There are so many things going on in this book, you may have to take notes. The story centers around two women, both of whom were/are married to the same man, and their children. This is one of the best domestic thrillers I’ve ever read, with unreliable, narrators, and red herrings aplenty. The ending took me completely by surprise, and I will be looking for more books by this author.

Party of Liars is one of the best debuts I’ve ever read. Lots of red herrings with multiple points of view, adult drama, teen drama, and a haunted house thrown in for flavor. Lots of twists to keep the reader on their toes, complete with multi-layered characters. No one is quite who they seem to be in Party of liars. A lavish sweet 16 Birthday party held at a remodeled 100 + year old Haunted McMansion located in beautiful Texas Hill Country along with the rich, spoiled characters are the perfect recipe for an unputdownable novel.

I can’t wait to see what Kelsey Cox comes up with next! Highly recommended for Mystery readers.

An absolutely riveting page turner about motherhood, madness, memory and desire set in an ancient mansion that has been thought to be haunted for years. There are definitely many lies being told but you will never guess who the biggest liar of them is and why the lies are being told.

Well, Saturday is here again, which means it's time for my usual house cleaning routine accompanied by an audiobook! This week, I picked Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox. I went into it completely blind, with no idea what to expect.

Sophie is turning 16 and her father, Ethan, is hosting a lavish party for her. The narrative unfolds through multiple points of view and timelines, though most of it centers on the events at the party. Right from the start, we know something terrible happens. The mystery lies in uncovering what happened, to whom, and how.

The cast of characters includes Sophie's mother, Kim, who is divorced from Ethan. Kim has a troubled past that sometimes makes her seem unstable, and her drinking only adds to the impression. Ethan is now married to Dani, who is closer in age to Sophie than to Kim. Together, Ethan and Dani have a newborn daughter. Adding to the mix are Orlaith, the Irish nanny, and Mikayla, Sophie's best friend. Even with the numerous characters and multiple POV's, the book is well-written and easy to follow.

Overall, Party of Liars is a blend of mystery, thriller, and the drama of a highly dysfunctional family. It’s packed with secrets, deception, cringe-worthy moments, gaslighting, and even a hint of the house possibly being haunted. There’s a little bit of everything to keep the reader engaged.

I enjoyed the audiobook’s narration, which featured multiple narrators to distinguish the characters, making it easier to follow. While I did enjoy the book overall, there was one late revelation I absolutely disliked. However, the ending provides a satisfying dose of karma.

Such a great book. Couldn't stop reading it. Cant wait to look up the author and find what else they have to offer.

The story wasn’t quite what I was expecting based off of the blurb but overall this wasn’t a bad listen! The country accent for Sophie’s best friend MaKayla was the only narration I struggled with (the accent was very forced tbh)
The story centers around a girls sweet sixteen and her dad’s super fancy house it’s set at, and you’re made to believe some paranormal instances may be affecting everything but not much happened with that?
I didn’t expect some of the twists but I can’t say any were really jaw dropping which I was hoping for!

Update from second read: Audiobook ALC.
When I saw that the audiobook come up on NetGalley I jumped at requesting it and was so happy when the approval came in while I was listening to another book. I immediately paused the other book and started consuming this one.
As you’ll see below, I had even said I could not wait for the book to come out as I wanted to reread it!

I was just as happy when I fished as I was when I read it the first time. I was able to get so many more nuances of the story by listening to it but I said enough below about the book itself.

The multicasted production was great! The narrators are Dan Bittner, Kate Handford, Pearl Hewitt, Saskia Maarleveld, and Suzy Jackson and each of them did a fabulous job with the recitation. I liked that the pacing and speed were spot on and it sounded like a seamless piece. I am not sure if they all recorded their chapter separately or on the same studio but it sounded as if one piece which was refreshing considering the other audiobook I was listening to earlier did not.

While it was fine at the 1x speed I did speed it up to see how it translated and I could listen to it at 2x without it messing with the vocal pitches too much and it was still understandable. I particularly loved listening to the voice of Orla with the Irish accented vocals. I believe that was done by Pearl Hewitt. I could listen to her read the phone book all day long!

I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary audio ALC from MacMillian Audio through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave an updated review.


Wow!! This book took me by surprise! It wasn’t on my radar but the publisher reached out to offer to read an ARC of this debut author and boy am I glad I said yes!

Admittedly, it took a bit to get into and because I didn’t read the description in full carefully I had a very different concept in my head going in. The book is told in a multi-POV as well as multi- timeline format. There are a total of 5 POVs but primarily it’s 4 women, Dani, Kim, Órlaith, and Mikayla with only 1 chapter being from Ethan the MMC, taking place either Before, after, or during a 16th birthday party.

The birthday party is for Sophie who is the daughter of Kim and Ethan, step daughter to Dani, and best friend of Mikayla. Órlaith is the Nanny for Sophie’s half sister, Charlotte. On the surface the plot can seem confusing with all the POVs as well as timeline jumps but it was smartly written where it flows beautifully.

For the first half of the book I was thinking that it was a solid 4⭐️ story but after the 50% mark I couldn’t put the book down! Many times in thrillers I figure out the twist early on but with this I was so engrossed in the book that I didn’t even think about what it could be as I was enjoying the ride because there were many pieces to be sorted including who the victim was. I loved getting to know so the various flawed characters as well as the psychology of what was going on.

I can’t wait for this book to come out on July 1, 2025 because despite having the ebook ARC copy, I want the physical to reread, I enjoyed it that much.

I am so thankful to have gotten the ARC for free from Minotaur Books, an imprint of St Martins Press through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again