Claustrophobic, Menacing..
Surprise party turns murderous in this compelling and immersive suspense. As party goers arrive on a sun soaked Greek island to surprise one half of a couple, the idyllic setting is soon to turn claustrophobic and menacing. The slow burn plot, populated with a well drawn and mainly unlikeable cast of characters and littered with unexpected twists, soon turns propulsive and, ultimately, disastrous.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I hated every character in this book and guessed whodunnit at a fairly early stage so this wasn’t the best read for me.

It's Eve's 50th and her husband Will has taken her to the Greek Islands where they honeymooned 29 years earlier. Eve is hoping to rekindle romance and also share a 30 year old secret with Will. But Will has really surprised Eve as her entire extended family descends upon the small island. With a transportation boycott slowing down travel, it's clear the the two will not be alone together for some time.

I loved this story, plenty of family drama and interesting characters. I wish some people got a bit more coming to them before the end but it was a satisfying ending and enough twists to power me through a whole vacation read! #thesurpriseparty #juliacrouch #bookouture #crete

The Surprise Party follows 2 POVS, Poppy and Eve's.

Poppy and Eve arrive on a small greek island, both there to on their own holidays. Eve is with her Husband Will and it is a holiday to celebrate her 50th Birthday as well as trying to repair their marriage, Poppy is there for a much needed holiday after a hard year.

After becoming acquainted at dinner on the first night, Will invites Poppy to a surprise party for Eve the next night. Little does Eve know, is that Will has also invited her family, her children, troubled foster son, sister, mum and her best friend and his husband. Poppy soon becomes immersed in the family, learning that this family is far from perfect, and everyone has a secret; including her.

At the Surprise party things take a turn, with one of the guests being murdered but, who did it? Everyone has a motive.

This book will keep you wanting to turn the page, wanting to understand what will happen next and why. The plot twist at the end was absolutely fantastic, well done Julia!

The reason this does not get 5 stars, is due to it taking a little while to get into at first, it was a bit of a slow start. But when pace started to pick up, it was a truly fantastic book.

Thank you Netgalley for the honour of reviewing this book.

You can’t trust anyone in this book, and I didn’t see some of the twists coming at all. Absolutely loved it! A great summertime read. Highly recommended.

I haven’t read much from this author before but thought I would give this one a go and wow I was not disappointed. It was a thrilling read which had such a claustrophobic feeling throughout so many secrets and plenty of twists and turns what more could you ask for. I really liked the writing style and how the story just flowed throughout. Overall this was a fantastic summer thriller which I can’t wait to recommend. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy.

With Eve's 50th birthday approaching, she and her husband visit a Greek island. She is looking forward to time spent alone with him, as she has a secret she wants to tell him.
However, he has invited the children, and family and friends to celebrate the birthday, and the party ends in a murder.

The beginning of this book was a little slow for my liking, but halfway through, the action started. I did work out why Poppy was at the island, but did not have a clue how she got wind of the party.
Every character has secrets and none of them are revealed until the end of the book.
The second half of the book was fast paced and had twists galore.
The ending was mind blowing.

3/5 stars from me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book.

A couple revisits their honeymoon memories on a Greek island, but for the woman, Eve, it is a final attempt to salvage their marriage by coming clean about the secret that she has been holding for too long.

Unfortunately her husband has decided to invite along their friends and family as a "surprise" - as it turns out a most unwelcome one.

And with all these people packed into a beautiful but claustrophobic environment, all kinds of tensions begin to build in such close quarters. Secrets long protected and lies carefully maintained start to come apart at the seams...

And unsurprisingly, it doesn't end well. Though perhaps it would be fair to say that nobody would have expected it to end quite as badly as it did.

This is engaging storytelling with plenty of twists and turns. Quite a few of them unexpected! The atmospheric setting also contributes to the fun. An enjoyable read, it gets 3.5 stars.

This was a thrilling twisty read.

Pros:
-claustrophobic island setting
-family and friends, all with secrets, in one place
-nice twist at the end

Cons:
-cringy conversations between adult children and their mother.
-a beyond naive mother
-slow start. It took quite a while to get into some action.

All in all, this was a decent read! I would recommend this book.

I have never read a Julia Crouch I didn't like. And this is high up on my loved it list.

I couldn't put it down. She didn't disappoint me

Thank you for the opportunity to review Netgalley and Bookouture

I couldn’t put this book down and I was totally gripped from the first chapter.
The setting was beautiful and I really felt like I was there, sitting in the hot Greek sun watching Eve and her family.
A great book with plenty of unexpected twists and turns with a brilliant ending which I did not see coming.
Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and Julia Crouch for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Eve arrives at a small Greek island to celebrate her birthday with her husband. She is hoping it will be just the two of them so she can finally reveal a secret she’s been hiding, therefore is shocked when all her family arrive as a surprise. Soon the holiday turns much more disastrous than any of them could imagine.

I read my first Julia Crouch book recently with her collaboration with M.J. Arlidge and as I really enjoyed it I was keen to read one of her solo novels. I was not disappointed. You really get a feel for the atmosphere and the characters by the writing style, although some of the characters were fairly unlikeable, and I enjoyed the fact the story was told in two different voices, which helped to add extra interest. I found the general storyline engaging and felt I needed to keep reading as I had to find out what happened next, discovering the next twist or turn.

The story starts off fairly slowly with the action not happening until the half way point. It was from the half way point that I found myself more hooked and intrigued. I found some phrases were slightly repetitive and I also hoped that there would be more of a conclusion to certain parts of the story, which I found were left quite open. Apart from the minor niggles, this was a fun, quick mystery thriller and a perfect holiday read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

I went into this expecting a psychological thriller, my favorite genre, but it turned out to be more of a whodunnit murder mystery. I decided to stick with it, even though it wasn't quite what I expected, and I ended up loving it! The Rose's are probably the most dysfunctional family I have ever encountered. This made for a very fast paced story because I became so eager to see what was going to be revealed next. Everyone in this family lies and are concealing deep secrets. The setting of the story, an exotic Greek island, was a real bonus and definitely contributed to my enjoyment of this book. This is my first time reading something by Julia Crouch but I'd love to try more books by this author.
Than you, NetGalley, for a wonderful time with this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the arc

The perfect summer thriller. I loved the exotic setting of Greece and enjoyed uncovering the secrets. A psychological thriller that keeps you on your toes and hits you with twist after twist. The family dynamic was twisted and interesting to follow. Secrets, lies and mysteries in all their deliciousness.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing this book, with my honest review below.

The Surprise Party is the perfect mystery book to read if you like your mysteries to take you away to a beautiful location, in this case a Greek island. Much like an onion being peeled there were layers revealed to the family and friend dynamics as well as the central mystery. Poppy was an interesting character that had a dark side that came out along with Jack (the disturbed ‘like a son’ to Eve. I will just say this family has a lot of things to work through, which I don’t much see happening!

I found this to be a quick and enjoyable thriller. I loved the Greek Island location and a whodunit with limited options is always fun.

I really enjoyed reading about the family dynamics and working out what secrets each of the characters was keeping. There was quite a large cast of characters but they were all distinct so I never got mixed up.

The negative for me is that the amount of fatphobia was wild, in the first few chapters especially. It didn't sit well with me at all. I also would have liked more from the ending, maybe an epilogue, but that is personal preference.

A great summer read, full of secrets and lies. You can’t trust anyone in this book and I didn’t see some of the twists coming at all! Loved it!

Everyone has secrets, and looking back, I don't think any of the characters were actually likeable. Yet things came together piece by piece, ending with a great finish as the secrets began to be exposed. The writing and detail in this book are done well, and you get a sense of buildup and involvement in the story. The downside of all this detail is that at times things drag, and at some points, I was tempted to set the book aside. However, I am glad I continued. Perhaps the idea that less is more would have increased my enjoyment; there were a few too many characters and complicated backstories to stay connected and the family dynamics and boundaries, and leaps in plausibility, were at times too much. Overall, it was the dual story telling between Poppy and Eve that helped keep my attention and this will be an author I look out for in the future. Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for letting me read an advanced copy in exchange for a review based on personal opinion.

Add this to your TBR list! The Surprise Party had me on the edge of my seat the entire way through. Surprise twists added to the suspense and had me guessing until the end. While I wish it had ended differently for some characters, I felt the story line was solid and the author goes into great detail and story telling.

Married couple Will and Eve, and their new friend Poppy, are all on the same boat on their way to an exotic island vacation. Eve hopes to use this trip to rekindle the romance in her marriage, but Will has other ideas, having planned a huge surprise party for his wife. A mysterious death has changed the mood of the party goers, and as secrets come to light, almost everyone is a suspect.

Messed up. Way too many inappropriate boundaries in this one: between adults, mother and kids, foster kids and mother, you name it! Eve and her husband go back to Greece for her 50th birthday. Lo and behold, the next day, her husband flies in all of her family and friends for a surprise party. Meanwhile, Eve has a secret which she hopes will put her marriage back on track. I guessed a number of secrets, but was not quite right on what was going on. Three guests end up dead. Why? Who did it? What are the hidden connections behind these people and their deaths? Story was good, just a little creepy to me with all the icky boundary issues.