I zinged through this summer sizzler like a hot knife through butter.

What happened that fateful day 20 years ago when Tamara was murdered in her own pool while friends and fam partied nearby? Is Nina's account reliable even though she is 6 years old?

This is the perfect beach read!

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy. It is my pleasure to write an honest review!

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

On the night of the birthday party, five-year-old Nina Drayton is the only one who knows that there is a dead girl in the water. And she is the only one who knows what happened to her.

Or is she?

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Told in two timelines . . . the present and twenty years earlier . . . the unfolding story reveals the events surrounding the death of Tamara Drayton and the effect of her death on her family and her friends. Tamara and her twin brother, Blake, were twelve years older than Nina; other important characters in the story include Josie Jackson, the babysitter, and Josie’s friend, Hannah Bailey. Readers will find the characters well-drawn, all relatable and believable.

The narrative surrounding these characters explores the family’s dealing with a sudden death and the effects of a trauma on a young child. With the announcement of a speculative documentary focusing on Tamara’s death twenty years ago, Nina finds herself in the midst of unwanted attention. She believes she knows what happened, but is it the truth or is it what she thinks she remembers as having happened?

Everyone has secrets; plot twists and unexpected events readers are kept guessing as they as slowly revealed. Readers who enjoy family stories and mysteries will find much to appreciate here.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley
#HighSeason #NetGalley

3.25. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. It was a really gripping read and I enjoyed it. There was great character development and the plot itself felt unique for the mystery/thriller genre. There were definitely problems though. It often dragged on and unnecessary tidbits were brought up that genuinely had nothing to do with anything. Setting and timeline were sometimes confusing. They could have delved into the child psychology aspect of the story in regard to Nina way, way more. And then a really fatal flaw. What actually happened to Tamara, in particular how it ultimately got blamed on Josie, was explained in a choppy manner. When Hannah wakes up, Blake tells her she needs to leave and that it was her fault and that she pushed Tamara. Hannah doesn’t question this at all… even though she had been entirely asleep/blacked out and was totally aware of that even though she was not sure why she’d been that intoxicated to be in that state. But why? Yes she was afraid of what went down but it just felt like a huge hole that didn’t really properly explain the rest that ensued. I’m not sure what stage of the editing process this is in, but I would highly recommend it gets cleaned up.

Nina has some issues. Memory seems to be one. Since she testified at age 5 in a French murder trial. The murder of her seventeen year old sister. She was the only witness.

But memory isn’t always reliable at such a young age during trauma. So when they all return to their childhood home with her older brother, Blake.

But twenty years later, the girl accused is now out of prison and wants answers.

I thought this started a bit slow but the plot more than made up for this. I was glad I read all of the book as it was really good. Emotional, Confusing and just the best descriptions and characters.

I really enjoyed this one!

NetGalley/ St. Martin’s Press August 12, 2025

Wow! My first novel by this author and I was impressed. If you’re fans of Charlie Donlea, you’ll love this one.

A wealthy family in the south of France endured tragedy when their 17 year old daughter was found face down in their pool. She left behind her twin Blake and 5 year old sister Nina who testified that the babysitter killed her. 20 years later all the characters are back as a documentary revisits what really happened.

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!

Summary: Twenty years ago, teenager Tamara Drayton was found dead in the swimming pool of her mother Evelyn’s estate on the Cote d’Azur. The youngest child in the family, Nina, was permitted to testify at the time and stated she saw the babysitter, Josie Jackson, drown her in the pool. Josie was convicted at 16 years of age and sent to prison for ten years. Now, it is summer again, twenty years later, and the lives of Josie, Nina, and the Drayton family are about to intersect again with profound consequences.

Thoughts: As with her previous novel, The Girls of Summer, High Season has a spectacular setting and a cast of fascinating characters. There is exploration of wealth and privilege, class differences, and the struggle to make sense of difficult experiences in youth. Both novels switch between the past and present, and touch on the unreliability of memory and the ways in which young people can be manipulated. With High Season, however, I felt it just took much too long to reach the dark heart of the story, which is finally revealed in part three. Part four is a rambling explanation which should not have been necessary to make sense of events. As much as I wanted to love it, High Season didn’t quite deliver. Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the digital copy to read.

[arc review]
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
High Season releases August 12, 2025

2.5

<i>“She can visualize the entire thing. Whether or not that is the same as remembering it, she isn’t exactly sure.”</I>

At the age of five, Nina found her older sister unconscious in their pool, and went on to be the youngest to testify in a court case in France.
Now that there is a twentieth anniversary documentary coming out with speculation of an unreliable witness, Nina is questioning whether her memory of that day was as solid as she really thought.

This story is told across dual timelines and multiple perspectives, with some additional pieces of mixed media and a lot of gaslighting!

I think I would have enjoyed this story more had it delved deeper into child psychology through the lens of Nina’s degree and childhood trauma, rather than the teen relationship drama we got.
If you read a lot of books, it becomes very easy to recognize certain writing styles and patterns — the intentionality of leaving out one specific character pov in order to not put the spotlight on them, actually had the opposite effect, and made for a predictable reveal.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this story. A five year old witnesses her sister's murder and testifies against her former babysitter., leading to her conviction. Years later, a podcast into the murder raises questions as she starts to question all she used to believe about that night. The novel was well-written, characters fully formed, and the ending was satisfying. A great overall read.

I freaking loved this book. It captivated me from the very beginning and kept my attention all the way through. I didn’t want to put it down, I even found myself reading between patients at work. I loved how even when I thought I knew what was coming I still couldn’t be sure that it wouldn’t be something or someone else. I was kept guessing and I love that because usually I can tell what’s coming from a mile away! I can’t wait to read Katie’s first book and hopefully there will be many more to come.

Oh my. There is so much here to unpack! A young woman is dead. Her little sister believes she saw it happen. Someone is sent to prison but did they really do it? Years later the truth is slowly revealed with twists and turns you expect in a well-written mystery. Easy one to promote!

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★ ★ ★ ★
𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: August 12, 2025
𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:

This was my very first book by Katie Bishop and I loved this. I love a very well written domestic thriller that keeps you on your toes flowing flawlessly to the end. The setting is so fitting for the storyline and the characters were well developed and well written. We have secrets in here, twists and turns and you may not see the ending coming. This is releasing at the perfect time for the vibe of this read in August of 2025. This is one that you will want to put on your TBR. I am now headed to read her previous work—The Girls Of Summer. I will now have Katie on my radar for reads.

𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦: Domestic Thriller, Secrets, Fast Paced, Mystery

Large thank you to our Author, NetGalley as well as St Martins Press

Thank you to Minotaur Books for my arc.

So I love Katie Bishop's writing so much, I loved her Debut " the Girls of Summer" so much and so when Minotaur reached out with her next book, I jumped on it immediately. I'm a huge fan of thrillers whose stories center around memory and how it can become distorted as it goes from person to person.

High Season was no different, you're following Nina who " witnessed" her sister be murdered as a young girl. Or did she? With the looming documentary focusing on her sisters death. Nina returns home to find out what really happened.

I loved this so much, i loved getting everyone's perspectives focusing on one event in the story, its actually something i would've really loved to see in The Girls of Summer because i feel like it adds so much more to the story and this was so heartbreaking and yet tragic at the same time. High Season really makes you feel for every character and makes you have empathy for why they did what they did.

rounding up from about 3.5 ⭐️ Like my partner said when i chose this book from my (very long) TBR…..it sounds like the books you read. This book was a quick read that definitely kept me coming back to actually find out the answer which is always what i’m looking for in a book. From the beginning i sort of figured it out, but you gotta finish it to be sure. 😂 overall i enjoyed this book!

A very quick read, with many twists that kept me guessing as the mystery unfurled. I"m likely not the ideal reader for this, as I struggled a little with the prose throughout, but I enjoyed the plot and its resolution at the end.

High Season is the first book I've read by Katie Bishop. Overall, I liked it. Although I felt the first half was slow. The second half made me not want to put it down. I typically don't like when there are sections of a podcast, such as with true crime girl I tend to skip over those. I would consider buying another book by this author depending on the subject..

This was the first book I have read by this author, but certainly won’t be the last. Nina, who was five at the time was the only witness to her sister’s murder. She told her family and the police it was her babysitter Josie, who she saw fighting with her sister in the pool and was holding her under water. Twenty years later and Nina is back where it all happened and trying to remember what really happened to her sister, because she is starting to wonder what she thought she saw was really true. This book was very well written and I really enjoyed it. I highly recommend you read this book, if you like a good mystery, you won’t be disappointed. Thanks Netgalley for this arc.

4.5 ⭐️

I loved Katie’s debut novel “The Girls of Summer” so I knew I would be reading this one. I absolutely loved it and flew through this. A domestic thriller that really keeps you on the edge of your seat. Nina was only 5 when she became the youngest person to testify in the murder trial of her sister, Tamara. Twenty years later, she’s not sure if she remembers that day quite the same.

Everyone has their secrets and is definitely a suspect. When the final twist is revealed, it wasn’t just a cut and dry ‘this is who killed her’. There were a lot of little twists that really added to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC!

High season Is an intricately woven novel set in 2004 and 2024 that draws you in gradually as the book progresses and the facts become clearer and more entwined. After many twists and turns the truth is told and regrets are plentiful but too late. This one is a winner.

I flew through this sizzling summer thriller and enjoyed it very much. 20 years ago, Tamara was murdered in her own pool while friends and family were gathered at her house for a party. The only witness was her 6 year old sister Nina. Now, a podcast is delving into the murder to see if there is any new evidence to support or contradict Nina’s account of that evening. When you are looking for that perfect beach read for next summer, remember to pick up High Season as it doesn’t come out until then. I promise it will be worth the wait! Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for the ARC!

This book will be a great August beach read for sure. The writer kept me going and wondering to some extent, what would happen and then tied it up with the bow I sort of predicted. Alot of cliches, some characters certainly better than others but overall, still a good read.