I'm not going to lie. The first chapter isn't easy to read and digest. Not because it's overly graphic or violent, just from a moral point of view. In fact the same could be said about the whole story. The characters and their actions say so much about society and the new norm, well it's disturbing and simply disappointing.
Of course it's also a darn good read. Not that I expect anything less from McGrath, who does like to mix things up a wee bit. I do think this premise takes the reader into waters they may not want to wade in. These fictional characters are written fairly closely to the reality of human behaviour and the inadequacies of our decisions, especially those made in difficult or possibly dangerous situations.

Cassie, Bo, Dex and Anna are a tight-knit group of friends, who enjoy leaving their respective partners and family to take a break from the daily slog. Late one night after a music festival the four friends, all from slightly different physical locations, are witness to a brutal crime. Instead of intervening or helping the victim, they make individual and then a collective decision not to help and to leave the young woman to her own devices. She is found dead soon afterwards.

It's uncomfortable to read the thought processes and dialogues of the group, as they justify their actions and rationalise their lack of empathy. The finger of blame is pointed in the direction of the victim. She deserved it. It's her own fault. She shouldn't have done this or that. The same kind of blame-game and statements one sees on social media when the tables are turned on the victims of heinous crimes.

The bystander effect is a social psychological phenomenon our society seems to be experiencing more frequently in the last few decades. Individuals are less likely to come to the aid of a victim when other people are present or to be more specific, they are also less likely to take any risk to themselves to help others in certain situations.

It's an intriguing thriller with the kind of nooks and crannies of human behaviour the reader would rather leave dark, dusty and unexplored. You never know what you will find when you take a closer look at the secrets your so-called friends keep hidden behind their friendly exteriors.

On a final note; none of us can say for certain what we would do. Until you experience something that requires a decision in either direction you may never know. I have. I know. And I did.

Initially I found this book difficult to get into because of the four complex characters.
However it was well worth the effort bearing in mind that for the story to work they had to be complex.
The Group who had been very close friends for 15 years were at a festival in Wapping in August celebrating birthdays, when they witnessed a shocking crime but, each for reasons of their own chose not to report it.
Secrets began to unfold when they met up again in October in Portland.
This book keeps you guessing the whole way through, with intriguing and unexpected revelations.
You need to keep an eye on the timeline.
Great read. Highly recommend.
Thank you to ARC and Netgalley for the opportunity to review

The Guilty Party by Mel McGrath is primarily about a toxic friendship group. Cassie and her friends Bo, Anna and Dex are out celebrating her birthday when they witness a crime. They decide not to help.

Later, her body washes up in the Thames and the group realises that they may have been able to prevent her death.

But is she really a stranger? And what stopped them all from intervening?

“I’m going to take you back to the summer’s evening near the end of my friendship with Anna, Bo and Dex.

Until that day, the eve of my thirty-second birthday, we had been indivisible; our bond the kind that lasts a lifetime. Afterwards, when everything began to fall apart, I came to understand that the ties between us had always carried the seeds of rottenness and destruction, and that the life we shared was anything but normal. Somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind I think I had probably known this for years, but it took what happened late that night in August for me to begin to be able to put the pieces together.”

Cassie explains that when she has finished telling the story she will ask the reader what they would have done in her place.

The Guilty Party is written in split person narrative, but this is one of the elements of the book I didn’t think worked. There were times I found it confusing particularly when some of the chapters were set in a different time period.

One of the other struggles with this was that I felt the ending was a bit abrupt and left a lot of unanswered questions. The scene on the cliff was also highly unbelievable.

On the plus side, I didn’t want to stop reading The Guilty Party and resented times when I wouldn’t be able to read it. The characters were believable and for the most part I thought it was a good read.

A gripping thriller with twists and turns you don’t see coming. You aren’t sure whether to like or loathe the main character, she is selfish and irritating but also vulnerable. A must read for any thriller readers out there!

I tried my best to stay connected to this book but found that there were far too many characters. I had to keep re-reading parts and that really frustrates me when it KEEPS happening. The plot was great and the writing was really easy to follow, it just became very confusing with all the characters.

I am pleased I stuck at it as I loved the end and I am also glad I re-read section otherwise I would have never really understood what was happening.

The Guilty Party raises some interesting, and ever more relevant, questions about doing nothing. As our lives are ever more documented, by both ourselves and others, we're far more likely to witness things, and if we do nothing do we become part of the problem? That's the question facing Cassie. She and her friends see something but say nothing.

That's how things start. As the book unfolds we learn more about why the witnesses chose to stay silent. The story jumps between that night and The Group's (as they call themselves) holiday a couple of months later. It's not really surprising to learn that the members of the group have secrets they want to keep hidden. Secrets that are slowly exposed as Cassie struggles to find peace with their silence. But their bond is strong.

It's a clever plot and definitely an interesting subject. But unfortunately, the first half of the book isn't exactly easy going. When we follow Cassie we read her story in first-person, but the others' chapters are written in third-person, which makes for a very choppy style and rhythm especially when combined with the timeline jumping around so much. Plus, the very introduction of the characters doesn't make them especially likeable. Which means I strolled through the early chapters without really caring. It's not a slog, but I certainly didn't have that page-turning craving, or even a real desire to pick it up. It's a book I've happily read alongside other things without really feeling I'm missing out on this story. Thankfully, that feeling doesn't last.

About halfway into the book, there's more substance to the story. McGrath carefully lays fragments in the early stages, but they're too discreet. It takes a while for everything to come together and pick up some momentum. But, as we do learn more, as we find out more secrets and fill in more gaps, it gradually becomes more compulsive reading until the last half hour or so of reading when I finally hit that "must finish" feeling. The story cleverly delivering new twists without trampling over earlier plots made for a nice set of reveals that were both fresh and rewarding.

All in all, this proved a pretty steady and enjoyable book, with a bit of a lift by addressing the issues it does in the manner it does. It's the kind of book you lend to friends to get their take on it, or maybe discuss at a bookclub. It may not have the energy of some books, but it's about making you think beyond the pages.

This was quite an addictive book as I just had to know what really happened.
Four friends witness a shocking crime one evening, but all decide to turn a blind eye.
You find out gradually through the book why each person did nothing, and so the story is told from different narratives.
None of the characters are particularly likeable but you still want to know why!
There are some real breath taking moments as the stories are told but you need to pay attention to the different time periods being talked about.
I can’t say too much more as I don’t want to spoil it for you but this was a really good read.
Thanks to HQ and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I have just finished The Guilty Party, the latest offering from Mel McGrath, reading in two chunks with a few days’ grace between.


A story told from the viewpoint of four friends, seemingly bound together through shared memories than actual compatibility, who witness a horrific crime but decide to stay out of the limelight and say nothing. Why didn't they come forward? What impact will this have on their friendship? And was what they saw truly coincidence?


Whilst a good premise, this was hard to enjoy. Not one of the four friends were likeable, struggling to display any redeeming qualities, which made me not particularly care what happened to them. I was more interested in the dead girl and the side characters, if I’m honest. The timeline was also tricky to follow. Narration swapped continually between character, past or present event, and was made even trickier (or frustrating) to follow when we returned to the last event at an even earlier time. The chapter headings need to be read carefully to keep on top of what was happening throughout.


That’s not to say this wasn’t a well written novel, with the right level of tension and suspense. It’s just, unfortunately, felt a little too much like hard work for me.


I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love a book that makes you think and question everything. As Cass asks us on the first page, what would you have done?

The story of 4 friends - Cass, Anna, Dec and Bo - is told from each of their perspectives in two time frames; the festival they all attended for Cass' birthday and the weekend break they go on for Bo's birthday a couple of months later. We're drip-fed snippets of information that make us question what has happened, whether their actions on that first fateful night were justified and what doing the right thing actually means.

The book contained twists and turns I wasn't expecting, making me constantly second-guess what was happening, what had happened and what was going to happen next. I found it utterly compelling, especially towards the end when I stayed up far later than I should have done to find out how it all ended! I'd definitely recommend it.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the advanced copy. #AreYouGuilty

Before I go any further I have to say that this is not my sort of book. I don't like books that are told by more than one narrator. I'd downloaded it from Netgalley - to whom I give my thanks - and so I felt obliged to read it.

Once I'd got used to the fact that Cassie is the main narrator and who the others were I felt more at home. Then I got gripped and found it a marvellous book. It dots back between two particular dates - the present, which is October, at Portland, and a gig that The Group went to in Wapping in August They all did something to be ashamed of that night and it starts to unravel and make Cassie wonder about her part in it all - and in The Group - at their weekend break in Portland.

Loved it.

Four friends with an unshakable friendship that has lasted for fifteen years. Bo is the high flying tech entrepreneur, Anna is the brittle beauty who has to be in control, Dex is the born again gay man and Cassie is the one from the wrong side of the track. They met at Oxford University and despite taking different routes in life have stayed together with an unwavering bond.

On a late August night/very early morning, at the end of a music festival, they witness a violent assault on a young woman. They do nothing to prevent this and they all have good reasons not to go to the police. In September they meet up on Portland Island in Dorset, to celebrate Bo’s birthday, and discover that the woman (Marika) they saw being assaulted has been pulled, deceased, from the Thames. Cassie acts as the conscience of the group and it rapidly becomes apparent that they have all, in some way, come into contact with the dead woman. Who is the guilty party or are they all culpable in some way?

This is a riveting psychological thriller about the nature of friendship, responsibility and guilt. Gradually, the reader comes to understand what happened on that night in August and what role was played by each of the protagonists. How far would they be prepared to go to keep one another’s secrets?

If you like to dislike your main characters, then this is a book for you. None of them have particularly redeeming characteristics, but they are very believable. The narrative moves at a swift pace and the story is cleverly plotted. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

I absolutely loved Don't You Forget About Me and am now going back to read all of Mhairi's other books.
The characters were likeable and relatable from the get go, and I had a vested interest in Georgina's love life and how it all panned out.
Well written, engaging, and so funny. I would highly recommend.

Really well written book that brings up a lot of questions; if you do nothing does that make you innocent? Would you trust your friends to always protect you even if it’s wrong? What starts out as a story about a drowned woman becomes a story about discovery and how loyalty will test your moral compass

When I listened to Give Me the Child a little over a year ago, I fell in love with Mel McGrath's writing style, the way in which she was able to develop characters who both fascinated and repulsed, and the way in which her she really drew me into the story, a complex and multi-layered tale in which you were never quite sure which was was up. So when I got the chance for an early read of this latest novel, The Guilty Party, I jumped at it, and boy am I glad I did.

Now, I won't lie. There are elements of this book that will leave you feeling very uncomfortable, and with a theme that examines the idea of control, both that lost through peer pressure and through more dubious means, you may well find, as I did, that you struggle to find any redeeming qualities amongst most, if not all, of the characters. But the story is one that is still important, addressing issues which are far too prevalent in current culture and forcing the reader to take a long hard look at themselves and ask the question - what would you do if you saw someone in trouble? Would you help them or would you walk away? And if you turned away, could you live with the guilt?

Now turn away is exactly what this particular group of friends did, although we don't know why, not for a long while. Cassie, Anna, Bo and Dex are four very complex characters, friends from University who seem to be held together by connections from the past, perhaps even habit, rather than a deep seated friendship. Yes, at one stage there were romantic entanglements and, despite how things have changed, they are hard to step away from, but the more you read, the more you realise how different they are, and how ill-fated their friendship seems to be.

The story opens with Cassie setting the scene, describing the pivotal event that would be the beginning of the end. From here we are taken on a journey as the group decant to a cottage in Weymouth for a long weekend of celebration, one in which many secrets are revealed, along with the true nature of some of the group members. I don't really want to say much more than that as I think the real beauty in this book is in reading it and peeling back all the layers for yourself. But what I will say is that this trip is about as far from the joyous party atmosphere the friends were hoping for as you could get, and for one or more of them it could well prove deadly.

I love the way in which the atmosphere has been built in this book. From the tension ridden opening chapter that left me reeling and feeling almost sick to my stomach, we are taken to an almost quaint tranquil setting. But that which, at first, appears rustic, quaint even, is hiding a layer of rot, one which echoes the rot which has set into the friendship. The setting has been used to great effect, such stark imagery used to infuse the story with the bleak nature of the surroundings. It captures perfectly the sense of isolation that the characters feel, especially Cassie, in turn showing the readers the true essence of the story. From the very outset you are left with the idea of Cassie as the outsider, but just far the division extends is yet to be revealed.

As I said before, there are some more disagreeable elements of the story that could well leave you reeling, perhaps even make you feel like walking away from the book. It would be a shame if you did as although the book contains difficult themes, none of them are handled in a gratuitous way. This is a complex character study, not trying to necessarily answer the question of why certain people act in the way that they do, but certainly highlighting the very different facets of human nature and forcing the characters to examine where they draw the line in terms of what is right and what is wrong.

This is a really hard book to say that I loved, and enjoyed may even be the wrong way to describe it due to the very nature of the story. And yet I really did like this book, appreciated the beauty of the language, the way in which the narrative forced different emotional reactions from me and the way in which a slowly evolving tension grew into a story which left me practically breathless in the end. It is rare to have a book where all of the characters are so unlikeable and yet you are so invested in what happens to them - good and bad - and yet that is exactly what is achieved here and it's a truly wonderful think. Most definitely recommended.

This was sent to me as part of a Netgalley Librarian review. To be honest, I didn't hate the book, but it wasn't one of my favourites either. I did find that the characters were very unlikable self-indulgent characters. Sometimes you read a book and there's one or two characters that you can't relate to, or are not very endearing, but this seemed to be a group of snobby middle class "friends". In my opinion the story-line itself was a good one and perhaps could have expanded more widely with a mix of likeable and unlikable characters. I found myself not really caring about them and just wanted it to finish. Which is not something I guess the Author intended.
Overall it was just okay.

Wow! A story of 4 friends who all have their own secrets and lies. They are a woman being raped and for their own reasons do nothing to help or report it. Then she ends up dead in the river, how did she jump or the was she pushed. Lots of difficult themes in this book. I couldn't get my head around the friends idea that they would always com e first even before your own family including your child. Personally how Anna managed to stay alive considering all the alcohol she drank and the fact that s h e didn't eat is beyond me! If you like thrillers then this is a book you must read. What would you have done? Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for my review.

I had read some good reviews for this book and was looking forward to reading but it just didn’t live up to expectations unfortunately. I found the timelines difficult to keep up with and all of the characters were deeply unlikeable. I feel as though Cassie was the one you were supposed to like out of all of the friends and she was the one I hated the most lol. I enjoyed the before timeline more than the present day but I found myself skim reading large chunks of it - particularly the endless pages of Cassie questioning herself. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and HQ for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the unfolding of this story, it’s quite gripping! Yes some of the characters are unlikeable but this just adds to the tension of the story.

A good thriller that had a constant pace.

The story focuses in 4 close friends and shows how over time these friendships remain not through love but through shared time and secrets.

These secrets aren't shared by all but woven around all of the relationships in a clever and believable manner. Until one day the secrets start to unravel and the true nature of these friendships are laid bare

I found the book a little different to others in the genre, but still well worth reading.
The plot leapt back and forth between past and present, revealing a little more each time. Although I felt that this stopped the storyline from flowing seamlessly, it was also in keeping with the plot overall and the thoughts and feelings of the characters involved.
The characters themselves were.varied and well considered, although not particularly likeable.. The character whose dilemma the plot revolves around was easy to understand and raised moral issues, which she confronted in a believable way.
The book was quite dark, however I did enjoy reading it. It was definitely unusual