Fabulous! This is definitely a crime series I’m going to enjoy.
When The Shore opens and a whole new set of incomes arrive to live there Rhys Lloyd co owner decides to throw a party on New Year’s Eve inviting all the locals in the hope it might break down walls.
On New Years Day a body is swept up in the water!
DC Ffion Morgan arrives to help solve the case, Ffion is a local girl with lots of connections and to help her uncover the truth is Leo Brady.
They strike up a good partnership despite getting off to a strange start.
Everyone in the village is a suspect for one reason or another but the truth will come out, or will it!
I’ve enjoyed reading this new style of book by Clare Mackintosh and look forward to many more.
Thank You NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for an ARC of this book.

I’ve been a fan of Clare Mackintosh for a while now. Her standalone thrillers are always a good twisty read with some interesting characters. I was quite interested to see that this new book The Last Party is the first in a new series featuring DC Ffion Morgan. Set on the North Welsh / English border this book explores the complicated yet symbiotic relationship between the two nations and brings us a whole raft of new larger than life characters.

Welsh singing prodigy Rhys Lloyd has returned to his childhood village and has helped to create an exclusive holiday park known as The Shores on the edge of the lake. The new residents are all wealthy English people and there has been some discontent between them and the local villagers. On New Years Eve the owners of The Shores throw a big party and invite quite a few of the Welsh neighbours to join them. The following morning the locals are gathering on the lakeshore for their annual open water swim in the lake when a body is discovered in the water.

Ffion Morgan is a fabulous invention and at the end of the book she feels like a friend. She is a wonderfully flawed character who has been shaped by her own experiences and is very involved in village life. On the morning of New Years Day she finds herself escaping from the bed of her NYE one night stand. When she gets called out to the crime scene which straddles the English/Welsh border she is horrified to discover that her English liaison officer is none other than her bedfellow from the night before – DC Leo Brady.

Mackintosh takes us on a twisted journey gradually revealing the real stories behind all of the major protagonists leaving us with a large number of prospective murderers for Rhys Lloyd. It turns out that he wasn’t exactly a national treasure after all! I loved the setting for the book. This area of Wales comes to life under Clare’s expert stewardship. It really feels like you are on the shores of the lake watching the action unfold. The book has a very cinematic quality that draws you in and the very visual descriptions of the area are just the best tourism advert ever. I’m already really looking forward to the second outing for DC Morgan this time next year.

Supplied by Net Galley, Sphere and Little Brown Book Group UK, in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Sphere for the advance copy of #TheLastParty by #ClareMackintosh
Wow what a read.
Admittedly it was a slow start but the story and the tension built and built until the climax.
I changed my mind so many times as to the culprit but thoroughly enjoyed the read.
Should be a great new series.

WOW - Clare Mackintosh TAKE A BOW!!

As many of us are I'm a huge fan of Clare's thriller novels and I had absolutely no doubt that her first crime fiction novel would be just as impressive but this really blew me away.

The first in the #dcmorgan series The Last Party packs an absolute punch with every page.

I'm trying to rack my brains for an author I've read that has successfully moved into different genres and I actually can't but now Mackintosh can go to the top of my list. The switch from thriller to crime fiction is superbly done and I can only see this series going from strength to strength.

I love twists in any genre and this has it in spades, just when you think you've got it all straight in your head BAMM something else happens to turn your brain inside out.

The setting is perfection and the writing is atmospheric and really drags you into the story - not that I was expecting anything different from Mackintosh.

I loved DC Morgan's character and found it so original and refreshing that there is a series based around a lower rank, younger detective rather than the standard 40+ DS and DI that seem to take over crime fiction at the moment (not that there is anything wrong with that obviously!)

Ffion is such a great character though, full of intrigue and spark. Her relationship with Leo added a brilliant dynamic to the book - @claremackwrites I hope Leo appears in the next one??

This is crime fiction at it's absolute best!

A must read 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 from me.

Clare Mackintosh's new psychological thriller is set by Llyn Drych (Mirror Lake) situated near the village of Cwm Coed with Pen y Ddraig mountain in the distance, on the border between Wales and England. DC Ffion Morgan who works for North Wales Police attends a crime scene when a body is found in the lake. It's the corpse of Rhys Lloyd, a businessman and developer of The Shore (luxury lodges) and an opera singer who held a New Year's Eve Party the night before at the home of Jonty and Blythe Charlton where the guests were invited to drink champagne. Jonty is Lloyd's business partner. Ffion is working with DC Leo Brady of Cheshire Major Crime Unit for the English Police.

This novel is the first in a series and the second book is due for release in 2023. I found The Last Party to be thrilling and extremely well written. It is a marvellous multilayered mystery in a great setting and Ffion and Brady are terrific characters. I'm certainly game for reading book two.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Little, Brown via NetGalley and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

📚📖 BOOK REVIEW 📖📚

📖 Book - The Last Party
✍️ Author - Clare Mackintosh
📕 Publisher - Little Brown Book Group
🗓 Publication Date - 2nd Aug 2022

This is the first book in a new series in which an investigation is headed by DC Ffion Morgan. There is a New Years party and while the crowds do their cold swim the next morning, a body is found floating in the water!

I have read a good few of Clare’s books. I enjoyed this book but it seemed slightly different to this authors other books. I can’t put my finger on it! I’m not saying that in a negative way.
I believe there is another book that we can prove-order from this series.

#bookstagramshaz
#instagram

The Last Party was very different to Clare's other books but goodness me it was just as good. We are introduced to Ffion and what a great character she is. Looking forward to more books featuring Ffion.

This book is set in rural Wales and being from Wales and enjoying Claire’s books previously I was hoping this would be the start of a really good series.

In this story we meet DC Ffion Morgan from North Wales Police, and DC Leo Brady from Cheshire serious crimes unit who are pulled together to investigate the murder of Rhys Lloyd, a property developer and singer who has just completed a new development on the edge of Lyn Drych (mirror lake). When Rhys’s body is found washed up on the lake after a New Year’s eve party, it’s up to the two detectives to work together to find out what happened that New Year’s Eve night. Everyone in the small community is a suspect, so what will the two detectives discover, not just about what happened that night, but about themselves.

I really enjoyed the plot and story line, however I felt the book dragged on in parts and was way too long, it took much longer than necessary to come to the conclusion at the end. The characters were very well written, and the book is written from several points of view including Rhys who was murdered.

I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would, and I’m sort of disappointed because I really enjoy Claire’s other books.

Thank you for letting me have a pre read of this book.

So this is my review of the first book in a series by Clare Mackintosh. I have loved all her stand alone books so couldn't wait to start this!

So..... this book was so good! However... it was a long book and during the first half, I did debate about giving up a few times, but kept the hope it would pick up! And it did!!! I absolutely flew through the second half and am glad I didn't give up.

I do understand that with it being the first book in a series, that Clare needed to lay the foundation, but it felt a tad slow and there was many characters yo familiarise with. But like I say, all made sense in the end and was a great read!

Crime fiction is one of my favorite genres and Clare Mackintosh a go-to author of longstanding. But the two of them together? I honestly wasn’t convinced. Well, slap my wrist and wash my mouth out, I couldn’t have been more wrong. The Last Party is not just a brilliant read but one of the most accomplished detective novels I’ve read in a while.

It has everything you want from a procedural: a murder with numerous possible perpetrators, an atmospheric setting, a meticulously plotted investigation, and above all, a detective whose personal life is as intriguing as the case she’s working on.

The setting is the small, insular community of Cwm Coed on the North Wales/English border, where local-boy-made-good Rhys Lloyd has established an exclusive lakeside holiday development. When his body is pulled from Mirror Lake the morning after the New Year’s Eve party held to build bridges between the ‘interlopers’ and resentful locals, it quickly transpires that the question is not who wanted him dead, but who got to him first.

Mackintosh has structured this story beautifully, switching back and forth between the investigation and events in the hours, weeks and months leading up to the murder. Amidst grudges, financial shenanigans and illicit affairs, the finger of suspicion points not just at almost every resident of The Shores but also at some of the villagers.

It’s a murky, but wholly plausible web. A tangle of secrets, lies, and of jaw-dropping revelations that are so unexpected, so cleverly disguised, they left me reeling. The final twist — the whodunnit — was inspired.

Ffion Morgan, Mackintosh’s complex detective heroine, is a triumph. She’s fearless, feisty and a bit of a maverick, but she also has a deeply troubled past that exposes her vulnerable underbelly. And for me, it’s Ffion who brings this story to life.

Series like this work best when the detective is more than merely an investigator. And in Ffion, Mackintosh has given us a relatable, likable human being, with a compelling story of her own. I can’t wait to meet up with her again. Bring on book two!

What an incredible introduction to a new detective series!

Clare Mackintosh has always been an auto-buy for me but when I found out that she had written the first of a new police procedural series, excited was an understatement.

This novel had everything that you could ask for. The characters were intriguing and the plot kept you turning the page, unable to put it down, even if it was 3am!

I cannot wait to see what the future holds for DC Ffion Morgan!

I always enjoy Clare Mackintosh's books so I was thrilled to receive an early copy of this book. Even better, this one was set where I live, around Cheshire and North Wales. Both the plot and the characters stood out for me and gripped me from the beginning – I couldn't put the book down and finished it in no time. Although it's a "whodunnit", it's not the usual formulaic police investigation and I appreciated its quirks.

I understand this is the first in a new series so I can't wait to read the next one! I hope Clare is writing it as we speak!

Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free advance copy of The Last Party in exchange for an honest review.

A gripping read from start to finish! Although a little bit long, I enjoyed this book and was kept guessing until the end.

The traditional New Year's Day swim in picturesque Llyn Drych (Mirror Lake) by the villagers of Cwn Coed has been going for years. But this year's has to be abandoned early when a body is found floating in the water just after the klaxon. But who is it? And what happened?

Following a dual timeline we find out the events leading up to the morning of the swim, and the police investigation afterwards with local DC Ffion Morgan. Due to the location of the lake crossing the Wales/England border, she has to share the investigation with DC Leo Brady from Cheshire Constabulary, which turns out to be more than a little bit awkward!

This was an excellent mystery. With lots of different possible strands to follow and with many a suspect, it was a compulsive read to try and find out the who and the why! I really loved the partnership between Ffion and Leo and look forward to seeing how that continues through the series.

The Last Party is set at Mirror Lake in Wales everyone knows everyone. On New Year’s Eve Rhys Lloyd hosted a party, just past midnight his body was found floating on the lake. Who killed him and why?
The book flips from past to present and has a lot of characters. It is a slow burn but I think it needs to be to get all the important information across and there are a lot of twists to this mystery. I was shocked by the revelation at the end.
It flowed perfectly and I really liked DC Ffion Morgan. I can’t wait to read more from this series.
This was a great addition to Clare Mackintosh’s books.

Going into a new Clare Mackintosh novel is like opening a lucky bag - you know you are going to get something good but you’re not sure what it will be like. The last three of her books I have read have been uniformly good but radically different - AFTER THE END, a profoundly moving story about the choices faced by parents of a terminally ill child; HOSTAGE, a plane hijack novel which flew much higher, and was better written, than another, very hyped book on a similar theme which was released at the same time; and this, THE LAST PARTY, a modern whodunnit with interesting characters, snappy dialogue and an intriguingly fun protagonist in DC Ffion Morgan.

There are echoes of Agatha Christie, even the likes of Midsummer Murders, in the story of the investigation into the murder of the developer of a lakeside holiday complex on the Welsh border. The holiday homes are occupied by a cast of suspects, each less likeable than the last, each seemingly with a reason to want Rhys Lloyd dead. Ffion, like Lloyd, a local also has to consider her friends and neighbours as potential suspects - few in the village welcomed the influx of rich English people on their lake. Ffion’s situation gets even more complicated when she is paired with Detective Leo Brady from Chester Police, who turns out to be a one night stand to whom she gave a fake name.

As might be expected from Clare Mackintosh, the story is a little darker, the characters more rounded than your typical cosy murder mystery. There is a lot of humour in the book but it goes deeper, into relationships, workplace bullying, racism, exploitation. There is a lot more going on than appears on the surface and that is something that THE LAST PARTY shares with the author’s other novels. DC Ffion Morgan will apparently return and I really hope that THE LAST PARTY is the first in a successful series.

I have loved all of Clare’s books & this was no exception! Brilliant book & am glad to see it is part of a new series of books by Clare.

I had a great time with this story. Each character was so clearly developed I love seeing the Motives for everybody against the Victim.

Something that was just a small detail but what I really liked was there we got to see the same scenes from multiple characters perspectives something which I always like because you see the minor differences between each perspective.

There were a couple of reveals in this book that I guessed but for the most part I was pleasantly surprised by how the story went and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

When Rhys is found dead after his new year party, DC Morgan has plenty of suspects, a great thrilller with plenty of dark turns and lies in the story to keep you guessing as the who did it - worth the reading time

‘In a village with this many secrets, a murder is just the beginning.’

My thanks to Little, Brown Book Group for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Last Party’ by Clare Mackintosh.

Clare Mackintosh is well established as a writer of standalone crime thrillers though is now beginning a series of police procedurals featuring D.C. Ffion Morgan of the North Wales Police.

On New Year’s Eve Rhys Lloyd is throwing a lavish party at his new luxurious lakeside holiday homes for the rich and famous. He has invited locals from the village of Cwm Coed to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbours. How generous of him….

The next morning Rhys’ body is discovered floating in Llyn Drych (Mirror Lake). As the border between England and Wales runs through the lake, D.C. Leo Brady of the Cheshire Constabulary is assigned to work with D.C. Ffion Morgan. From the outset there is tension between them and not only because of the animosity between their countries. No spoilers, but it is rather awkward.

The narrative bounces about a bit between the present and past, though the shifts are clearly marked at the start of each chapter. In the present Ffion and Leo comb through the various suspects though as Ffion lives in the village many of these are her neighbours, friends and family.

The chapters set in the past build up the events in the weeks, days, and hours that lead to the murder. It soon becomes clear that it isn’t a matter of who wanted Rhys dead but rather who finally killed him.

This was a slow burn of a police procedural that focuses upon its characters as much as the murder investigation. Clare Mackintosh was a member of the U.K. police force for twelve years so certainly knows what is involved in investigations though also acknowledges that she consulted with her ‘crew in blue’ as needed.

‘The Last Party’ proved very engaging with plenty of twists and turns. The dynamic between Ffion and Leo was great, including a degree of banter.

This is my first experience of Clare Mackintosh’s writing aside from her contribution to ‘The Understudy’. After such a positive experience I will be looking forward to the next in this promising crime series.