Beth: "You can't be scared of anyone here. We're friends, we all know each other so well."
Kathleen: "I used to think that. But when I saw one of them do something, I realised I'd got them completely wrong."

Beth and Kathleen have this conversation during a house party. The following day, Kathleen is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. Beth spends the novel trying to prove that Kathleen was murdered by one of their friends. Unfortunately the language is quite simplistic and the mechanics are often tedious as well as being complicated and confusing. There are a lot of red herrings. I imagine a truly dedicated mystery reader would enjoy.

My thanks to NetGalley, publisher Boldwood Books and Mary Grand for this Advance Reader's Copy of The House Party.

I was a big fan of this book. I found it hard to put down and enjoyed the way that the central mystery unfolded, with the author revealing the secrets of each character at the perfect time. I would recmomend to any thriller fans.

Tension and suspense


Kathleen tells her best friend Beth that she is frightened of one of their close circle of friends. The next day Kathleen is dead.
An involving thriller as Beth sets out to discover which of the small group of friends is not as they seem, and possibly a murderer. As she looks at each of the group and uncovers details about the night Kathleen died, so I became convinced I knew who was responsible for Kathleen’s fear, only to change my mind a few pages later, and so it continued throughout the book! Strong emotions come through Mary Grand’s telling of this involving story, with a well thought out plot, and plenty of twists
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5*s from me as this was an exciting read, with plenty of tension and suspense. The fact that there were few characters, lots of excitement, and a lovely setting on the Isle of Wight made this a great escapism book for me, when nothing else could hold my attention (due to stuff going on my world). Do we know our friends as well as we think we do?

Sorry, this wasn't a page-turner for me. The characters were a bit too dry, a DNF @ 17%. Thank you for the opportunity to check out this book!

The pacing in this one is really off, but the premise and writing end up making up for it in the end. More for fans of slow paced thrillers.

This was a tale full of secrets and betrayal. It has plenty of red herrings and twists and turns to keep you interested. I did feel the pace of the book lagged at times but it was a decent read.

This book admittedly didn’t hook me right from the beginning, it all seemed a little predictable and slightly confusing.

However, as it went on I got really drawn in and found myself struggling to put it down, it just kept developing.
There were so many twists and turns and theories, it had my head spinning!

Beth goes on such a journey to figuring out what happened that morning and I really enjoyed how it was written. You are invited into hearing Beth’s thoughts developing and her ideas. It really made me feel connected to her as a character.

The last 20% of the book was incredibly unexpected and the ending was tied up nicely, very satisfying.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read in return for an honest review. Set on the Isle of Wight, in a fantastic new build, a house party is taking place. At the end of the night, host Kathleen admits to best friend Beth that she’s being blackmailed over a past misdemeanour by someone at the party. When Kathleen is found at the bottom of a cliff the following day, Beth seeks the truth. A fantastic premise and there were moments of super twists. However, there were too many characters for me to keep track of and I found myself going back and forth to double check details. The book slowed in the middle, but picked up pace towards the end. Not a page turner, but I’m glad I stuck with it, as the ending was nicely tied up. I would question the title, only because the house party plays little part in the plot other than provide a list of those in question. A good read, but not great.

This book is a decent read with a great plot and plenty of red herrings to keep the reader guessing. Sadly I got a bit bored halfway through, but the book eventually picks up towards the end.

Thanks to Netgalley for the preview of this book. It was a great read and there are plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing & your attention wrapped. It will keep you guessing angry the ending will genuinely surprise you

Someone is about to die… Someone is about to lie…
At the intimate house-warming party for her glorious ‘grand design’, Kathleen confides in her best friend Beth that she is terrified of one of their close friends, but daren’t reveal which one. The guests are a tight-knit group, but Kathleen is convinced one of them is dangerous.
The next day Kathleen’s body is found at the foot of a cliff and Beth must face the sickening truth that she may have been killed by one of their trusted friends. With little help from the police, Beth’s decides to seek answers.
All the friends have secrets they are desperate to hide, but only one of them is ready to kill to keep theirs safe…

This was an incredibly slow story. I had high expectations for this one and I was a bit disappointed, and there was a house party that was about half a page in the entire story. I was waiting for something to happen and it just kept going around in circles. Not anything special, struggled to get through.

A book with a good premise and a good lot of suspects with everyone looking guilty and red herrings along the way. It has everything for a solid read but is pulled down in the middle by running around in circles. It picks up again about 70% of the way and the conclusion is very good. 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Boldwood Books for the ARC.

This story is set on the Isle of Wight; Kathleen and Patrick are holding a housewarming party to show their close friends their designer home, just a small group of six others. Beth knew there was something wrong with her best friend but she looked at the guests in a different light when Kathleen told her she was frightened by one of them - she had witnessed some wrong-doing and was being threatened. The next morning Kath was found dead at the bottom of the cliff at the end of their garden. Everyone thinks it is a tragic accident - but Beth is determined to prove them wrong. As she works her way through her list of suspects she constantly has to back-track and change her mind over her conclusions - all of which became a little bit tedious - Miss Marple going around in circles.

There are just so many characters it was hard to remember who was actually who; I enjoy complex plots but I say that this one was definitely complicated. There are lots of little twists to Beth's investigations and just like her character the reader needs to keep back-tracking and taking stock of their assumptions. The conclusion was extremely atmospheric and surprising which I think made up for some of the tedium throughout.

I was given a free copy of this book by Net Galley in return for a review.
The description of the book was enough to instantly make me want to read it- Kathleen confides in Beth that she’s terrified of one of their friends, and the next day, she’s found dead. Who wouldn’t want to find out what that was all about?!

I did really enjoy this book- the pace to it was just right; there was always enough happening to keep my interest piqued. You might wonder why then I’ve only given it 4 stars? In any type of whodunit, there needs to be several suspects- and this book is the same- however I felt that there were maybe too many people, or perhaps the character development on them hadn’t been thorough enough. I found myself really having to think about who certain characters were, and what the relationship between them was- which was a slight distraction.

The book kept me guessing right the way through- I changed my mind several times as to what was going on, and why!

I’ve not read anything by Mary Grand before, but I’ll certainly be looking out for books in the future!

I had trouble getting into this book. There were a lot of characters and I just didn’t seem to connect with them. It was an ok read, but just didn’t hold my attention.

This was an OK read, though rather slow paced. Firstly, despite being called "the House Party", the book really had nothing to do with the house party other than that was the setting of the first chapter. This led me having a different expectation of the book, than what it turned out to be. The story centers on Beth- her friend Kathleen (who she hasn't seen as much recently as she did in the past) confides in her at a house warming party that she is being threatened and that one of their group of friends is not who they seem. She refuses to tell Beth any more, but turns up dead the next day, and Beth is convinced she was murdered by the person who had been threatening her.

Beth takes it upon herself to investigate and I felt that this got a little tedious. She repeatedly annoyed her friends by constantly accusing them of things, and often repeatedly added and subtracted people from her suspect list. All of this led to me not liking Beth as a character. I felt the pace was slow and read a little more like a drama than a mystery.

The end of the book picks up the pace a bit and was a surprise, but the author did a good job of making the culprit's actions believable.

Overall, I give this book a solid 3 stars- will not be hugely memorable to me but mostly held my interest throughout.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Beth had not seen best friend Kathleen for a while when they meet at Kathleen’s house party. Only their close friends were at the party so when Kathleen confided that she had a secret and one of the others frightened her Beth is horrified. When Kathleen is found dead Beth remembers her promise to bring the truth to light.
When you feel you have your suspect the many twists and turns in this story take you round again.
It’s a very involving story with Beth delving into everyone’s past and finds how really well do you know your friends or even your husband?
I was given an arc of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I could only get through 20% of this book before I gave up. Something with the writing did not jive with me and I found myself getting bored pretty quickly with this read.

First let it be said that “The House Party” is not so much about a house party. This is totally fine, but I think it affected my expectations: I imagined I had picked up a locked-room type thriller that takes place mostly at a house party on a single night, which is totally my kind of thriller. Instead this is more of a traditional slower-paced mystery that begins at a party.

I liked the character of Beth, her commitment to her friendship and to solving the murder. The premise was a good one and held intrigue: what secret had the murderer been holding over the victim that the victim had been just about to tell Beth? It’s a solid mystery, well-written and plotted. However for me — coming into this expecting a thriller — it moved a bit slowly and focused more on drama than the suspense and thrills. It was somewhat a formulaic whodunit (Secrets and threatening phone calls) but also had some well-drawn and sympathetic characters and a pretty good red herring or two.

Overall, if you like classic mysteries (think Nancy Drew more than Karin Slaughter) and are more patient than I am, you may like this one. It is well-written and has some Big Little Lies-esque small town intrigue and drama. If you’re an adrenaline junkie like me and prefer your beach reads a little more twisted and fast-paced, this won’t be as good a fit. 3.5 ⭐️s..

Many thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book wasn’t my favorite psychological thriller of late, but it was perfectly serviceable and did the job. The epitome of a three star thriller