I struggled a little with the first half of this novel, but found it really picked up pace and my interest in the second half. I’d heard it mentioned in the same breath as The Hunting Party, but for me it didn’t have the same feel. We were essentially following the lives and conversations of teenagers and this can be really difficult to pitch. I think the author was quite skilled at creating dialogue that sounded like teenager’s speak, but it’s very authenticity slowed down the pace of the novel. It might have been better to be inside the minds of these characters, rather than listening to what they say.

One of the teenagers has gone missing and her friends set up a search party to look for her. We have chapters from the investigator DI Fleet’s perspective, then others from the teenagers, However, they’re written as responses to an interview where we don’t get to hear the questions. This is like listening to my 16year old when she’s on the phone with a friend - occasionally illuminating but often confusing! It also took me a while to remember which of the teenagers was speaking until I was some way into the book. It’s great that we’re getting several unreliable narrators because that keeps us asking questions about who we can trust and who knows more than we’re letting on. I also appreciated that the teenagers all had back stories and difficult family dynamics to negotiate. I enjoyed the DI’s chapters and he was a well developed character. As the pace picked up I did find myself wanting to know what had happened and have I was drawn into the story much more. I think the fact there was a body in the woods, but it might be one of the teenagers, rather than their missing friend - it added another layer of uncertainty to the plot.

I enjoyed this book very much and recommended it to a few of my friends. I think it’s a great read for those who want to be kept on edge and be suprised, it’s definitely one book that I will go back and read.

Wow totally captivating read. Thank you for letting me read this. Keeps you hooked to the very end. Thank you

A clever plot, a twisty turny read, interesting characters and the last 20% was brilliant. All that being said I did struggle a bit with this, and I can’t put my finger on why. I actually didn’t care about the characters, they irritated me at the beginning and I felt the book slow, but for the last hour or so it did pick up pace and provided an excellent twist in the end

Fleet has a past, a past which haunts him, this case only brings those ghosts closer than he’d like.

A story of wanting and being and friendships that even the worse things in life can’t break. Beautifully brutal at times showing us the importance of friendship,

If you love Stephen King then you will love this book. A fantastic read with lots of twists and turns that you cannot read the book fast enough. An entertaining and thrilling read!

I struggled with The Search Party by Simon Lelic. The writing flicked between a multiple narratives of people which confused me and I lost interest in it. Sorry not for me.

Sadie is missing and her friends want to find her. Doubting the accuracy of the police search they decided to form their own search party and venture into the woods.

DI Fleet and DS Collins lead the investigation and Superintendent Burton continually puts the pressure on to close the case as the locals and media were questioning the capability of the force. DI Fleet has a history with the town, which is thought provoking, owing to his circumstances. Why, as his soon to be divorced wife thought, was he putting himself through the personal pain of leading this investigation?

As you can imagine, sadly this turns out to be a disaster and there’s a death and it’s not Sadie. Each member of the group has their own secrets and they all tell so many lies. Who knows what the truth is? It goes round and round as to where Sadie is, what has happened to her and who murdered one of the Search Party.

This was a gripping, atmospheric, very compelling and intriguing thriller. However it didn’t flow well enough for me, this is why I’ve only given it three stars, just not my kind of reading style.

It is written from a number of POVs, switching from and to different members of the Search Party and DI Fleet, like a series of interviews. I just didn’t like how this was written.

However, this is a great plot, with lots of twists and turns. I didn’t take to any of the Search Party characters, however DI Fleet and DS Collins were great.

There’s a lot of suspense and tension with OMG moments.

A must read for thriller seekers so put it on your TBR list, as I said, the style of writing wasn’t for me, however it’s still an intriguing plot with a twist I didn’t see coming 🤗

Thank you to the author, Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for this fabulous ARC provided in exchange for this unbiased review.

I found this book very slow to start and also very confusing the way the dialogue switches from one person to another. The way the kids ramble in the interviews is really annoying and In this version there is also not a clear break in between, so that made it extra hard to work out, but I’m sure that will be sorted out in the final version.
Towards the end however it gets more gripping and the reader is drawn in as events lead to find out what really happened to Sadie.

DI Fleet is a week into the search for a teenage girl when another yung person turns up dead in the company of a group of friends who had set out on their own search for Sadie, the missing girl.

The narrative follows Fleet in his brushes with bureaucracy and his memories of what had been his childhood home. The testimonies of the members of the 'search party' are interspersed with this narrative and a picture is slowly built of what happened in their fateful trip.

The reader is delierately misled from the start as each of the young people narrate events both to hide their own secrets and present themselves in the best possible light. Deliberate omissions by the author also lead to a grand twist which does take the reader by surprise. Less convincing is the method and motive for both the disappearance and the death.

The pacingacing is good and the forays into Fleet's personal life are most engaging. An easy to read and enjoyable mystery.

Sixteen-year-old Sadie Saunders has been missing for a week. The whole town believes she is dead. The police have been searching the river and woods near where her backpack was found. Her friends, boyfriend and twin brother are being questioned by the police with the whole town believing the boyfriend did it.

Sadies friends decide that they can do a better job of finding her, and they go deep into the woods on their own ‘Search Party’. However, during their first night in the woods, someone pours away all their drinking water and steals their phones whilst they were sleeping. It would appear they are not alone in the woods.

A couple of nights later and the ‘Search Party’ is found, but now Sadie’s brother, who was with them is dead.

DI Fleet interrogates the friends to find out what happened in the woods as he believes whoever is responsible for the death of Sadie’s brother will also know what happened to Sadie.

The town starts to turn against the police and believe that DI Fleet’s perspective has been warped by his own dark history in this small town.

This book flips between the interrogation in the perspective of each of ‘The Search Party’ members and DI Fleets’ investigations outside of the interrogation room.

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Overall this story was reasonably good and engaging. I found that I did want to know what had happened and I was actively trying to figure things out alongside DI Fleet.

However, what made the book quite annoying for me, was the perspectives of the teenagers. It just reads so high-school angsty. Whilst that is probably an honest representation of teenagers in the situation this lot found themselves in, I just found that overall, this book was not really one for me.

That’s not to say that others won’t enjoy it. I think perhaps readers who love YA/Teen, Mystery/Thriller type books will love this one.

This is a police procedural focusing on a missing teenager from a small town.
Local popular teenager Sadie is missing and here DI Fleet returns to his former home town to investigate her disappearance.
He’s the lead investigator on the case and he’s determined to uncover the truth.
To further confuse things Sadie’s friends decided the police were looking in the wrong place and formed there own search party taking them deep into the woods.
This forbidden excursion unfortunately ends in tragic circumstances as events and emotions spiral out of control.

So this is a story of secrets and lies and everyone’s keeping their cards very close to there chest.
It’s told from DI Fleet’s POV as well as the teenagers involved.
The perspective switched from each teen as they each take the spotlight and explain after the fact what actually occurred out in the woods over the period of time they were all missing.
There’s also some added angst from DI Fleet with his past within the town itself, Mostly concerning his current and past relationships so sister mother and estranged wife Holly.

So this was a fairly easy read but a tad predictable, the lack of obvious suspects really did narrow the field down in who I suspected and I wasn’t really a fan of the story narration style itself.
It kind of flitted from each teen recounting their experiences under police interview then back to the detective himself who was in real-time.

There was nothing essentially wrong with this it was a decent enough read and was well written just not terribly exciting either.
I mostly enjoyed this but it didn’t really have any wow factor and pace-wise I found this a bit slow as well, Overall it was an OK read just a bit bland In terms of excitement and it didn’t really stand out from the crowd.
I Voluntary reviewed a copy of The Search Party.

Suddenly at 75% of the way through I had a flash of genius as to who may be behind some of what was going on, and I'm utterly shocked to say I was correct.

Leading up to that point, even before the police were sure, I had no clue at all and even then I wasn't expecting to have guessed, and I was completely out on the motivations!

This is a story that will keep you guessing throughout, was we hear the various teen's accounts of what happened in the forest, when they formed their own search party for Sadie.

Through the police interviews and repeated questions it becomes clear that nothing is quite what it seems but whether you can guess who may be covering for what is another matter.

It's a story that shows how things can spiral out of control and why honesty is often the best policy

It's another gripping story from Simon Lelic, an author I'm really enjoying reading and seeing what twisted scenarios he may come up with next.

Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Pretty creepy crime thriller with lots of twists. Great read! Thank you publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

When 16 year old Sadie goes missing in the woods near her English home, a group of her closest friends decide to search for her. DI Fleet heads up the investigation and soon discovers all is not as it seems. This story is mainly told from the five teenagers point of view. The Search party is an atmospheric mystery and the first book by Simon Lelic that I have read. Thanks to NetGalley for my digital copy.

Keep no doubts in mind. Just go ahead and read it!! Quarantine blessing. Go go go read this. The classic Mystery/thriller that will keep you on your toes and wanting more.

Teenager Sadie Saunders has gone missing and the police have been searching for her for days. Her group of friends decide to form their own search party for the missing girl and things start to go wrong.

Sadie’s boyfriend has been accused with her disappearance, however he blames others in the group of friends.

The story is told from the different perspectives of each of the friends and the police detective searching for the missing girl.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A well-written police procedural, focusing on a group of teens who go on a search party looking for their friend who has gone missing but something goes horribly wrong. I enjoyed the book, but I did find it a little hard work in places. A good author though, I'm looking forward to his next book.

Absolutely LOVED this!! A brilliant book set in the world of teenagers. A missing girl and her dead twin brother. I am pleased to find another author I didn’t know and have just ordered two of his previous books on-line. Cannot recommend enough! 5 stars

The search party centres around five friends who decide to go looking for their missing friend, sixteen year old Sadie Saunders. The investigation is led by D.I Robin Fleet who tries to navigate the stories of her friends all of which are hiding secrets. Their dialogue is messy and panicked, as such it is a very quick read. I enjoyed Fleet’s character and his backstory provided another avenue to explore. The author did a great job at building suspense and I’m not sure if it was because I mostly read this in the middle of the night or not but it was definitely thrilling and pacey. The concept of the book was good, however I did see the twist coming and as such it didn’t shock me as much as it could have.