December 9, 1979 - Australia

Four couples who live near one another enjoy a weekly dinner party. They gather at one person’s house while leaving their children in bed. They feel the neighborhood is safe and they regularly check on the children during the evening. When Frank Callaghan goes to check on his daughter, Amanda, 10, and 4-month old daughter, Megan, he finds Megan missing. Now, 25 years later, there is still no sign of Megan.

Ruby Costa runs The Callaghan Baby Podcast. The cold case is fascinating for many. Today, Amanda still lives in her parents’ home. Her mother has passed away and her father is in a rest home. Amanda’s daughters, Billie and Eve, would like to see Megan found and ease some of their mother’s pain. So, when a woman comes to the door claiming to be Megan and carrying what looks to be the blanket that went missing with Megan, they wonder if this is truly the missing person.

Oh dear. This book was so long! Flipping back and forth in time and so many characters was enough to give me a headache. First of all, I cannot believe parents would leave their children at home unattended to get together for a party. That is simply unheard of and even in the 1970’s did not happen. I had small children in the 1970’s and would not dream of going somewhere without having a reliable babysitter for them, and the drugs did not happen either. Amanda is ridiculously naive and I had little sympathy for her. This book was so confusing at times too. Sorry. Not for me.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I think we've all been to dinner parties that we've regretted, but the night of 'the dinner party from hell' has a longer lasting impact than normal. Forty years after the event the fallout is still being felt and The Dinner Party by Rebecca Heath chronicles the impact on the children and grandchildren of some of the attendees.

In the summer of 1979 four couples attend a neighbourhood dinner party. It's an adults only affair so the kids were left at home, tucked up in bed. Periodically, a couple of the dads would pop home to check that the children were okay. And they were, until the final check of the night and 4 month old baby Megan was missing from her cot, the bedroom window smashed.

Forty years later and Amanda, sister of the missing baby Megan, has never given up hope of one day being reunited. It's a hope that became an obsession and has spawned the Megan Callaghan Foundation as well as The Callaghan Baby Podcast.

So on the 40th anniversary of that fateful night, a knock on the door reveals a woman claiming to be the missing Megan. She's not the first to make the claim so the family's hesitant to accept her at face value. But could it be true? So many questions. And that's when things start to get really interesting.

This turns into a rather complex domestic suspense story. It has me immersed in the lives, some of them rather grubby, of the 4 couples. The story is told through a combination of flashbacks, excerpts from the podcast and the present day narrative that focuses primarily on Billie, Amanda's daughter.

As desperately as the rest of the family want to believe that Megan has been returned to them, Billie remains sceptical. It's an attitude that eventually causes a schism within the family dynamic. And so the drama grows!

To add to the potential breakdown of the Callaghan family are additional revelations that start to pile all kinds of tension onto what had been a settled family unit. Author Rebecca Heath does a stellar job in building an ever-increasing level of drama into the story. The fascination lies in finding out which level is the breaking point.

I liked the flashback scenes to the '70s and thought they felt very authentic from the food eaten at the dinner party to the attitudes of the attendees. I was also humming along to the songs that led into the start of each episode of the podcast. They brought back some fond memories for me.

All the elements of intrigue play out in the course of this mystery. A seemingly unarguable case backed by DNA evidence, a slight skerrick of doubt raised by a single person, a building wave of information comes to light (both old and new). Through it all I was trying to keep an open mind while also trying to work out where the twists were going to come from.

The result is a compelling mystery that builds nicely from a fairly sedately paced start.

My thanks to Aria & Aries and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC copy to allow me to read, enjoy and review this book.

This book had me hooked and dying to figure out what happened. The ending was slightly anti climactic but I still enjoyed the ride. It was like a good lifetime movie

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5 (rounded up)

* Thankyou to netgalley for a copy of this ARC

I always like to start my thriller reviews by stating that, thrillers are not one of my usual genres I gravitate to! With that being said ... I absolutely loved this book.

I was hanging onto the edge of my seat from start to finish and the ending was perfect. There were so many twists and turns, all the way up to the very end of the book. I found myself coming up with answers to all the mysterys throughout my reading of the book, and once the ending was revealed I was happy that it was realistic and only a little bit different than how I thought it was going to end!

I also really enjoyed the main character and I was rooting her along the whole time to figure out the mystery! Moral of the story ... always trust your gut.

You get:
• Twists and turns
• Realistic thriller
• Missing child
• Cold case
• Addiction
• Mind games

I highly recommend this book and suggest you should pick it up today, since it's release day! 😊

I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book due to the writing style. It jumped between POVs from present day, past and a podcast. I felt the past POVs didn’t do much for the story as they didn’t reveal as much as I would’ve have liked.

The plot reminded me of the show Cold Case and was sooooooooo slow for the first 2/3 of the book and made it really hard for me to get into the book. The twists weren’t overly shocking and it ended up being sort of predictable.

Thank you to NetGalley, Aria & Aries, and author Rebecca Heath for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the premise behind the book, but I didn’t enjoy the writing style. It was a slow burn and took a while for me to read. I predicted some of the plot, but enjoyed some of the twists. Overall, I couldn’t get past the writing style. Lastly, the book the could use another round of editing as I found a lot of typos and mistakes.

This book was suspensful and captivating. It was a slow burn but I enjoyed every second of it! Looking forward to more by Rebecca Heath!

3 1/2 ⭐️ Thank you to Net galley, Aries Books and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was definitely a sloooooow burn. There were a lot of characters and I found it hard to keep track of who was who.

The story is told through a series of flashbacks, a podcast and current day events from the pov of Billie. To be honest the flashbacks did not seem to add much to the overall story.

It is Christmas 1979 in Australia. Four couples gather for a dinner party. It is safe neighborhood and a different time, where neighbors all know each other and doors are left unlocked. The children are all tucked safely in their beds with no adult supervision. When one of the fathers goes to check on the children, he discovers his four month old, Megan, is gone.

Fast forward to present day. Megan’s sister, Amanda, is still desperately searching for her sister. She is cautiously optimistic as different women have come forward over the years saying they are Megan. Enter Donna. She seems to have more proof than the previous women, but is she really Megan? Amanda’s daughters, Billie and Eve have their doubts.

When we finally got to what actually happened, I found it fell a little flat for me.

When four couples gather together for a dinner party, one of their babies goes missing. Forty years on and a stranger comes forward claiming to be the missing person. What really happened at the party? As pieces are put together in this puzzle, it becomes apparent that it might not be as straightforward as it looks.

I was so excited to read this book. The synopsis is just the type of thriller I usually gravitate towards. I had my doubts about Donna, who claimed to be the missing baby and kept going back and forth about her. The insertion of podcast scripts peppered throughout the book added to the intrigue to this storyline. Ultimately, I enjoyed this one though it was more of a slow burn then I usually prefer in thrillers.

I enjoyed this story. It can be hard for me to get into stories told in different timelines, but this one was really intriguing and kept me engaged the whole time. I also enjoyed the podcast portions of the story and the family dysfunction, which added tension to the thriller.

I received an ARC copy of The Dinner Party by Rebecca Heath from Netgalley!

This book was a fun read once i got all the characters down , as there were a bunch of different couples and people to keep track of. What could possibly go wrong when friends get together for a dinner party? What secrets do they keep? The dinner party gives you everything from mystery to lies to secrets. It was a wild ride and i would recommend this book to a friend ! My last read of 2023!

Meh. This had such promise, but i hated the alternating POV to the podcast script. I struggled with keeping pace in finishing this one off - it lost my attention a lot and I couldn’t get it back.

I was so grateful to receive this arc of this book! This domestic thrill gripped my heart talking about a missing baby from 40 years ago during a dinner party. This book had me sad, mad and engaged throughout the entire book! The way my emotions were all over the place had me wanting more and enjoying the dark ride this book took me down!

I loved everything about this book. The different timelines along with the podcast transcript kept the story moving. The author wrote this in such an authentic way that it almost reads like it’s true crime. I’ll definitely be recommending this to others when it publishes. Thanks for the opportunity to read!

Underwhelming twist. Format jumps all over the place and it’s hard to really connect with any of the characters. Premise was kind of obvious from the start with an annoying podcast thread throughout.2/5

Thank you for the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book I really appreciate it. This book had great premise, but it dragged so bad, I get setting things up takes a while but it did drag so bad, the amount of other random story lines throughout took away from what I thought would actually be the main story line and it just took too long to get to the sad ending, which well sad will actually frustrate you that you made it through this and that's what actually happened. As well what you think through every chapter well reading just know at the end you will be right. There are what could have been great potential plot twists and turns but they all fall flat. They're not shocking they're just predictable. There's not even a character to fall in love with and root for, there's just nothing going for this book at all. If you want a starter thriller this would be good, but die hard thriller lovers this is not for you. Thank you once again for the opportunity I really appreciate it.

Thank you so much NetGalley for this ARC! This was my first book by Rebecca Heath and I thoroughly enjoyed it! In 1979, some neighborhood couples are enjoying a dinner party. Sometime during the evening, a 4 month old baby is kidnapped while all the children were home alone. Years later, a podcast is developed to help figure out what happened to baby Megan. This story was so good, I thought it was wonderfully written, dramatic, and a touch of suspense. 4 stars and I will definitely be reading the other titles by this author.

👀 SUSPECT SATURDAY 👀 featuring “The Dinner Party” by Rebecca Heath

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

In the sweltering Summer of 1979, four couples that all live in the same neighborhood, get together for a dinner party. A night of laughs, letting loose and being childless. However, behind the fake smiles and rowdy intoxication, a real life nightmare ensues! When checking on the children in everyone’s houses, Frank Callaghan finds his four month old baby (Megan) MISSING from her crib!!! Nobody heard or saw anything because they were all attending the dinner party.

Forty years later, Amanda Callaghan is still searching for her baby sister Megan. She has never given up hope that one day she would reappear. And then that day ACTUALLY happens when a woman claiming to be Megan shows up on her doorstep! This woman has a VERY convincing story … but there have been other imposters like her before. The family is very suspicious of her story and are dying to know WHERE she has been for forty years. IS this the real Megan?? And WHAT really happened at that dinner party??

BRAVO to @rebeccaheathauthor on yet another stellar domestic thriller!! Right when I thought I had put the pieces all together, a twist completely threw me off my game!!! I love that this story is told in the past and present days by numerous characters and via a true crime podcast! This really drew me in from the beginning and I was itching to know what the heck happened to Megan! Full of secrets, lies, unreliable characters and seedy twists, this thriller is a must read!!

Thank you kindly to @rebeccaheathauthor @headofzeus @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases SOON on January 4, 2024!

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. The description of this book was what really made me interested in reading it. It took place 40 years after the disappearance of a baby. I enjoyed the main characters and the storyline but I have to say that it was very confusing bringing so many characters as it was told from the past and the present. I am not much of a podcast person but I did enjoy that as part of the story. Overall, it was just okay for me but mostly because of the confusion of the characters past and present.

THE DINNER PARTY is a domestic mystery that timely unfolds the secrets among a group of neighbors who became friends. 1979 is the year of the infamous Dinner Party; a routine gathering seemingly appearing fun and harmless from the outside but rooted in jealously, fear, and regret on the inside, and not to mention, the night ends with a missing baby!

Rebecca Heath creatively reveals the origin and conclusion behind of the mystery of the missing baby through podcast episodes, interviews with the dinner party guests, and through the concurrent plot of the family of the missing baby 40 years later. Each chapter will allow you to learn more about the family and their friends, question their motives; and determine who to believe.

More than a mystery, THE DINNER PARTY explores family dynamics through multiple generations, revealing relatable sibling rivalries and marital themes of loss, fidelity, and forgiveness, making this book appealable to each YA and adult family member!