This book is ADDICTIVE! The characters (Josie in particular) are beautifully realized, and the story is so multi-layered, it definitely keeps you engaged the whole way through.

The only reason that this wasn’t 5 stars for me was that I feel like the POV for Nina (who’s the character you start with) feels like it gets a little lost/not as fleshed out as the others. Otherwise, I highly recommend grabbing this for a very fun and suspenseful summer read in August!

Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7321025663?book_show_action=false

BookTok review: https://www.tiktok.com/@lucy_readss/photo/7471394060108844331

Bookstagram review: https://www.instagram.com/p/DGEXX8rPPpL/

Thanks to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I felt the first half was slow but the second half was fast paced. I had a feeling that I knew what happened early on, but along the way I questioned my original thought and it did keep me guessing. The characters were well developed, the plot was suspenseful.

Wow! My first novel by this author and I was impressed. If you’re fans of Charlie Donlea, you’ll love this one. The characters were so well developed and I loved the setting of the story. I was captivated with this story. You are so back and forth wondering who the good guys/bad guys are!

This was really good. It’s about a murder that happened 20 years prior. Tamara, at the age of 17 was murdered in her own pool on the night of her mother’s birthday party. She had a twin brother Blake and a much younger sister Nina who was 5 at the time. Nina apparently witnessed the murder blaming Josie (she was also 17 and looked after Nina). Jump ahead 20 years and Nina is struggling with her witness account. A crime podcaster is digging into the murder. It’s a really good story. Kept me turning pages late into the night. I definitely recommend this one!

ARC Review: From NetGalley:
Release Date: 8-12-25
Author: Katie Bishop

This was my first ARC review and let’s just say that I was super geeked that I was given the opportunity. High Season is a who done it murder mystery. The plot is great, and I love the twist at the end. However, I felt like there was a lot of over-describing in the beginning and a lot of over-explaining in the middle. I felt the story dragged in places, and some parts were unnecessary. There is also a lot of jumping around between different POVs and times, but it is not too difficult to keep up with. Overall, I liked it but didn’t love it. I’m giving it three and a half stars!

“High Season”, has zipper qualities. We move through the delicious storytelling with speed and energy,
Between the gorgeous book cover and subject description (the blurb perfectly elucidates the content), I had a hunch this would be a great mystery-thriller — and it was!!!

It was the Birthday Bash of all bashings in 2004 at the Drayton family mansion on the Côte d’Azu, the mediterranean coast of south eastern France.
Seventeen year old Tamara Drayton is murdered in the family swimming pool during her Mommy’s birthday party celebration.
Josie Jackson, teenage babysitter, is the convicted murderer. She spent 10 years in prison.
The only witness was Tamara’s younger sister, Nina, all of 5 years of age.
The question that runs throughout the novel….
…. was Josie really guilty?

Twenty years later a true crime TikToker, Imogen Faye, reopens the case.
Let the mystery begin …..

Duel-timeline narratives highlight different perspectives. The structure works well…and kept me hooked to the very end.

Terrific characterization… with several other characters I haven’t mentioned …
yet it’s these ‘other’ characters (a twin brother, a best friend, a mother, and a few boyfriends) that add juicy-cryptic-enigma-puzzling-perplexities.

I loved the ‘escapism’ indulgences that “High Season” earmarked and attributed to me! “Never Speak of That Summer” ….
shhhh, okay?/!/?

SIMPLY GREAT FUN!!!

Additional pleasures and captivations:
….the atmospheric setting on the French Riviera,
touching coming-of-age and teenage angst moments, friendships, visuals of a Pink Villa, a little ‘glam’, a little naughtiness, interesting backstories, memory assessing, reliability, and accuracy, a look at ways childhood trauma can alter brain regions and the various ways it’s manifested into adulthood, wealth & class differences, manipulation, and other truth & consequences…..

A sweet & salty tantalizing mystery-thriller!!!
Satisfying page-turning intrigued to the very end!!

All of this YESSS!!!!

This book has it all. True crime to glamour and family drama.

I love books about podcast murder mysteries and this book delivered it seamlessly. Fantastic job on this book. High Season takes you on a ride and I loved every second of it.

A huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sharing this thrilling novel's arc copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

A perfect summer mystery read that was very enjoyable and kept me guessing the whole way through. The story follows the main character, Nina, as she travels back to the south of France 20 years after she testified as 6 years old witness to a murder allegedly committed by her babysitter, Josie. But after all this time, Nina (and others involved) start to question what actually happened and if her memory of that night was in fact the reality.

The story is told through multiple perspectives and spans two decades, slowly revealing little clues each chapter. Plus, the imagery of the south of France was everything I needed to escape this dreary winter 👌

I really loved this book. This story took place in the south of France, during two timeliness. You have the rich that spend their summers partying, and the not so rich that live there year round. During the summer of 2004, one of those lovely rich girls, ends up in her pool dead. The only witness to what happened is her 6 year old sister. This is where the have and the have nots, collide. , Tamara is dead and her six year old sister, Nina, who witnessed the murder, with her testimony puts one of the town girls, Josie, in prison for 20 years. Twenty years later, Josie returns home from prison. She stays with her brother and his girlfriend. A Podcaster decides to come and interview Josie and hopefully Nina. She would like to do a documentary on the case and her all sides. Nina, has had anxiety most of her life because of what she saw. She is questioning herself, what she actually saw. Was she influenced by her family.? You will just have to read it to find out. Really interesting premise. I really enjoyed getting to know all of the characters and hearing their sides of this story. Well done to Katie Bishop as I enjoyed this book very much. Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read it. Give this book a 4.5 out of 5.

On a summers night back in 2004, a 17 year girl ends up dead, leaving behind her twin brother, Blake, and her 6 year old sister, Nina, who becomes the youngest person ever to testify in a French murder trial.

Nina, at 6 years old, was the only one to witness the murder of her sister. 20 years later, memories have faded and left Nina with no idea of what really transpired that night. Truth always comes at a cost, and someone's going to pay.

I actually really liked this book! It definitely had a build up and then a twist that shocked me in the long run. I think the dual timeline was super interesting to read because we were slowly reading two halves of a story become a whole!

So like, wow. This one totally sucked me in with all its dreamy, sun-soaked vibes masking, you know, absolute chaos. Picture a bougie French villa, a tragedy no one wants to talk about, and a sister who thought she knew what happened that night… but, um, maybe not?

I was hooked from the start. The then-and-now storytelling kept me flipping pages like crazy, and the tension? Chef’s kiss. It’s got family drama, scandal, and that juicy true-crime obsession that makes you rethink everything you think you know. Some parts felt a bit drawn out, but honestly, the payoff was worth it.

A solid 4 stars for the mystery, the messy relationships, and the whole “money can’t fix everything” mood.

Huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I enjoyed this book. The story had me hooked from the beginning and I was happy I stuck with it. The mystery, love and twists were well written

So many elevated thrillers/mystery coming out lately from The God of the Woods to now High Season, a beautifully written, well-paced novel that is as nostalgic as it is intriguing. A perfect summer read.

Wow. A great read. It’s all the things I love - twisty, mysterious, brooding, and kept me hooked til the last page….. but more importantly, this book brought me to tears, thinking of myself at the age of these characters, the things I’ve gone through, the parallels of our lives, and where I’ve gotten to in life.

Yes, it’s all the things. There are great protagonists, enough intrigue to keep you reading all night, and it’s fair share of gasp worthy moments (TW though - assault, SA, abuse)….. but I’ll remember this book for a whole different reason - it reminds me to forgive myself, and use my experiences to fuel me forward. Brb crying again.

Some interesting characteristics and occasionally an interesting tidbit to latch onto, but overall kind of a slog. The opening was quite interesting but then it veers into pretty boring territory. the story is written in a now and then and now way that I didn't enjoy in this particular book.

There are so many good thrillers coming out this year. I read High Season by Katie Bishop and it won’t disappoint.

At 5 years old, Nina testified in her sister’s murder case, becoming the lynchpin for catching the culprit. 20 years later, self doubt rises to a crescendo - are her memories what they seem?

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First, I love the cover. It’s idyllic but the color saturation gives an air of unease.

I loved the third person POV. Gives the underlying feeling that Nina (as well as every other character) is an unreliable narrator. We’re hearing her thoughts but it feels filtered, mirroring how she feels about her memories of her sisters’ death.

Intriguing plot and I’m a sucker for multiple POVs and timeline shifts. The book felt well paced.

Definitely a hit for fans of contemporary “true crime fiction”

3.5 stars

This is my first book by Katie Bishop. I had already had the book on my tbr list for 2025 thanks to a recommendation from one of my favorite #bookstagram accounts. When I logged into Netgalley and saw it, I jumped at the chance to read it early as an ARC (advanced reader copy).

The story follows a dual timeline - a summer in 2004 and a summer in 2024 - examining the lead-up to a murder, the aftermath, and revelations decades later. The catalyst for the reexamination of the case is a popular true-crime podcast. Fans of Listen for the Lie will enjoy this. However, similar to LftL, I think I would have enjoyed it better as an audiobook than print.

Overall, it was a good mystery, although I forecasted several of the twists ahead of time. I look forward to checking out more of the author's offerings.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the advanced copy.

This novel explores themes of class, wealth, and privilege on the Côte d’Azur. The storyline alternates between the summer of 2004, when the teen daughter of the Drayton family was killed during her mother’s birthday party, and twenty years later. The testimony of the victim’s much younger sister sent a local teenager to prison (to me, an aspect that strained credulity), and now all of the people involved have come together to relive the past. Part of the story involves the production of a documentary about the case. I liked the premise, but the book really dragged and I struggled to finish. The conflicts between the wealthy Draytons (and their friends) and the working-class characters came across as tired and stereotypical in many places, and in the end I felt like all the pieces didn’t fit together. While some elements were explored over and over, at other points information was assumed. A dual-timeline story always involves a constant re-positioning, but most of the characters had evolved so little over the two decades that had passed that I sometimes had trouble remembering what year it was. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to provide an honest review.

I loved this book! :)
I now realise that I tend to like slow-paced mysteries set in France, especially if it's in some idyllic setting in the south. In the summer!
It's not always that I enjoy a dual timeline in a mystery novel, but I had no issues with this one. In fact, I'd even dare say it made the story more dynamic and intriguing to follow.
I enjoyed all the characters (including the unlikable ones), all the POVs, all the flashback moments and, more importantly, how the author chose to wrap it all up. I felt incredibly immersed in the story, it was atmospheric, agonizing at times, unsettling and even though I didn't relate to any of the characters, I cared for them. Rooted for them. Wanted to yell at some of them sometimes, too...!
I just loved it! Even the young tiktokker influencer that has an important part in this story didn't bother me at all! I was actually excited to read their chapters. lol

I'm pretty sure this book is not gonna please every mystery or thriller reader out there, but if you are into mystery and do not a mind a slow pacing start at all, consider giving this book a go.
I believe this is a perfect summer mystery book to read at the pool or by the lake. Highly recommend it. (this book will be officially published in August - perfect for the end of summer)

Thank you very much, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for providing me with a free eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.