend in the wilds of Cornwall England, with their significant others and children. Just below the surface tensions are boiling. Drugs, alcohol and unforeseen events cause things to get out of hand. While I enjoyed many of the characters portrayed in the book, I am not a big fan of the holding-back-of-details as plot. Though thoroughly annoyed at first, as slowing was given enough details to figure out what was going, through the character named chapters and the police interviews, I enjoyed the story and the various characters. This is a fairly quick read with a few red herrings and interesting plot turns. **** Four stars out of five!

Thank NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for this gripping, atmospheric, twisty, character-driven novel. This was one of the best family-involved thrillers I have read this year. The Search Party was well-written and packed with tension and suspense. I thought the story was well-paced, with momentum building throughout. 4.5 Stars.

Max and Annie Kingsley have left city life in London to establish an eco-glamping site on the rugged Cornwall coast. With them is their twelve-year-old beloved adopted son, who has a troubled history. They hope life in the remote countryside will be good for him. Before the official opening of the glamping site, they invited some old university friends for a twenty-year reunion and to test out the property. The couples arrive with their children. The adults realize they have changed and are now very different. They barely know one another and realize they scarcely like their former friends anymore. They carry secrets and resentments, incidences of cheating and betrayal. One has a feeling of self-importance and celebrity and is facing an ignored loan and exposure by blackmail.

Tensions rise among the adults while their children play a significant role in the turmoil. After being the victim of a fight, one of the youngest disappears. The parents react with anguish and blame. A raging storm makes a search effort prolonged and difficult. Later, a teenage girl is abducted and badly injured. How far will the adults go to protect their children?

It is recommended for readers who enjoy an intense character-driven mystery. The date of publication is January 16.

The book starts with a map and a list of characters, so you know it’s going to be a bit confusing. There are lots of POVs and the time line skips around, (I did need to reference the character list a few times at the beginning) but as we get to know the individual characters it becomes more fluid.

The book is well written and quite clever how it creates a feeling of confusion as the reader follows along with the police investigation. There are a few POVs from the children (teens), so these sections read more like a YA book compared to the other POVs.

Overall an engaging, fast-paced read.

🌀 TENSE TUESDAY mini review 🌀 featuring “The Search Party” by Hannah Richell!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

Max and Annie have retreated from their busy London city life to set up a countryside Glamping business. They decide to host a reunion with their 3 university friends and their families at the site before they have their grand opening!

As a brutal storm looms around them, TENSIONS are high between the old friends who each hold onto secrets of their own. When someone goes mysteriously missing, the group must band together to form a search party of their own since they are cut off from cell service and help!

This locked room thriller is twisted, juicy and beyond atmospheric! I became automatically hooked from the beginning and would have read this in one sitting if work had not gotten in the way! The TENSION in this story is out of control and is driven by the lurking storm, the wounded friendships and the isolated environment! You can never expect what happens next and I live for that in a well written thriller!!!!

Thank you kindly to @hannahrichell @atriabooks @simonschusterca @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on January 16, 2024 and is a must read!!!

3.5⭐️
i was really looking forward to this isolated location thriller, but it was a bit of a letdown. i didn’t really love that it was a group of families going away together, i’d prefer if it were just a group of friends. i could also see the directions the author wanted you to go in, so there were no big surprises. not bad, just nothing special!

thanks to netgalley and simon & schuster canada for my advance copy of the search party by hannah richell. all opinions are my own.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of The Search Party by Hannah Richell, published by Simon & Schuster Canada

Wow, I was pleasantly surprised by this novel, it had me from page one, great characters, narrated from several points of view and really well executed. I loved the plot, the story takes place over the course of a weekend, lots of twists and turns and who dunnit. And I really liked the ending, it was wrapped up well.
I was a little concerned when I saw the list of families and names at the beginning of the book, but as I dove into reading, I was delighted to find the author had done a great job introducing the characters slowly,  it was still really nice to have that list to refer back to, very helpful.
The basis of the story is a gathering of friends for a glamping weekend at Max and Annie's, they have purchased land and want to get back to the basics and living off the land. They have invited three other couples and their children for an enjoyable weekend of campfires and catching up. What could go wrong?
I would absolutely recommend this novel and would refer to family and friends. This is the first novel I've read by Hannah Richell and will be putting her other novels on my TBR list

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books/Simon & Schuster for a copy of "The Search Party" in exchange for my honest review.

This book is fantastic, a tense and exciting read where you keep turning the pages because you have to know what will happen next. I really liked the map at the beginning of the book because it helps the reader visualize where everything is happening in the story. Then there is a cast of characters which is great to refer to because there are many families involved in the story and it helps keep everyone straight.

The setting is Cornwall where Max & Annie Kingsley have moved from London to set up Wildernest a glamping site. They have an adopted son Kip who is 12 years old and has many challenges because of the first 6 years in his life when he was treated horribly.

Everyone has been friends for 20 years. Dominic Davies is a reality TV star, he has a 6 year old daughter Phoebe with his second wife Tanya. Scarlet (16) and Felix (14) are along on the trip as well. Jim Miller and his wife Suze have 3 children as well Willow (14), River (13) and Juniper (9). Dr. Kira de Silva and Fred O'Connor has a 5 month old named Asha. The other characters are Josh Penrose who is the handyman at Wildernest and John Kellow their nearest neighbour - a grumpy dairy farmer who doesn't approve of the glamping site.

The story is told by several characters over several different days/times. Everyone arrived at Wildernest for the May Day weekend to road test the new glamping business. Everyone starts arriving on Friday afternoon. Many things happen during the weekend, and it just seems to spiral out of control because of several incidents in the past. The dads are left in charge of the kids and they don't exact pay close attention to them. Something terrible happens and the reader doesn't know for a long time who is in the hospital. Someone has gone missing and there are many tense scenes where you wonder if the person will be found alive. There are many misunderstandings and accusations. It doesn't help matters that there is no mobile service, the landline doesn't work because the power is out from the approaching storm, there is no way to get help. Dom is very heavy handed and a proper bully - his behaviour sets off the tragic events of this weekend. The reader is in for a shocking twist when they find out who is actually in the hospital. It's a brilliant turn.

The message in the story is that actions create ripples, scars run deep and wounds always take time to heal. If there were more than 5 stars, this book would deserve it!