From the outset of this novel, the reader has an ominous feeling about the house on the hill where the 'party of liars' is about to convene.
Set high above the Texas countryside, the gothic-style property is haunted by 'The Mother', according to local legend and stories. After years of dereliction, the house has been restored into a designer mansion, with one side stripped back and glazed, almost like a dolls' house.
This is the venue for a 16th birthday party where secrets, lies, murder and mystery come to the surface. Whose is the body hinted at that has fallen from a balcony? And who did the deed?
Party of Liars is that perfect crime novel to binge - short chapters from multiple viewpoints, shifting perspectives and timelines but not (hurrah!) confusing to follow.
Very well written, with pace and panache, the narrative featured tricky subjects but keeps the reader hooked throughout.
Highly recommended.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance review copy of this novel.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC I

An enjoyable read that kept me entertained.

I have just finished this book and Wow! The book is a slow burner but it fills out the characters beautifully. The story centres around a birthday party but refers back to earlier times. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the ending had a brilliant twist. Would thoroughly recommend this book.

Party of Liars is told from the point of view of a number of characters, mainly over 1 night - a party. The timeline does jump back and forth, but I found it easy to keep up with and understand what was happening.

I found the book a little slow to start, but once the party started, I was invested and needed to keep reading!

I will be looking out for more books by this author.

Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox (ARC)

Publication Day 3/07/2025
Hodder & Stoughton

7/10 ⭐️

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵.

𝘈𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬-𝘵𝘪𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺.
𝘈 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.
𝘈 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘺.
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 - 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘺?

𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸, 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 . . . 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦.

Review 💭
Multiple POV of shadey and unreliable narrators, a glamorous house, a party and now a dead body. The story includes snippets of present day and rewinds to the night start of the party, slowly peeling back the facade of everyone’s perfect life.
Twists and turns are dropped in and the story brilliantly comes full circle at the end. I think this will be a popular thriller this summer!

My only complaint that isn’t related to the story is that the ARC wasn’t formatted for the kindle so it was difficult to enjoy my read due to constant line breaks and numbers thrown in @netgalley

#netgalley #arcs #arc #advancedreadercopy #books #kindle #reading #ebook #readmorebooks #tbr #newbooks #junereads

It's surprising. Well thought and well written. I was surprised, which doesn't happen a lot. The book is well paced, the writing is fluid. I liked almost every characters and I liked the plot twist!

New mum Danni is struggling with postnatal depression, a husband throwing a lavish sweet sixteen party for his daughter, inviting everyone, including his ex wife who sees Danni as the woman in her house. Does Ethan really think this party can go off without a hitch?

I enjoyed the way each chapter was written from a different perspective, covering before and during the party. I thought the way it was all unfolded piece by piece built intrigue. Overall I felt it a little slow to gain momentum though and at many times wondered if I was missing something.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves a slow burn, psychological mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for offering this ARC in exchange for my personal thoughts.

Thank you, thank you, thank you...
Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox is a gripping psychological thriller that masterfully keeps readers on edge from start to finish. Set against the atmospheric backdrop of a grand Sweet Sixteen party in the Texas Hill Country, the story unravels through multiple perspectives—Dani, the new stepmother; Kim, the ex-wife; Mikayla, the birthday girl's best friend; and Orlaith, the enigmatic Irish nanny. Each chapter alternates between "before" and "after" the central tragedy, slowly revealing secrets and tensions that escalate toward a shocking climax.
One of the novel’s most effective elements is the suspense maintained by never revealing the identity of the victim until the end. This structure creates a lingering sense of anxiety and compels you to keep turning pages. I found the book incredibly addictive—I was reading at every opportunity. The pacing is tight, and Cox does a brilliant job of seeding just enough clues to keep you guessing while also holding back the crucial pieces until the very end.
I especially appreciated how the story played with perception. You know early on that the nanny, Orlaith, is pivotal to the mystery—her quiet presence and unsettling aura make that clear—but I couldn’t quite work out how or why until everything fell into place. That sense of “something’s not right” is sustained beautifully throughout the book.
The themes of motherhood, blended families, jealousy, and long-buried resentments are woven in with nuance, and the cliffside mansion with its dark history adds a wonderfully gothic touch to an otherwise contemporary thriller.
In short, Party of Liars is a high-stakes, twist-filled page-turner with fantastic suspense, layered characters, and a mystery that delivers right to the end—a strong debut from Kelsey Cox and highly recommended for fans of domestic and psychological thrillers.

i love how these books can still make me giggle with surprise and love for them. they can give so much clever pretence or clever breeaadcrums that i follow and then find the breads run out long ago and ive bee following the wrong path! but the author still gives you a chance. still give you the titbits to try and figure it out again. and they give you intrigue and suspicions. and BAM sill do it time and time again with the plot twist and uniqueness all of their own. and this book did just that.
i was totally immersed into this group. i didn't like any of them but still got those little twangs when human emotion came into play as it often does. unlikable people arent all bad all the time. and also they meg rich can be naaaasty, or wild, or just rich and spending money in ways non of us can imagine. add to the mix a little killing, a little toxicity and need for revenge or justice and we have a brilliant book. loved it.

Wow! What a fabulous debut novel. This was a complete page turner from minute one. Dani lives with her perfect husband Ethan and their baby Charlotte. They have a wonderful Irish nanny and Ethan’s daughter Sophie is a big part of their lives. They live in a big house with lots of mystery and history surrounding it.

The party centres around Sophie’s Sweet 16 party. The main characters are all guests at the party and although you are aware that someone has a tragic accident, I never quite worked out who as I was constantly changing my mind as to who was the victim and who was the villain.

I will definitely read more from this author in the future

This was deeply uncomfortable (in the most enjoyable way), and Cox's characters had me questioning what I thought I knew about everyone. The tease of the supernatural amplified the fear. Special mention for a very believable Irish woman as opposed to a twee version, much appreciated!

I found this a totally fascinating book. The characters were fun and interesting and the ending does not disappint. A good read.

A fantastic thriller which l'd highly recommend. It starts with a body smashing into the ground from a balcony at a spoilt 16 year olds birthday party. You'll find yourself second-guessing who the victim is and who did it. The weird old Irish nanny Orlaith? Drunken spiteful ex wife Kim? The spoilt birthday girl Sophie? Or her quiet brooding friend Mikayla? Dani is the central female character battling post-natal depression and trying to cope as a new mum to Charlotte. She has a doting gorgeous husband Ethan who tells her on a daily basis that she isn't crazy. But she might be? Who's writing messages on her mirrors and moving things around the house? The characters come at you fast and it takes a few chapters to figure how they're all linked together.
Once I was halfway through I couldn't put this down. I loved it. Well done
Thank you to the author and
Minotaur books for the eARC. Good luck for publication day. Denise

I had a great time with this book. I flew through it. I love a good page turner! I liked the writing style. But I have read others like this so it wasn’t anything I haven’t already read. But I still enjoyed it.

A body falls from the balcony at one of the social events of the season - but who has been murdered , and who is responsible? As a birthday party packed with liars, identifying culpability is easier said than done...

This is a gripping story, peopled by fascinating characters who all have their secrets to protect. Well worth reading, this thriller gets 3.5 stars.

I really enjoyed this book.

It was written from several different characters point of view.

You know someone falls from the beginning and you don’t know who.

The whole book is about what happens in the run up to that moment.

As the story fills in the gaps it reveals a darkness which could lead to a deliberate act of violence. However, all is not as it seems, and the story gradually unravels to reveal a different picture than I expected.

I wouldn’t have guessed the ending if I’d tried. It was cleverly crafted and hidden from the reader, right up until the point when it was revealed.

It was an engaging read which hooked me in from the beginning and kept me wanting more.

I wouldn’t normally pick up a book like this but I was hooked on the plot line and couldn’t put it down when I started reading. The first chapter grips you with the death at the big fancy house and then all the ghost stories etc really made me want to keep reading to find out what really happened. It was Cluedo vibes with a modern twist!

I did struggle a little with the time hopping. It wasn’t just flashbacks before and after the event but also each character POV would have certain flashbacks of memories and this is where it got confusing for me. It didn’t ruin the book but I really had to concentrate on working out whether it was present or past.

A tense thriller which engages you right from the first page. Told from multiple perspectives it really has you guessing who the body is throughout.

The scene is set for Sophie Matthews' sixteenth birthday party in a beautiful mansion on a hill. The house is believed to be haunted by its first owner who is referred to as Mother. Sophie’s parents are divorced, and it is her stepmother who has made the elaborate cake. Immediately after the candles are blown out in the darkened room, there is a high-pitched scream as a body comes crashing down from an upstairs balcony.

That’s when the fun begins as we trace everyone's steps through the novel Kelsey Cox leads you down the rabbit hole then back up again through her cleverly woven plot which presents some excellently developed characters from the drunk ex wife, Kim to the nanny Orlaith who is consumed with death stories. There are so many secrets and half-truths that no one can be trusted!

This must be one of my favourite books this year. It had everything and then some. I can't wait to read more of Kelsey’s books. Thank you NetGalley and The ARC for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication. It will be a summer smash.

A gripping thriller where you never quite know what’s going on until the very end. So many liars, so many suspects…and who is the victim?!
The characters are well written. It’s hard to know who to root for, with all the twists and turns and as you find out more about everyone.
I stayed up late many nights unable to put this one down.
Would definitely recommend.
Preview copy read with thanks to NetGalley.

With many thanks to Netgalley for this free arc and I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily
I am a sucker for a 'locked room' mystery and none more so when they differ from the original format. This incredible debut from Kelsey Cox gives you originality by the bucket load. It's a complex slow burn and with characters that you will love and hate it delivers on the suspense. Some cracking twists in this and the eerie feel adds to the intrigue. Slightly overlong but other than that a very very good read 4.5⭐️