The Search Party was an ok thriller for me, it didn’t make me want to read it like some books do. 3.5 ⭐️ rounded up.
Sadie Saunders is sixteen years old and has gone missing, her brother Luke and her friends Abi, Cora, Fash and her boyfriend Mason think that the police are looking in the wrong place so decide to go and search for her themselves.
The reason I don’t score higher is because although the group are her friends they are also suspects especially the boyfriend so when they are telling the police what has happened I feel they all speak as though they are a lot older than they are. It’s ok at the start but having a daughter of a similar age it quickly started to bug me that she would never speak like that at her age and so I think the group should have been a couple of years older to make what they are saying more believable.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Books UK, Viking for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Sixteen year old Sadie Saunders has gone missing, sparking a massive police hunt for her in the woods around her coastal English town. When she hasn't been found by day six of the search, five of her friends, including her boyfriend, twin brother decide to form their own search party to look for her in the woods they know so well. Two days later they will need rescuing themselves.

The novel is written as a series of interviews as each of the teenage search party gives an account of what happened in the woods. DI Robin Fleet in charge of the search specialises in missing person investigations. He is sure there is something the teens are not telling him, but pressure is being put on him by the press and his Superintendent is demanding an arrest for Sadie's murder, despite any evidence that she has been killed.

This was an addictive read as the teens tell of what happened in the woods. DI Fleet and his partner DS Nicky Collins are both intelligent and sensitive police who work well together. There are twists and turns as the facts of the case gradually emerge, resulting in a surprising and suspenseful ending.

This is the first book I've read by this author. It was a good little thriller that moved at a decent pace. The he said she said aspect took me a while to grasp at first but it was an interesting way to unravel the story if a bit repetitive at times.

Okay, so any time of the day, this premise would totally be my jam, but it simply did not work for me. The characters felt bland and the structure itself did not work for me - we heard from these characters in turn as they give their statements on what has happened, then we flip to the Police who tries to piece it all together. This group of teens sets off on a search party for their missing friend and one of them ends up dead and now there are more questions than answers. Who is the guilty one?
Unfortunately, I did not care about what happened. I have read my fair shares of thrillers and this one just did not do it for me. The writing was kinda bland too and the whole things just rubbed me the wrong way so I just had to put it down after a while because I just could not force myself to read anymore...

This was a gripping read right from the start the characters were layed out very well as normally I don't like to many people as I get confused but I followed this book very well so many twist and turns right up till the end you would not have guessed anything that happens

This was my first book by this author. It was a well written book, however it flitted too much between too many characters for my liking.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Lots of twists and turns in this inventive thriller that kept me guessing right to the (unexpected!) end.

The hunt for a missing teen called Sadie, told through the eyes of those around and looking for her.

Lelic's usual style of keeping things going and only revealing right at the end when you think you have it all worked out, but then...catchs you.

An enjoyable page-turner.
Thanks for the chance to read and review.

Having read and enjoyed The House and The Liar's Room by Simon Lelic I was delighted to receive a digital copy of his latest title - and it didn't disappoint.
Sadie is missing, presumed dead - her friends are not being honest - the interviews with the police are cleverly laid out - no questions, just their answers - so it reads like a stream of consciousness of each of them - it really works once you get into the swing of it.
Running parallel to that is the search party the friends form to look for Sadie themselves which we know from the beginning ends in them being lost, frightened and an ambulance required.
Alongside that DI Fleet has his own demons to deal with and the expectations of his superior.
Very clever, definitely compulsive.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Simon Lelic/Penguin Books (UK) for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

I did not enjoy this book as much as I had hoped to. The conclusion was a good twist and made up for some of the preceding chapters.

I'd heard so much about this book that I just had to read it myself, absolutely loved it from start to finish! Highly recommended!

I have read other titles by Simon Lelic and thoroughly enjoyed them, this one however felt slightly off from his normal style. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, it just didn’t pack the same punch as his previous work.


The search party is an interesting concept, an although not classed as a YA thriller, it is primarily told through the eyes of 5 teenagers searching for their missing friend. Occasionally we do read chapters through the eyes of Detective Inspector Fleet and learn more of his own ties to the town. I personally enjoyed reading these chapters the most as they felt more like Lelic’s style that I have come to love in the past.


Overall I did enjoy the storyline and the ending…the murderer if you like…was a blindsight. Maybe I should have seen it coming, but at the time when I was turning the pages, I didn’t see it as a predictable option.


If I go into too much detail in this review, I feel I will end up giving the best bits of the storyline away. What I will say is that my 3 star rating for this title is based on the ending and the sub plot surrounding Detective Inspector Fleet. Had it not of been for these two factors this title would not have rated as high as 3 stars.


I would like to thank NetGalley and Penguin Books UK for the early release copy in exchange for my honest review.


UK Release Date: 20th August 2020


#TheSearchParty | #SimonLelic | #NetGalley | #PenguinBooksUK

16 year old Sadie has been missing for 6 days, when a group of her friends decide to form a search party convinced the police are looking in the wrong place.
The story starts with a 999 call and when the police arrive they discover the teenagers and a body which is not Sadie.
The book jumps from the investigating officer Fleet and the teenagers interviews. I’m not sure if it’s because I was reading an arc but at times it was a little unclear when it switched perspectives and I had to reread several bits to clarify. That aside I found this an interesting read and was eager to solve the case and find Sadie and discover the secrets the teenagers are hiding
I look forward to reading more from this author
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review

Unfortunately for me I couldn’t finish this one. The one sided character conversations are just not for me I am afraid

I’ve been struggling to read and lose myself in a book since lockdown. I started this with low expectations of my own concentration and attention span. Well, I could not put it down. It’s utterly gripping, The skill of the author to reel the reader into the story and refuse to let them go until that very end is incredible. Fantastic. I owe Simon Lelic a thank you for giving me my reading back.

As the possessor of brains, beauty and a lovely, caring character, Sadie Saunders is a golden girl, seemingly with the world at her feet. Adored and favoured by her parents, she is also fêted, admired and sought after by her peers. So why would she go missing? And why might she be dead?

These questions feature heavily in Detective Inspector Rob Fleet’s mind as he returns rather warily to his hometown, the scene of his close relative's disappearance and subsequent death several years ago, and the cause for his own swift departure as a late teenager.

What if these cases are linked? Is he ready to face up to his memories of the past and can he remain professional and impartial in the process? In his search for answers, he encounters and interviews Sadie's friends, who form an impromptu search party of their own, leading to yet another tragic loss of life.

The ever-growing cast of suspects and myriad points of view gradually diminish and become eliminated via many twists and turns, cover-ups and false starts. Eventually, truth will out. Honesty will prevail over prevarication and lies, as the fuller story gets revealed, to everyone's surprise.

In solving the mystery of Sadie's disappearance, DI Fleet also gets to grips with the lurking demons from his past. He is finally able to piece together what really happened to his relative and seek justice for her untimely death. This is a creepy, captivating, twisty and complex thriller that will leave you second-guessing everything up to the unexpected denouement reveal. Grateful thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for the ARC.

Six teenagers all hiding secrets. When one of them, Sadie, goes missing pressumed dead, her friends Fash, Abi, Cora, twin brother Luke and boyfriend Mason set up their own search party to find her. Feeling like the police aren't doing enough or looking in the right place they set out into the woods to find the truth.

Detective Fleet has been brought back to his home town to investigate the disappearance of Sadie and has his own demons to face. Is his past clouding his judgement on her case?

What exactly happened in the woods and who is to blame? Is there someone else out there watching them? Will Fleet find Sadie and will she still be alive?

This was a bit of a slow starter until you got used to the characters and the narrative then I was hooked. I found the set out a little confusing but this is probably with it being a Netgalley ARC copy. My first book by this author but will defintely be reading more. Highly recommended.

I assumed that the Search Party by Simon Lelic would be a police procedural to find a missing person but this story proved to be so much more. Although the police were indeed searching for the missing teenager, Sadie, so were her friends, and her brother Luke, quite separately and then there is the search for the truth. Detective Inspector Rob Flett is a bit of an anti-hero for he has a significant back story in this seaside town in which his sister died. He is also estranged from his wife Holly. That he has made more than a few enemies doesn’t exactly help. The story is told from different perspectives and becomes a bit of a tangle for that but the characterisation is good, especially Rob Flett, and the ending was quite unexpected. Thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a tale of a group of young people who search for their missing friend. I found it a difficult read from the multi character points of view and this slowed the narrative. I liked the police characters and the atmospheric setting.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this amazing novel....

sadie is missing...
is she alive or dead....
the longer the search goes on the more a dead body is expected....

her friends decide to look for sadie, so they decide to organise their own search party...

but someone ends up dead...

wow have to say that i couldnt put this book down and wanted to find out who had done it and why...
what a complex book with red herrings galore and teenagers being teenagers...

will be keeping an eye out for more of this authors works

I really enjoyed this one! I loved the interview style and the multi POV. It meant I kept changing my mind constantly about what I thought was going on and how it was going to end. Detective Fleet made for a great “underdog” too which I always love in a book. I see that a lot of people have said that they enjoyed this authors other books more so I’m definitely adding them to my wishlist considering how much I liked this one. Would recommend to fans of One Of Us Is Lying.