A really interesting book that explores friendship and how far loyalties influence our decisions.
After witnessing a crime on a night out, does not doing anything make you just as guilty as the perpetrator? This book goes so much deeper into answering this question and has enough twists and turns to keep the reader interested. A great read that had me hooked

The Guilty Party is a tense psychological thriller. A close knit group of university friends, bound by history and a dark, twisted game reunite for a long weekend on the Dorset coast. One of them, Cassie, is haunted by the recent memory of a woman they witnessed raped. The themes of guilt, regret and friendship are threaded through the novel. Despite the unlikeable characters this was an extremely taut and fast read.

I started reading The Guilty Party several months ago, but I had to stop after only a chapter or so, because I was furious at the characters and their behaviour, which I know is one hundred percent intentional on behalf off the author, but at the time, for some reason I just really struggled with it. There’s no denying this novel is very intense. It is dark and it is violent, therefore it’s not for everyone.

That being said, when I picked the novel back up last week, I read it all in a matter of hours.There’s no denying that it is a great thriller. The characters are awful, and I mean that in the best way possible. They are selfish. They are weak. They are cruel. I like to think that there are not too many people in the real world that are actually like that, but I am aware that my view is naive. Of course there are. Like the characters in the novel, there are plenty of people that lack empathy; that put themselves and their best interests above justice and what is right. This is a sad fact of life, but it is most definitely a fact.

So yes, the characters were abominable. Even Cassie, who is touted as ‘the only normal one’ by her friends, is a terrible person. Less psychotic than the others, perhaps. But normal? I hope not!

I loved the setting of the book, which is the Island of Portland near Weymouth. Having been there recently, I could imagine it all perfectly, although I do think the book made it seem way bleaker than it actually is – it really is a beautiful place! – but the isolation of it really worked.

The plot had several strands, and I liked the multiple narrators. Often, having several narrators and timelines can make a book confusing, but the Guilty Party was easy to follow, and I liked the break in the narratives. Short, sharp chapters made the book pacy and tense.

The only thing I didn’t like was the ending. The one question I wanted an answer to was not answered, and I found the last few paragraphs a bit preachy. I think it would have been better if the mystery was solved properly, although I’m sure there was a reason why McGrath left it open. Perhaps it was just lost on me!

Compelling. A great read. I was keen to finish this one and find out the ending and there were lots of twists and turns along the way. Brilliant,

Four friends see a terrible crime but leave a young girl to her fate. When a body is discovered they realise their inaction has left them almost as guilty as the perpetrator of the crime. But they all had their reasons for not stopping in...and it soon becomes apparent that the victim was not as much a stranger to them as they wish.

This is difficult to rate as it did keep me hooked. But I can't say I enjoyed it. I can cope with not really liking the protagonists in a book but I despised everyone of these people. Honestly I hoped they'd all suffer some grisly Reservoir Dogs fate at the end! So if you don't mind hating everyone in a book (well the barman is ok) and enjoy a gripping story you may well like this. As it is I can't say I did like this but can't rate it lower than three stars as it is most definitely a gripping page turner.

I'm not sure why I liked this so much, but I really did.

"The Guilty Party" concerns a group of friends who all have dark secrets. When a woman drowns in the Thames, those secrets start to unravel.

Likeable characters are few far between here. You won't like any of the four central members of the Group, so in that sense, there's relief when the guilty party is finally revealed. But then, characters don't have to be likeable to be interesting.

Gripping and compelling, this kept me hooked to the very last page.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

Thank you Mel; all your hard work paid off this is a wonderful book.
At a time when the latest trend in bookshops seems to be about lies, deceitful relationships and prompting questions about our family, neighbours, a book emerges, to eclipse them all.
Mel McGrath does not even have to introduce Lying into her title, yet her novel is riddled with falsehoods and half truths. She is a first class writer who takes her time crafting her storytelling. This latest book is rooted in her beloved London but has a trip away to the ‘Isle of Portland’ to enable the web of lies to unravel.
The Guilty Party is a clever title. It concerns events of four friends meeting up to celebrate together and attend a music festival. In the confusion and rowdiness following the event each looks on and does nothing to help a young woman being violently assaulted. Each has a personal reason not be get involved, to come to her aid or contact the Police.
Most traumatised by her inaction is Cassie who when they get to Dorset learns that the woman they witnessed being attacked, was later found drowned in the river Thames.
The book then, balances the four people in the group with their on-going loyalty to each other, against their prior involvement with the dead woman. Cassie makes herself unpopular by her need to understand, acknowledge her guilt and find justice for the woman.
The more she bleats on the more isolated she becomes within the group. Their relationships have endured over 15 years but Cassie’s pulling on the thread threatens not just their friendships but to unravel secrets and lies, Cassie never knew existed among them. A follower it seems she was a pleaser and always happy to fit in with the collective decisions. Yet she learns very quickly, in the few days away with them that she perhaps has never really been part of the group. For their own survival instincts the other three would quickly gang up against her and happily allow her to walk away.

I loved the multi-layered aspect of this murder mystery and the completely fresh and stimulating way it addressed crimes against women.
So often in other books, authors allow the violence to become central and readers almost ‘get off on it’ in a voyeuristic way. Here Mel challenges such attitudes and in her characters poses the question about being a witness and doing nothing. While the violence is not vicariously described, the aftermath, injuries and photographic images imply the brutality the author wishes to convey.
In addition the Jurassic Coast is instrumental in carrying another theme used throughout the book. Fossils, Chesil Beach and the isolation of Portland are recurring elements which add to drama and tie things in cleverly.
A great one to read for any book club.
Unquestionably a reader’s delight as it is a journey of discovery and pure reading enjoyment. The language used is modern, addressing topical issues and current trends like dating apps. Each word and sentence carefully chosen, combines to leave you both breathless and challenged.

I like a book that is a joy to read and makes me think.

The Guilty Party is just that and makes me think that Mel McGrath is a great writer at the top of her art.

This story follows a group of old university friends Bo, Cassie, Anna and Rex that are trying to hold together their friendship after they witness what appears to be a sexual assault on a young woman following a festival. The friends decide to do nothing about reporting or helping the woman at the time and it later turns out that she is then found dead in the Thames.

I found the story really difficult to follow as it kept jumping around between timeframes and to perspectives of the each of the characters. This all in all made it confusing as to what the actual main thread of the story was and I nearly gave up a few times. I did read it through to the end just to give it a chance but however still did really enjoy it much at all.

One of those books where I can't relate to the characters involved. They were selfish and self serving. They witness the rape of a woman when they are leaving a Music Festival and decide to do nothing about it. Later the body of a woman is found in the river and the story discusses the effects of this. Confusing timelines and characters at times.

Great book with lots of twists and turns. Found it hard to put down once I got into it. Couldn't predict things until they happened and were released in the book. Story was great loved the charcters the secrets, the findings and the way the book flowed

Really enjoyed the concept and the ending was not as I imagined. I read this quite quickly as I wanted to see what was happening! Worth a read.....

This book starts off with four friends going to a music festival and on their way home they see a man behaving violent towards a woman and looking like he is going to rape her. The four friends do not intervene.

A woman then turns up dead. It becomes apparent that each of the four friends had something to do with her death.

I really liked Cassie, but found the other characters hard to like.

Overall the book was thought provoking and I really enjoyed the book.

I read and enjoyed Mel McGrath’s previous novel so I was thrilled to get approved to read this latest book on NetGalley. I’m so happy to say that it more than lived up to my expectations and I loved it! A group of friends get together in a remote holiday home in the present day and the book goes back and forth between here and a few months previously when they all went to a festival together and witnessed something that changed everything! I loved how this book went back and forth in time like this but also how the present day is told going forward, and the story of what happened at the festival goes backwards from the end of the night to the start. This made for a really gripping read as you piece together who did what and when, and how it all connects to the bigger picture. This is a group of friends who seem to be desperately trying to hang on to (or possibly re-create) their younger days and it feels like they don’t have a huge amount in common anymore. It fascinates me to read novels where people remain friends with a group of people from earlier in life as, for me, it doesn’t seem possible for a whole group to retain a closeness over the years. The characters in this novel aren’t particularly likeable either but I just couldn’t stop reading about them! I really did enjoy this book and highly recommend it!

A close knit band of friends, but they all have secrets they keep from one another.
The story goes back and forward to a certain night in August, when the four were at a festival together: what really happened?
A very dark tale.....

A group of friends go on holiday to Chesil Beach, but all is not what it seems in this apparently tight knit, close group. The characters were really complex, and each of them damaged in their own way. Whilst I thought the story line was great, i actually found it quite hard to keep up with what was going on, as it flitted between the past and the present.

I am a complete sucker for a book featuring a good moral dilemma and The Guilty Party fits the bill completely! The question is, how guilty are you if you witness a crime but do nothing? One of the things that appeals about these types of books is that it makes me think - not only what would I do but also whether or not the actions of the characters reflect society.
A group of four university friends go to a music festival, in the spirit of keeping their friendship alive into their thirties. They are totally wrapped up in their own lives. When they leave the music behind they witness a man following a woman down a dark alley way – they try to look the other way but it appears a violent sexual assault takes place. The four do nothing. Having met them none of them seem particularly nice people but I did find it shocking that out of the four only Cassie seemed to feel any overt guilt when a body is found, drowned. The suspicion being this was the victim of the crime they witnessed. It is interesting that the characters are youngish but not 'young' and so this links with my wondering if this does in fact reflect the actions of a generation, or has the author created a pessimistic viewpoint.
The book is set fairly soon after the main event and each of the four characters reveal more about themselves, and their friendship. I found that these revelations about the characters to be if anything more disturbing than their lack of compassion for a fellow human. I was left feeling that the ties that bind the four together should have been severed years before, or better still not allowed to flourish in the first place.
The plotting was great as was the characterisation although with so many unpleasant characters, particularly of a 'type' meant that I was perhaps less engaged than I would normally be whilst reading. The dilemma at the book's heart had me thinking though and although this certainly isn't the first book that has explored this subject matter I felt the back story to the group of friends added an extra dimension.
So while this was a frankly uncomfortable read at times, I absolutely needed to find out more and that after all is the mark of a good writer.
I'd was incredibly fortunate in that HQ for allowed me to read a copy of The Guilty Party and this unbiased review is my thanks to them, and the author, for an intriguing and thought-provoking read.
First Published UK: 7 March 2019
Publisher: HQ
No of Pages: 384
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Amazon UK

#Areyouguilty #Netgalley #MelMcgrath.
Thank you for my advanced copy of this novel.
What would you do? That is the premise of this book. This follows five friends, each having their thoughts and experiences exposed after an event that catapults their friendship into turmoil! The story flits from each character and to the night of the event and now. I found the story compelling and difficult due to the subject matter. The author bringing Cassie to life as the conscience throughout was fascinating. I liked the way it all came together in the end as there were many arcs. Enjoyed and would reccomend.

A cleverly if somewhat confusing telling of an original story which means to make you ask yourself what would you do in the same situation. However the dynamics of the group never seemed to gel and the forward backward now then chapters detracted rather than enhanced the book for me so I really could not be bothered deciding what I would have done but simply hoping I might have done better. I would have chosed better friends I know that!

The book opens with Cassie asking you a question - if you had been in her position what would you have done? The story then unfolds between a group of friends attending a festival and witnessing a crime and flips between the consequences from the decisions they made that night.
The historical works backwards whilst the current works forwards so can be a little confusing. The chapters also then split between each character in the group so you really need to focus to follow what is happening and to who as you can very quickly lose track.
A good plot of friends who have known each other for 15 years and trust each other implicitly - but as the events of that night unfold they begin to wonder just who can you believe.

Great synopsis, interesting read, really makes you think. Appeals to many. Definitely recommend you try it! So glad I did!