Shay Kapoor met Caleb on the night of his best friend Raj Joshi’s engagement party. As a graduate student she did not fit in with his friends, who were all from wealthy families. Raj’s fiancee Radhika made it clear that she did it belong, but as Caleb’s girlfriend she was invited to the wedding. The joining of two of India’s wealthiest families was a week long lavish affair at a luxury resort in Cabo. When Shay arrives she discovers evidence of Caleb’s infidelity. Before she decides whether to confront him, a scream breaks the silence. Daniela, the wedding coordinator, found the bodies of Raj and Radha, both shot through the head. While the wedding guests are all asked to leave, the immediate family members and Caleb are asked to stay as a part of the investigation. Caleb also asks Shay to stay and offer him her support. He is unaware that Shay is actually a reporter investigating the Joshi family. Raj had been making frequent trips to Mexico on family business. The police believe that a cartel may have been involved in the murder, but Shay has noticed the tension among the family members. Raj and Radhi’s guest villa was locked and there were a limited number of people who had access, including Caleb, Radhi’s sister Zara, Raj’s adopted brother Sean and Daniela. As Shay investigates the group her focus on a suspect changes as she discovers that each had a possible motive. With its’ luxurious setting and a list of suspects who are all hiding secrets, S.C. Lalli keeps you turning the pages as these secrets are revealed, leading to a deadly showdown. This is a fast paced story that is sure to please mystery lovers. I would like to thank NetGalley and William Morrow Publishing for providing this book.

Radhika Singh, a popular influencer, and Raj Joshi, the heir to a massive hotel chain, are all set to be married at a lavishly planned wedding at a luxury resort in Cabo. Other influencers and power-brokers have been invited to celebrate the joining of these two powerful families. Shay Kapoor does not feel like she belongs among this elite group. As the girlfriend of Raj's best friend, she is the plus one dragged into the chaos of the wedding. But when Shay arrives on the morning of the wedding the guests find out that Radhika and Raj have both died from gunshot wounds to the head. As most guests are turned away Shay is stuck with the close family as the family and police try to solve the murders. The police think it was a gang hit, but Shay's initial investigation points to someone closer to the victims. With the clock ticking before she is kicked out of Cabo, Shay has to solve the murders and escape with her life.

S.C. Lalli has constructed a fun murder mystery with great suspects a unique narrator and a gorgeous setting. There are some good twists even towards the beginning of the book that make the reader question everything that we are shown and it all builds to a satisfying and exciting conclusion. Flashbacks to prior the wedding were a great way to peel back different layers of the characters. The book was a sharp examination into how wealth and power can protect and cover up bad actors and the challenges in trying to fight this system. This was an enjoyable thriller and I am looking forward to Lalli's next book.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for a copy of The Plus One in exchange for an honest review.

Oh this was 100 times better than I expected and I did expect good things. The twists and conspiracies! I also love to hate the rich, so thanks for that. Oh I love the chance to learn more about Indian culture and family relationships.
Beautiful. Love the ending!

The wedding of Radhika Singh and Raj Joshi is quickly becoming the event of the season. There will be no expenses spared as the two families unite at an upscale private resort in Cabos. With a whole week of R&R on the agenda with special surprises along the way, those invited are more than eager to attend. When Shay gets invited as the plus one of the best man, Raj’s best friend, Caleb, she’s over the moon, of course she will be attending. On the morning the festivities are to begin, a grisly discovery is made, Raj and Radhika are found murdered in their villa. Fingers are pointed, but the suspects are few. Shay has more than one reason to be at the wedding and she’s being extra careful to cover her bases. Soon she’s diving in feet first to try to figure out just who wanted the bride and groom dead. Was it the Joshi family, that had less than stellar business dealings? Was it the cartel? Or was it something much more sinister? When Shay’s cover is blown, she’s told to leave the island, but as she gets closer to the truth, there’s much more at stake. Will she be able to uncover the truth before it’s too late for her? This was a fast paced whodunnit thriller with a narrator that wasn’t as reliable as she could have been 🙂 Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

thank you netgalley for the e-arc. there was too much for me to be paying attention to in this. i thought i would have liked it more with the white lotus comparison but did not. the author kept wanting you to think the cartel was involved when it clearly never was. the main character was also unreliable and very unlikeable.

The Plus One is a ho-hum murder mystery that bills itself as a mix of The White Lotus and The Guest List. Although there are deaths in an exotic location, the story unfolds as more of a corporate thriller than a suspense novel. The characters are clearly each written to be gorgeous and enigmatic in their own way, but there was no substance to their personalities or to the plot overall.
I would recommend this as a good summer beach read: there’s not a lot of substance here but it’s a breezy page turner, nonetheless. A special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy for review.

This was to be the wedding of the century! Guests travel far and wide to this wedding extravaganza that is to last days! Until tragedy strikes! The guest list was hand selected and the history of the guests relationships is soon revealed making "The Plus One" unputdownable.. The book was riveting from beginning to end with no limit to the suspect list. I promise this will not be that last book I read by S.C Lalli !

The book was good, but it took me forever to get into. The details were really good also, I just feel like there were too many and not enough action for the book. The ending was good and I would have liked to have seen more of the action through out the entire book.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the Advanced Reader's copy of this publication.
I love a good wedding mystery drama. This has it all. I really enjoyed this novel. Please give this a read and don't skip a page. Enjoy!

OH goodness this one was thrilling and dramatic and super interesting. thanks so much foor the ARC and i really enjoyed this one

I am always down to try a wedding thriller! The setting was perfect, especially with Shay cast as the outsider, and I enjoyed the excerpts from the wedding schedule that explained the various aspects of a lavish Indian wedding.

Right from the start, the bride and groom are found dead, killed execution-style, before the wedding festivities can begin. I liked the way we discovered who Shay was as the story progressed, but I didn't understand why the flashbacks were third-person POV while the present-day scenes were first-person. I thought there was going to be more of a twist about Shay's identity.

This is a reasonably interesting thriller about rich people behaving badly, but I wasn't shocked by the ending. I liked how it turned out and enjoyed reading it, but it didn't do anything new or unique.

DNF at 45% because I was bored. The rich characters had no depth and even the MC who had all these alleged secrets was very dull and one dimensional. All the twists so far were just not enough to hold my attention.

Starts off with all the hints of drama to suck you right in to the story!

But… it slowed down about one third of the way in, and I wasn’t invested or interested in the characters at that stage.

I also wasn’t a fan of the judgmental tone of the narrator with regularly sprinkled in comments about racism, micro-aggressions, and prejudices.

It started to pick up in pace and intensity in the last quarter of the book, and finished strong with an ending I enjoyed!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

✨ARC Review✨

3.5/5
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Plus One
Pub Date: August 13, 2024


The Plus One is a compelling mix of mystery and drama, set against the backdrop of luxurious destination wedding in Los Cabo’s…that takes a deadly turn. While the premise is promising—a high-profile wedding between two wealthy families disrupted by a double murder—the execution of the story, while enjoyable, falls just short of greatness.

The story follows Shay Kapoor who finds herself swept into the lavish world of Radhika Singh and Raj Joshi’s extravagant wedding. As the girlfriend of Raj’s best friend, Caleb, Shay is just a guest until the bride and groom are found dead, or is she? The plot thickens as family secrets unravel, accusations fly, and Shay takes it upon herself to piece together the puzzle of this seemingly impossible crime.

Overall, The Plus One is a solid whodunit set in a glamorous, high-stakes world. Fans of mystery and light thrillers will likely enjoy it, but it may leave some readers hoping for more twists or character complexity.

Thank you to NetGalley, S.C. Lalli and William Morrow for the ARC!

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Overall I enjoyed the book and it certainly starts off with a bang. The reader is drawn into the world of the uber rich that live on a whole different stratosphere than the rest of the world. I was disgusted by the way these people treat others and the sense of entitlement is mind boggling even though I know these types of people and families exist in real life. Shay is invited to the wedding because her boyfriend is the groom’s best friend. From the moment the first chapter ends the reader is thrown into the lives of two wealthy and highly influtential Indian-American families. The depths they will go to protect their power and money knows no bounds. Shay is not only a plus one but also has an agenda of her own. As the investigation into the murders unfolds it’s clear the suspect can only be a handful of people that have access to the murdered couples villa. Although there could only be a few people who have committed the heinous crime the book keeps you guessing until the very end and I did not see the final twist coming! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I don't know why so many wedding thrillers keep popping up lately, but this one is definitely putting on any TBR. It is entertaining, with plenty of family drama with turns that keep coming and so many stones to uncover. Shay is attending the wedding of her new(ish) boyfriend's best friend, and so is relatively unknown to many people at the wedding. This is on purpose, as she has her own reasons for attending the wedding besides just being there for her boyfriend. But then the bride and groom are found dead in their room early in the morning, and everyone's secrets start coming out.

Unlike many books in the genre, it is single POV. Shay has her own secrets, but we find these out early on and become most invested in trying to figure out everyone else. There are enough characters to provide the maximum amount of red herrings without getting lost trying to keep everyone straight. The characters are varied, with their own background stories and reasons for their actions.

The book was well written and engaging. I actually downloaded one of the author's earlier books a while ago and never read it. I think this will inspire me to do so.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC to review.

Immediately hooks you in and the unreliable narrator/two timelines keep you guessing the whole time. Beautiful writing, interesting premise and all the gorgeous details made me feel like I was on vacation! Thanks for the ARC Netgalley!

Sometimes I have trouble getting hooked on a book. For some reason, I felt this was going to be one of those books, but I cracked it open and found myself 10% in without even realizing it. Success! Sometimes the cartel link felt a bit... cheesy?... forced?... I'm not sure, but still it fit. The characters all had plenty of personality and the discovery of these traits happened little by little rather than the author just straight telling us about them, which I adored.

In the end, I hadn't quite seen "that" coming. Everything wrapped up nicely and all my questions were answered without an abrupt ending. I find myself quite pleased with this book and highly recommend it!

3.5 stars

This book had an amazing premise, but it fell flat for me. With the murders happening at the very beginning of the story and the rest of the plot being the investigation and certain parts told in flashbacks, I felt like the tension that I love in these kinds of mysteries was missing.

It was a struggle to get through at times, but I did like the reveal at the end and the little epilogue. I love it when villains get comeuppance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a classic whodunnit thriller set at a destination wedding in Los Vabos, Mexico. The bride and groom are murdered the night before their nuptials but who is responsible? This story is filled with lots of drama and possible theories about the couple’s untimely death. The twists, turns and narration were enough to keep me guessing well into the story. Definitely enjoyed this story more than I anticipated.