I enjoyed this book more the further into it I read. Although it starts in quite dramatic style, I found the first parts of the book a little slow, maybe that’s me being impatient and desperate to know what the heck had happened.
I found myself questioning everyone and every little action, trying to figure it all out before the end. There are alternating POVs and time frames but are made clear and isn’t at all confusing, in fact it’s very interesting to be able to see everything being played out – whilst also thinking you know what happened but need to know why.
Some classic misdirection and red herrings, I did piece together some elements of the plot, but I was pleasantly surprised with some aspects too. Maybe a touch unbelievable or unimaginable at times but a good read that I powered through in no time at all.
Fans of domestic thrillers will enjoy this.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book

This was a proper wtf book. From the shock opening and all the twists that start to come out, it was just one surprise after another and totally compelling.
I genuinely couldn't see who the killer was, the ending was yet another huge twist that left me going "and then what happened?"

Beware the definite article... THE..we’ve had THE Hunting party and The Guest List , The Girl Next Door, The Chalet... etc , you get the picture . The Dinner Guest is part of this group of contemporary psychological thrillers. The simmering revenge and retribution linked to past deeds and wronged relationships are the key requisites. The Dinner Guest follows a familiar path ; the tale begins with the crime and moves between past and present as we try to determine who killed the victim and why. As with many of this modern form of the thriller whodunnitis many of the characters are truly unlikeable. The principal characters in this story live in a very privileged world ( the name dropping of brands did become irritating) and despite what we are initially led to believe is a strong relationship of parents and child gradually unravels. No spoilers but the reveal and the explanation of one character’s motives towards the final stage of the book left me feeling cheated especially when confronting events from an alternative viewpoint and especially as I felt some of this could have been further signalled through the story. This is tightly plotted story and has been carefully crafted. By the end as with other similar ‘THE’ thrillers I was left with no real sympathy for anyone which is a shame as they were all ultimately victims of childhood ,lifestyle ,circumstance, and greed.Sadly this didn’t do it for me like some books but I appreciated the chance to read it courtesy of NetGalley.

The Dinner Guest by B.P. Walter

3.75 ⭐️

The book opens strong with a murder and a confession.

Charles and Matthew: devoted partners. Titus: their loving son.
Rachel: friend and book club member.

Four people at the dinner table that night. One leaves in a body bag. One leaves in handcuffs. The book explores what’s happened to get to that night, and what happens after.

This is a domestic thriller/mystery about a family with lots of secrets. I found the pace to be quick enough to keep things interesting. We time jump from between about 1 year prior to the murder, to several months after. The big reveal(s), while not altogether surprising, were still exciting to read and watch unfold. Be prepared for lots of juicy scandal. If you are a fan of B.A. Paris, you’re very likely to enjoy this book.


Thanks HarperCollins, NetGalley and B P Walter for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

(This will post to GoodReads now, but will wait to post to IG and Amazon until pub week)

Wow! Rarely do I sit down and read through a book without stopping except for necessary breaks. From the opening lines to the very last chapter/epilogue, I was fully drawn into this world of the "elites" and how they lived. I kept thinking I knew where the author was going only to find out I had only part of the plot unscrambled. Although the characters are not necessarily the nicest in the world, I found their reactions to be believable, except maybe for Rachel. Her motivation was realistic but her final decisions were not, at least to me. I hesitate to say more as I do not want to give away any part of the twists and turns this story takes. Well worth the time to read! I received a free book from NetGalley in return for an honest review, but I LOVED this book!

Book Review for The Dinner Guest by B P Walter
Full review for this title can be found at: @fyebooks on Instagram!

This was a great read that had plenty of twists and turns on the way. Matthew Charlie and their son Titus are all believable characters. Rachel enters their life and their lives change forever. It is a great read and I can't wait for more from this writet

Could not put this one down!

The Dinner Guest is an excellent psychological thriller that kept me guessing at each turn. Set in the posh places of London’s elite, Matthew and Charlie seem to have it all. Everything is golden, but then the secrets, the lies, and the deceptions begin to fall out of the pages like sand slipping through your fingers.

Every time I thought I had this one figured out, I was surprised.

With characters you care about, characters you don’t care for, and characters that you want more of, B P Walter has given us a gem of a mystery. I’ll be looking for more of this author’s work immediately.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A totally addictive closed room mystery that would be perfect for all Agatha Christie’s fans out there.

This was a character-driven domestic thriller with a gripping plot and edge-of-your-seat suspense.
I found it fast-paced and well-plotted. I did not find the well-drawn, memorable characters remotely likeable, but they held my interest. Many twists in the fast-paced plot contain devious, deceptive people, lies, illicit sex and adultery, drugs, blackmail, snobbery, and teenaged rebellion.

The story begins with a family dinner. Charlie and his husband Matthew sit down with their 15-year-old son, Titus. An uninvited guest, Rachel, joins them. Soon, Matthew is stabbed to death in his seat at the dinner table. Rachel, holding the bloody knife, promptly calls the police and confesses to the murder. What could her motive be?

They appeared to friends to be a happy family. Both Charlie and Matthew were devoted to Matthew's adopted teenaged son, Titus. A chance encounter with a stranger, Rachel, in a bookstore leads to turmoil and trouble. Matthew invites Rachel to his book club, attended by wealthy people from old school money. Charlie feels very uneasy about this, although he has never attended the meetings, and makes it clear to Matthew that the invitation is a mistake.

Matthew, Charlie and their friends lead privileged upper-class lives in London society. This is a world unfamiliar to Rachel. She works at low-paid menial jobs and lives in a shabby apartment. She quickly inserts herself into the lives of the family. At her first book club meeting, Charlie's suspicions about Rachel seem to be confirmed. He finds her snooping in their bedroom. She seems to be taking too much interest in Titus. She breaks up a mob menacing Titus in a different part of the city. Charlie believes she was following their son, but Matthew passes it off as a mere coincidence. Rachel leaves her job to work as an assistant to a wealthy book club woman and is soon leading a lavish lifestyle.

This menacing, well-constructed plot moves back and forth in time, before and after the murder. The timelines are never confusing. The chapters are narrated from the perspective of Charlie and Rachel but are their words reliable? As it delves deeper into the characters' backgrounds, the twists and revelations kept me riveted to the pages. Charlie hints that Rachel, now in prison, might not be guilty.
If so, why did she confess and what really happened?

This was my first book by B P Walter and left me wanting to read more of the author's novels. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this intriguing book. Recommended to readers who like a tantalizing domestic thriller.

The vast majority of this book is everyone walking around teasing little snippets of what I'll term their "motivating secrets." Yep, they have secrets. Yep, that's why they're doing stuff. Then, when the secrets are revealed, everyone kind of stands around going - yep, it makes sense that that did that stuff. Yep, on account of that thing we didn't know. Yep.

Just when you think you know what is going on, think again. What you know for sure: Matthew is stabbed to death, His husband, Charlie, their adopted son,Titus, and their friend Rachael are in the room. Rachel calls police to report that she has killed Matthew as she holds a bloody knife. That is the only information you know for sure. The narrative is told from two POVs - Charlie 's and Rachel's.- and moves in time to pre and post murder. This is not a distraction or the least bit confusing for the reader, It is B.P. Walter's method of deconstructing their lives in a way that reveals the characters to us.
Charlie and Matthew had led privileged lives as part of the upper crust of society. Rachel had not. She did, however manage to insert herself into their lives in a way that made Charlie very uncomfortable. Rachel would be going nowhere. But what reason would she have to kill Matthew?
The Dinner Guest weaves interlocking webs of secrets and betrayals. You will be hooked. I read this book in one day. It is an easy read with complex layers, It will keep you going until the last sentence...and perhaps a bit beyond. My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC or this book in exchange for my honest review

Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for gifting me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not what I thought I thought it was going to be.
I went in thinking I was ready..... I was not ready.
Usually, I read romance novels but man, this was good!

The plot, characters and the whole book in general was a massive case of the unexpected.
There are a lot of twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat and make sure that the only time you put this book down is in case of dire need.
It grabs you, holds you and does not let you go.

Pick it up! You won't regret it.

This was a twisted one. A fresh take on the formulaic thriller that has gained popularity. I did think the first half was a bit slow, building up to the second half, but once you do get past that, it picks up and is hard to put down. The Dinner Guest doesn’t hide what it’s trying to do or build up, and in some senses is predictable but in the end the twists keep coming until the very last page. I appreciated that the author almost anticipated what you thought, and disregards it, keeping you engaged. The characters evolve over the course of the events and I really appreciated that.

I do feel that the title is misleading though, I think I was expecting something very different, like there being more emphasis on a dinner that never really happened, but I’m willing to chalk that up to poor marketing. The book and plot and characters were transparent and dark and overall well done.

This domestic thriller grabs you on the very first page and simply does not let go. Told from dual perspectives and from multiple points in time, the reader learns in the prologue that Charlie’s husband, Matthew, was stabbed and Rachel confessed to the murder. From then on, backward and forward in time and told from Charlie and Rachel’s POVs, we were taken on a whirlwind ride through posh British society trying to figure out what lead up to the murder and what happened after the police took Rachel away. It was a wild and wonderful ride and was truly hard to put down.

My copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it.

Another snowstorm, another book finished in one day. The Dinner Guest is a intricately construted jewel of a mystery. A married gay couple and their adopted teenage son sit down for dinner. Soon an unexpected visitor arrives, one husband is dead from a stab wound and the attractive female visitor calls the police and admits that she stabbed the man to death.
What follows is two characters narrating chapters in the past and present. The characters described in this book are British aristocrats living extravagant lives and one woman who will never fit into their lifestyle. The twists and turns continue until the last page.

Solid 4.5 stars.

Within the first few chapters, I thought I knew what was going to happen. Fortunately, I was very wrong.

Told from the perspective of the two main characters, this takes you on a ride.

Who really killed Matthew and why? This one keeps you guessing up until the end.

Worth the read!

The questions build into a noose of tension. You can't undo the pressure until you know. Who? Why?
A fantastic psychological thriller cleverly constructed to give you all the answers. But are you correcf in your deduction?
You'll only know for sure by turning the page.
Highly Recommended

‘The Dinner Guest’ by B.P. Walter is a delightfully dark and twisted tale of the vulnerabilities faced by a family when a new friend proves to be far more dangerous than anyone could ever have imagined.
The story opens on the night of a family dinner, moments after father Matthew is fatally stabbed and Rachel is arrested for his murder. Rachel contacts the police and confessed to killing Matthew. So far, straightforward. However, narrator Charlie quickly drops the bombshell that Rachel might not be as guilty as she suggested.
Moving between events of the past 12 months and the present, Charlie provides the reader with his viewpoints of recent events, while Rachel slowly reveals her motives. Through their eyes, the author weaves a complex tapestry of emotions, slowly revealing the divisions within their group. And slowly building a sense of menace, which adds to the overarching tension. There are plenty of twists, occasionally, leaving the reader unsure of who to trust. The story comes full circle by the end and all elements are nicely tied together.
Plenty of twists and suspense to keep you on your toes.
Thank you to @Netgalley and @OnemoreChapter for the ARC of this book. B.P. Walter is a new author for me and I will be looking out for this author in future.

Thank you Net Galley and One More Chapter for an early copy of The Dinner Guest. WOW WHAT A BOOK!!! I couldn’t get to the next chapters fast enough. Captivating and Gripping! Everyone had a secret story. The ending was the only downfall, maybe it was left for a sequel? Buy this book ASAP, you will be Engrossed.