Thank you NetGalley for the arc of The Last Party.

Ffion Morgan and DC Leo Brady are called in to investigate the murder of Rhys Lloyd a local boy who had many enemies.

The story is told in present day and the run up to the murder which gives the reader insight into the different perspectives of each character and an understanding of the past history.

The characters were likeable and some not so much will really enticed you into this new book series and certainly excites you to read more when out.

Highly recommend.

The Last Party. Well it certainly was for Rhys Lloyd. New Years Eve and his body is found floating on the lake but who wanted him dead?
Well there were plenty of suspects who had their own reasons for his demise including his awful wife.
The characters were interesting. Some likeable, some not. I did like Dee Huxley, she was a dark horse
Loved reading the descriptions of the lake, very atmospheric. I'm not sure I'd want to swim in it though, sounds too cold for me.
I thought the partnership between Ffion and Leo worked really well and I'm pleased that he got a backbone and stood up to his nasty boss.
We find out throughout the book the lives of both Ffion and Leo outside of the police which made them interesting characters.
I look forward to reading more of Ffion Morgan.
Thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown Books for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book!! Ffion Morgan is called to investigate a murder within a prestigious wealthy community. So many dark secrets and twists in the story, my heart literally racing throughout. The best part of this book is Ffion. She is funny and fiesta and I cannot wait to read more aboit Ffion and Leo. Amazing story from an amazing author. Highly recommended xx

First a big thank you to the publishers for my copy to review on netgalley. I’m a big fan of Clares books. This is the first one of a series which is exciting.

Absolutely raced through this as we discover the truth behind the dead body. Who has something to hide? Who is telling the truth and who has something to gain ….

Gripping and thrilling this is a fast paced read. Unpredictable with lots of twists and turns. Packed with suspense and mystery.

Fantastic characters who I look forward to reading more about. It‘s already evident there’s skeletons In their closets .

Published 4th August

It is great to read a book that is the first in a series, where you like the main characters, and look forward to seeing them develop. It is for me especially as I am always reading books out of order, so I feel quite smug for once. The story is also set in Wales, another bonus for me, although I am from South Wales but still lovely to read a book set in my homeland. The story was good, and intriguing, and the book was well worth a read, bring on the next one, please.

Local boy Rhys Lloyd’s celebrity status as an Opera singer is on the wain, so he has returned to his homeland in North Wales to a small village called Cwm Coed, in the hope he can earn some serious money. He and his business partner Jonty Charlton have acquired a plot of land with gorgeous views of Lake Lyn Drych, the ‘Mirror Lake’, and the towering snow topped Pen y Ddraig Mountains. The fantastic, expensive lodges of the resort, now called ‘The Shore’, the first phase of their development is sold out. Five luxury Lodges are inhabited by their new owners and the resort is now ready for the next phase of their plans. It is New Year’s Eve and Rhys has invited his neighbours and the villagers on the other side of the lake to come and celebrate the occasion with lavish finger food and free flowing champagne. Good luck with that – the villagers are devastated that they will have droves of holiday seekers from England spoiling their tranquil village. They wanted new homes for the indigenous population to build up their village community. The next morning will see the very popular annual New Year’s Day swim in the freezing lake.
Party over with some degree of success, so the swimmers and their families and villagers who come to watch are ready to begin. Diving in, the secret of success is to keep going when they first hit the water and wait for the endorphins to do their job. Suddenly a lady shouts out for help. She has seen a body facing downwards bobbing in the newly turbulent lake. The swim is abandoned and the rescue boat is on the way. The body is definitely recognisable as Rhys and news spreads like wildfire. Local DC Ffion Morgan is tasked with finding out what has happened and is joined by a member of the Cheshire Major Crimes Unit, DC Leo Brady. The reason for the joint investigation is ‘The Shore’ side of the lake is defined as English and the other side of the lake is Welsh. Known as ‘The Lone Ranger’ Ffion (meaning wild in Welsh) and Leo Brady are ordered to work as a team. It is a nightmare for Ffion. Cwm Coed is her home and she knows everyone. It is personal and all of the villagers are suddenly murder suspects, even family, friends and neighbours. Never the less this is her job, she must be impartial. One by one statements are collected from both sides of the lake and the first arrests are made. But this investigation will uncover so much more: secrets, lies, blackmail, hatred and more. This is the first novel in a new series featuring DC Ffion Morgan.
Clare Mackintosh is a well-respected and popular author. Her storytelling is spellbinding. The descriptions of her chosen setting are meticulous and her love of North Wales, now her home, shows deeply. Her characters are well nurtured, diverse and true to life. A majority of them are ordinary people getting on with their lives, but some of them are evil and self-seeking. My favourite character is Ffion. She is dedicated, thoughtful, quick witted, feisty and strong. Her life story is very interesting and alluring. The novel essentially starts with the murder followed by chapters describing the chronology of the storyboard. It is filled with twists, turns, blind alleyways and riveting shocks, some so unexpected that they took my breath away. There is even an unreliable narrator misrepresenting the facts to conceal some of the information. There is love, lust and more unpalatable and anti-social behaviour. It was a very good read.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Sphere through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this novel. These are my own honest opinions without any outside influences. My review is a 4.5* for the reasons I have given.

Everyone knows everyone else in a small village, they also know their secrets and have very long memories. Rhys Lloyd is a local boy turned global singing star who has returned to Cwm Coed to convert his late father's land into The Shore, a luxury lakeside holiday resort. Not everyone is pleased to see him, and some even make it obvious. DC Ffion Morgan from North Wales Police has known him since their schooldays but doesn't expect to have much to do with him or his new venture until a dead body is found.

DC Leo Brady works for Cheshire Major Crime and has been instructed to work as Ffion's partner, an unpopular decision once they realise their paths have recently crossed in very different circumstances! Every interviewee seems to have good reason to dislike the victim, and secrets, coupled with animosity going back decades, begin to come to light. Ffion and Leo know they have a very difficult job on their hands but when those secrets begin to hit closer to home solving the crime suddenly has to take a very distant back seat.

This is the first Ffion Morgan book and I really wanted to love it and in part I did. The actual investigation was intriguing, and I like Ffion and Leo who worked well together throughout. The interactions between characters was great as was some of the description of the local scenery, unfortunately however, there was page after page of this which wasn't needed. The parts in flashback had similar topographical descriptions written, as if for the first time, again and again, as well as jumping about all over the timeline which I found both confusing and distracting.

There will be a map in the finalised version which will be a great addition; I do love a map! I found the ending controversial but as this is the beginning of a series with two very strong main protagonists I hope it will come round again at some point in the future.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own. For me there are problems with this book but it is definitely good enough to recommend as the start of a series to look out for.

Gripping, captivating… The Last Party draws you in and doesn’t let up!

One of the book’s many draws is its brilliant characters. Police officers Leo and Ffion are investigating the death of a man who owns a group of exclusive holiday homes. They’re both so likeable – I loved reading about them and their interactions.

The other characters – largely those who live at the other holiday chalets – are a real mixed bag. Some of them you love to hate but, regardless of how nice they are, their interactions are entertaining!

The novel is told in two timeframes – one in the present day, as police discover the body, and one in the run-up to the death. I love books that have these different timeframes and this way we get to see different perspectives and characters’ thoughts.

The book has lots of secrets and mystery – every character seems to have one and it’s a real treat to uncover. The plot isn’t hugely fast-paced – it moves along fairly slowly at times – but it never feels too slow. The tension is always there, and the slow reveal of more information about that night keeps the reader hooked.

Clare Mackintosh always writes so engagingly, and it’s so easy to absolutely speed through her novels because they are, for me, the perfect package of a psychological thriller mixed with great character development, offering surprises and twists along the way and a setting that you can really imagine.

I am SO happy to learn that this will be the first in a new series featuring Detective Ffion Morgan. As a police officer she’s not squeaky clean (where’s the fun in that anyway?) but she is a brilliant character who I can’t wait to read more about.

Clare MacIntosh is proving to be a reliable and prolific crime writer. She has often promised to give us a series and I believe this is the start of one. I have to be honest and say that I struggled to warm to the main character Ffion until very near the end of the book. I found her defensive and prickly. I am sure this was intentional and undoubtedly reflects her reaction to the experience of a women in a male dominated and tough career. But it ran the risk of me not engaging. I loved Leo however, and the location of a small town in north Wales was well developed and believable.
I am really pleased I read it, will definitely read any further books if it is a series and will happily recommend this for all ages of men and women to read.

What a brilliant and compelling start to a police procedural series! The story exploded off the page with action right from the start and the pace continues to the climax of the story.

The many characters are introduced in detail and although there are a lot of them, their individuality marks them out clearly and sets the scene for following their lives in future books. The narrative creates an investment in these characters and you care about them deeply. This depth generates a warmth in the novel, alongside some brilliantly humorous moments and secrets abound.

The story is brought to life by alternating timelines, with the build-up to the murder from the past, to the development of the case in the present. It includes varying perspectives, cleverly using different narrators, sometimes reflecting an alternative view of the same scene.

This is a compelling, twisty read with beautifully described, sometimes harsh settings, brilliantly reflecting the mood at various key moments in the story.
Llyn Drych lake (or Mirror Lake) and Pen y Ddraig mountain are captivatingly dramatic. Cwm Coed village is shown as a really strong Welsh community, where everyone knows everyone else and their business, and yet it radiates warmth and a sense of belonging. Conversely, The Shore, the setting for the murder, although designed to look luxurious and expensive, feels like an blemish on the Welsh landscape, and its residents reflect a society where what you see on social media, matters more than reality. The Welsh-English antagonism is depicted through the emergence of the unwelcome development.

DC Fiona Morgan, the main character, from the North Wales police department is a strong, determined, independent character. Feisty, strong-willed & carrying her own secrets. DC Leo Brady of the Cheshire Major Crimes Unit becomes her unwitting sidekick. It is a brilliant pairing of Ffion and Leo who somehow, after a rather interesting start, develop a strong bond and understanding, and each helps the other move forward.

Pay attention to every little detail as you read, because somehow the author cleverly weaves all the pieces together to produce an amazing plot-line, where everyone has secrets and everyone has a motive.

The final twists reflect the genius that is the writing of Clare Mackintosh. Read either as a stand-alone or the start of what will undoubtedly become a classic series, I highly recommend this book. A brilliant read!

How does she do it? With The Last Party, Clare Mackintosh has written another absolute winner. Fionn and Leo are a fantastic pair of main characters with complicated back stories and undeniable chemistry. This is a twisty-tangly psychological thriller set in a stunning part of North Wales, with a cast of characters who will entertain and intrigue you. I couldn’t put this book down, and didn’t want to. Already can’t wait for the next book in what is set to be a truly brilliant series.

Clare Mackintosh writes a psychological thriller set in the atmospheric location of Llyn Drych, or Mirror Lake, nestled beside the village of Cwm Coed under the shadow of Pen y Ddraig mountain, on the border between Wales and England. On the morning after a New Year's Eve party to end all parties, floating on the lake is the body of a dead man, the victim a local celebrity and a once famous opera singer, Rhys Lloyd, now the developer of The Shore with his business partner Jonty Charlton, with its exclusive lake lodges for wealthy outsiders. Investigating for the North Wales Police is 30 year old local DC Ffion Morgan, who grew up known as Ffion Wyllt (Wild), now living with her mam and younger sister, Seren, after the breakdown of her marriage. A woman with her own secrets, she works with DC Leo Brady of Cheshire Major Crimes from the English side, bullied by his boss, DI Simon Crouch.

The storyline shifts from the past and the present, and told through the perspectives from a large cast of disparate characters, locals and The Shore residents, with all their historic tensions and conflicts. On the surface, it seems that Lloyd is a much loved man, but appearances can be deceptive, and it soon begins to emerge that he is hated by virtually all, he is a nasty piece of work, leading to a complicated case where almost everyone has a motive for murder, with Lloyd's wife, Yasmin, and business partner, Jonty, set to gain from his death. The Shore people include ex-boxer, now soap actor Bobby Stafford and his influencer wife, Ashleigh, retiree Dee Huxley, and Clemmie Northcote and her son, Caleb, who have escaped their troubled London council estate lives. Ffion and Leo are confronted with a village full of suspects and a web of intrigue as they uncover more secrets, lies, deceptions than you could possibly imagine.

Mackintosh provides a mass of red herrings and twist after twist in this engaging psychological thriller amidst the background of a great North Wales location that is a central character in its own right, and a fascinating protagonist in Ffion Morgan, a woman with a emotionally traumatic past, a stubborn and determined police officer. Her relationship with Leo develops into a strong and supportive partnership after their rather awkward beginnings, with the tantalising potential to be so much more. This is a wonderfully entertaining crime read that will appeal to the many fans of the author and those who love the most twisted of psychological thrillers. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I am a huge fan of Clare Mackintosh’s books and The Last Party, the first in what will be a new crime series, has been a fantastic read!

It’s New Year’s Eve, and Rhys Lloyd and his family are celebrating at their lakeside holiday lodge complex alongside their neighbours and people who have been invited from the village. It should be the party to end all parties but not everyone is there to celebrate. At the traditional New Year’s Day swim the next day, Rhys’ body is found floating atop the freezing waters of the lake! For DC Ffion Morgan this tiny community is her home, so the suspects she is required to investigate are her neighbours, friends and family. And Ffion herself has her own secrets to protect. With lies waiting to be uncovered at every turn, a murder is just the beginning...

Ffion and Leo, the two detectives tasked with solving Rhys’ murder were both such fantastic characters. I laughed so much at how they met on that first day! I was hooked by the crime at the heart of this story and it was so cleverly written as so many people had motive for wanting Rhys dead; I never could pin down one suspect in my mind! I loved all of the little details that were revealed as the book progressed showing just how many dreadful things he had done and why so many people hated him (something that was clear quite early on, including Ffion’s hatred towards him)!

I really liked the interspersion of the chapters set in the past and how they helped gradually build up a picture not just of the night of the fateful New Year’s Eve party, but in the days and months preceding it. The residents at The Shore had so many secrets among them which I loved. I still cannot believe the twist at the end of part one! I did not see that coming at all and thought it was fantastic! It was really clever too how in the second part of this book we got to see some of the past chapters being revisited again from a different perspective/angle and how this showed things in a different light. The build up to the reveal of what truly happened on the night of the party was brilliant and I loved that when I thought everything had been explained, a further surprise was still to come!

Although Cym Coed and The Shore are both fictional, Clare Mackintosh says in the acknowledgements how they are inspired by the beautiful lakes and mountains in North Wales that she gets to call home. I could picture so easily the lodges at The Shore and felt transported as I was reading thanks to Clare’s beautiful descriptions. It was such a wonderful setting and I’m already looking forward to book two in the series. I loved how there were Welsh words and phrases included throughout too. Thank goodness the correct pronunciation for Cym Coed was included though as I was definitely saying my own version in my head to begin with!

I have enjoyed The Last Party so much and honestly cannot recommend it highly enough!

Clare never disappoints with her thrillers. Really loved this, esp the setting and DC Ffion Morgan. You are deep in red herrings for most of the book, the plot expertly woven to create a superb murder mystery. The lakeside development of holiday homes creates a supurb setting for this claustrophobic thriller, the characters full of jealousy, greed and revenge. A MUST READ for thriller lovers.

I love a good police series and I love Clare Mackintosh’s books so I was thrilled to read this. It certainly lived up to my expectations.
Local man Rhys has made a fortune as a singer and returned to his home village in Wales, only not quite. He’s developed a complex of luxury villas on the lakeshore opposite the village causing much resentment in the community. When Rhys is found dead in the lake during the New Year swim there are plenty of suspects. Local DC Ffion Morgan finds herself investigating her friends and neighbours. What’s worse is she has to work with an investigating team from England as the lake borders Wales and England. This gripped me from the first chapter and had plenty of twists and turns. Ffion is a very unconventional leading police officer and has her flaws, which makes for a great character.
Can’t wait for the next book in the series.
Thanks to Clare Mackintosh, Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for the review access.

When local boy-made-good Rhys Lloyd opens his new luxury lake-side housing development to the locals for a blowout New Year's Eve party, things don't quite go to plan. And when, on New Year's Day, his body is found floating in the lake, it becomes clear that not everyone was happy with Lloyd's return to the area.

Switching between perspectives and across timelines, The Last Party was a brilliantly paced read. Part-police procedural, the characters of the combative DCs sent to investigate Lloyd's death are particularly well developed and I look forward to reading more featuring them in future (please...?!).

A rare 5 star read for me.

I finished this yesterday and am still thinking about how good it is. A really excellent thriller. I absolutely loved the setting, particularly as we get to see it in different seasons and get a feel for the lifestyle of those who live there and those who come to visit. There are multiple characters but I had no problem keeping track of who was who and they were all really distinct and interesting. The plot is brilliant - with numerous leads, false hope and twists and layers galore. It's so much more than just a simple thriller. I loved it.

I was delighted to be accepted for this ARC as I have enjoyed each of Clare's previous books.

The Last Party synopsis

It's the party to end all parties....but not everyone is here to celebrate.

On New Year's Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests. His vacation homes on Mirror Lake are a success, and he's generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbours.

But by midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake.

On New Year's Day, Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects. The tiny community is her home, so the suspects are her neighbours, friends and family—and Ffion has her own secrets to protect.

With a lie uncovered at every turn, soon the question isn't who wanted Rhys dead...but who finally killed him.

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

I loved the main character Ffion she was so relatable and perfectly flawed. Clare has a way of creating characters that I find I connect with.

There were lots of characters and it was surprisingly easy to remember who was who which echo's my previous comment about the Clare's character development, they all become relatable and you soon get to know them.

I won't give any spoilers out but it's safe to say everyone has a secret and most people were not as they seemed on the surface, I knew whodunnit so many times throughout and was completely wrong.

Lots of twists and turns, I found myself on the edge of my seat on many occasions. There was great atmosphere in a number of scenes which kept me engaged and looking forward to the next chapter.

I really loved it and look forward to reading more

This one grew on me, it has a gripping plot that grows more tense as the story progresses, interesting characters, intrigue, drama and twists and turns, Brilliant writing as usual from Clare Mackintosh. Can't wait for the next book to come out.

It has been a long time since I started a new police series and this didn't disappoint. Great main character, lovely banter between the leads and, as an Irish speaker myself I particularly loved the use of Welsh and the depiction of how Welsh and English co-exists - or sometimes doesn't! Will definitely read more about Ffion.