The location is Serendipity's. Seven strangers are summoned for an anonymously hosted dinner party.

At the end of the evening, each of the diners receives a black envelope - containing the age at which they will die.

It's a prank...isn't it?

Two weeks later, one of the seven is dead - at the age contained in their envelope

Brilliant

OH MY WORD!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A FANTASTIC BOOK!!!!

Seven strangers are invited to a dinner party. Nobody knows who the host is but they all have their reasons to go along.
As the evening wears on, they are all given an envelope which reveals the age at which they will die. Is it just a cruel joke or have they been shown their future???
One by one, the guests start to die at their given ages.......but why....who is behind them?
And who will survive????

A real fresh whodunnit....written with such a great storyline and characters AND a brilliant ending!

My favourite book of the year so far!!!!! I have already recommended it to friends.

While the premise is intriguing and the setup is promising, the execution of Seven Reasons To Murder Your Dinner Guests plays out in a fairly predictable manner, one of the key plot points is obvious from the title, and unfortunately, it unfolds exactly as expected.

The real strength of the book lies in its characters. For those who remain long enough in the narrative, their complex pasts, strained relationships, and moments of personal growth offer depth and emotion. The author does a solid job of making the dynamics between them feel real and interesting.

That said, the central mystery falls short. The villain became apparent early on, and I kept hoping it was a clever red herring, but the twist never came. The minor reveals throughout the story lacked impact and, at times, stretched believability in a world that otherwise felt grounded and realistic.

Overall, this is a readable story with well constructed characters, but for avid mystery readers, it may not offer the level of suspense or surprise they’re hoping for.

Thank you for the advanced copy.

An absolute whirlwind of a book.

The premise was intoxicating and stayed that way throughout the book. I knew the big reveal very early on and it didn’t matter a bit, spoiled nothing and that is credit to the authors writing.

Every character in this novel thrilled me. Almost all hugely dislikable but all so readable and as we watch the clock tick down for each of them you’ll be wondering what the connection is.

Pacy, sharp and very enjoyable. I would very much like to read more by this author.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for sending me this e-ARC in return for an honest review.

This was more a study about the question "what would you do if you knew when are you going to die?" than a thriller. I loved how some of them embraced all their sins but others changed their lives.
The final twist was amazing, I did see some of it coming but not all, I'm going to keep reading books by K.J. Whittle for sure, great job and great premise!

Many thanks to netgalley, the author and the publisher for approving my request to read this book.

This book is a modern day spin of And Then There Were None which I really enjoyed as a huge Agatha Christie and a classic who done it.

Seven diners meet at a secluded restaurant and during the meal they all receive envelopes informing them of what age they will be when they die. One by one they meet their makers and the body count climbs steadily higher.

Although I guessed who was behind it all I very much enjoyed the characters and the plot throughout. If you enjoy a good murder mystery then this ones definitely for you.

Thank you to HarperNorth & NetGalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This is a fantastic murder mystery, with a lot of the same beloved hallmarks as And Then There Were None (and other Agatha Christie classics) but with some modern twists and an excellent cast of mostly unlikeable characters.

The character development is great, and I really loved reading about each of the seven deeply flawed dinner guests, especially their growing relationships to each other. The writing style is also very engaging, and the switches from one POV to the next are handled very smoothly. Without risking spoilers, this is more than just a whodunnit, and I really enjoyed the hidden ‘theme’ that emerges once (some of) the characters start to investigate further.

The mystery itself is very good, with a lot of clues thrown in along the way and very clear exposition at the end to tie up any loose threads. Some of the clues are very hard to miss (sometimes verging on too obvious), so seasoned mystery fans may solve this one quite early on, but the predictability of the ending didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of it! It was still a very satisfying conclusion, and there are some clever red herrings along the way to keep you second-guessing yourself.

I highly recommend this book to any keen murder mystery fans (particularly those who enjoy Agatha Christie), and to anyone who is new to murder mysteries as I think this book is a perfect introduction to how to tackle this genre well!

I will now list some Content Warnings for anyone who finds them helpful, so fair warning to STOP READING HERE TO AVOID MINOR SPOILERS!

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Content Warnings:
- alcohol & drug use
- bereavement, including loss of a parent, child/baby and friend
- bigotry - ageism; chauvinism including GBV; racism; fatphobia
- child sexual abuse (implied)
- disordered eating (including detailed descriptions of self-induced vomiting)
- drowning (described in limited detail)
- mental & physical health - fugue state (multiple instances); panic attacks (multiple instances); depression; visual hallucinations; chronic pain (briefly mentioned)
- police incompetence
- pregnancy, miscarriage & infertility (described in some detail)
- relationship infidelity, relationship break-up/separation/divorce, domestic violence (including semi-detailed description of GBV-related murder), and manipulation & predatory behaviour by a potential/current partner, potentially triggering for emotional abuse
- sexual content (alluded to, not described in detail)
- suicide (mentioned multiple times, not depicted in detail)
- terminal illness - cancer (described in some detail)
- violence and death/murder

A group of people invited to a mysterious dinner party receive envelopes telling them when they will die. Understandably horrified, they are made even more so when one by one some of the members of the dinner group actually meet their deaths subsequently - through a combination of instances of both suspicious and apparently normal circumstances - at the times indicated in the envelopes.

So who, if anyone, could be behind this? And what lies behind be intriguing illustrations each dinner guest discovers next to their plate at the event?

The story starts with an interesting premise that fails to do justice to itself. The characters often seem unlikeable, and perhaps more irritatingly, are often inconsistent. Some judicious edits to shorten the length of the book would also be beneficial. I suspect this novel will appeal to many readers, but it was not for me. It gets 2.5 stars.

I was so excited to read Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests by K J Whittle. I loved the premise of seven random strangers meeting for a posh private dinner at Serendipity in London. At the end of the meal they are each presented with a black envelope which states the age at which each diner with die. They are unnerved and can’t begin to understand what type of person would pull such a prank.

Two weeks later, Stella, an influencer who attended the dinner dies at the age on her card. The remaining group: Vivienne, Tristan, Melvin, Gordon; Matthew and Janet gather in a pub to discuss on the day of her funeral. As group they don’t know what to make of Stella’s death. Then as time passes more each of the dinner guests passes away.

As each death passes, the group still can’t be sure whether the deaths are coincidences or whether something darker is at play. Each individual has a different approach on the situation and how to live their lives following the dinner and each subsequent death. The story moves along at a good pace from each of their point of views, and I found it interesting reading their own perspectives and then the observations of them by the other diners.

Most of the characters were pretty unlikeable, but that was the point. I was drawn to Vivienne and her journey and as I was reading, I was willing that she would make it to the end of the book.

I read the book in a day because I just had to know whodunnit! It kept me on the edge of my seat. I will look out for future books by KJ Whittle.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, HarperNorth, for making this e-ARC available to me in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Seven seemingly unconnected people are invited to a mysterious dinner party and at the end they recieve cards telling them when they will die. And the first card is proven to be correct.

I liked the rotating povs and how each character looked different from different povs. Lots of "and then there were none vibes". The different ways different characters react to knowing their "number" is also well done. The characters aren't particularly likeable but they do feel real and not like caricatures.

I did work out the twist about 40% of the way through but I was interested enough to keep reading to see if I was right.

I'd rate 3.5 if I could but rounding it up as the author is from Cumbria same as me.