The Dinner Guest

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Pub Date 1 Apr 2021 | Archive Date 17 May 2021

Description

‘Stayed up till past 2am to finish this! Well done, B P Walter – immensely gripping!’ Sophie Hannah, Sunday Times-bestselling author of the Hercule Poirot Mysteries

Four people walked into the dining room that night. One would never leave.

Matthew: the perfect husband.

Titus: the perfect son.

Charlie: the perfect illusion.

Rachel: the perfect stranger.

Charlie didn’t want her at the book club. Matthew wouldn’t listen.

And that’s how Charlie finds himself slumped beside his husband’s body, their son sitting silently at the dinner table, while Rachel calls 999, the bloody knife still gripped in her hand.

Classic crime meets Donna Tartt in this nerve-shredding domestic noir thriller that weaves a sprawling web of secrets around an opulent West London world and the dinner that ends in death.

Praise for The Dinner Guest:

Dark and twisted, The Dinner Guest is a captivating, atmospheric story of secrets and lies set within the world of old-school London money. It had me second-guessing every page. Pure delicious escapism!’ Charlotte Duckworth, bestselling author of The Perfect Father

‘Stayed up till past 2am to finish this! Well done, B P Walter – immensely gripping!’ Sophie Hannah, Sunday Times-bestselling author of the Hercule Poirot Mysteries

Four...

Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780008446086
PRICE £8.99 (GBP)
PAGES 400

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Average rating from 522 members


Featured Reviews

Expect the Unexpected!

What a fabulous thriller! The Dinner Guest is not your usual domestic thriller. As the story starts, we are told of a murder - Charlie's husband's been murdered and Rachel, their dinner guest dialed 999 with a bloody knife gripped in her hand. We then have a series of backstories - Charlie and Mathew's married life, their relationship with Titus (includes a backstory on Titus) and how Rachel 'interfered' in their lives...

The twists are plenty and the suspense keeps one on the edge of their seats. If you think you are smart enough to guess the identity of the killer, think again! The red herrings are sure to take you on the wrong path.

I absolutely loved every bit of this book. Be it the character portrayal or the suspense, B.P Walter has done an excellent job in keeping us readers hooked on to the story till the end. I highly recommend this book.

The Dinner Guest is the THRILLER OF THE YEAR!

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This incredible thriller kept me on the edge of my seat until the last page. The characters draw you in and the plot is fast paced. Readers will definitely enjoy this pick.

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#TheDinnerGuest #NetGalley
A good read. Go for it.
Four people walked into the dining room that night. One would never leave.
Matthew: the perfect husband.
Titus: the perfect son.
Charlie: the perfect illusion.Rachel: the perfect stranger.Charlie didn’t want her at the book club. Matthew wouldn’t listen. And that’s how Charlie finds himself slumped beside his husband’s body, their son sitting silently at the dinner table, while Rachel calls 999, the bloody knife still gripped in her hand.
Thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for giving me an advanced copy.

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The Dinner Guest by B.P. Walter, published by One More Chapter / Harper Collins UK, is not the usual thriller. It's a story that gripped me with both hands, wrapped me in a snuggly blanket of suspense, lead me through twists and turns, and at the end it pulled the carpet of " I think I got eveything sorted out " from under my poor readerfeet. And I enjoyed every second of it. The Dinner Guest is one of the books that makes me read them, cover to cover in one sitting, breathless, unputdownable sitting on the edge of my seat. I mean, who needs sleep anyway.
I started reading and had an insta-connection to all the characters, and that doesn't happen very often, if at all. But the Dinner Guest managed to pull me into their story very easily.
The Dinner Guest is one of my favorite reads in 21, excellent written, with an outstanding storyline and plottwists that I never had expected.
I recommend this book.

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This is one of those great thrillers that keeps your head spinning continuously! Matthew and Charlie have a son Titus who is fifteen. And they have a new "friend" Rachel who seems to insinuate herself into their lives quickly which makes Charlie is suspicious. But during a dinner party, when Rachel confesses to murdering Matthew...well, things get dicey as this happens on the first page! And so begins the tale of secrets, lies, deceptions, adultery, teenage rebellion, and blackmail. What's not to love? This book may keep you up all night but it's totally worth every minute as the ending sucker punches you in the gut! Loved it!

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Loved the murder mystery at a dinner table! Loved all the characters. Really enjoyed reading this one with all the suspense, definitely on the book list for this year.

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The book begins with a dinner party for 4 people that ends with an arrest for murder when one of the 4 is stabbed to death.
Why? That’s the main question and one the book answers with flashbacks over the previous year and using dual narrators of two of the main characters.
Charles, Matthew and their son Titus live an enviable London lifestyle in Kensington - happily married and rich. But life throws a curveball when they literally bump into the mysterious Rachel whilst out shopping. An innocent invitation to the newly arrived-in-London Rachel means that she joins Matthew’s book club, starting off a chain of events, culminating in a plan for revenge....
I couldn’t put this book done. Would recommend. Thank you NetGalley for my copy.

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A very different mystery, one that keeps the reader interested and intrigued throughout. written at different times by different characters and perspectives . The story is simple which makes it so intriguing and very much a page turner. A man killed at a dinner, one person confesses to the murder, but did the person kill him and why.
Very good, kept my interest to the end.

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Unbelievably good book.

I was gripped from the first sentence and deeply regretted every moment I had to set it down as I raced to the last.

I just HAD to know what the circumstances were leading to the fateful night and I wasn't slightly disappointed when I got there.

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book. It was my pleasure to write an honest review.

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This was my first book of this author. Being a thriller fan, I was surprised that I never heard of him. I am glad I can devour his previous books as he became my favorite author with this remarkable book which had all the elements one look in the psychological thriller and I was thoroughly entertained by it.

This book is brilliant, compelling, engrossing, riveting and captivated (more superlatives needed here to do justice to this book) me from the first page. Rachel has wormed into the lives of the couple Matthew and Charlie living with their teenage son Titus in a rich neighborhood in London. Charlie was skeptical and suspicious about her. Matthew was taken by her so he invited her to their book club. This starts with Rachel being invited to dinner at their house where she kills Matthew and then confesses to the police.

First of all, who is Rachel? Did she really kill him? If so, why? Why has she infiltrated into their lives? What’s Charlie hiding as he fears Rachel might reveal something that puts their lives in jeopardy? There were more questions racing through my mind and had me turning the pages at the lightning speed to find answers.

Walter’s brilliance is clearly evident how tightly he constructed the plot, kept the suspense throughout the book, and thrilled me with the reveals. There are many twists and turns. It was beyond my ability to work out the motivations behind these characters’ actions. Oh boy, appearances can be so deceptive.

The leading characters are all utterly dreadful. I found it very hard to like/feel sorry for the fate befell on Charlie as he is snobbish, utterly obnoxious, and lives in his little bubble. I sympathize with him in only one instance.

Loved the format of the book. Alternated between point of views of Charlie and Rachel in two timelines: After the Murder and Before the murder and leading up to it. Each timeline detailing the present and past stories and both were connected seamlessly. When something is revealed in the present either through the investigation or characters’ musings/fears then the story switches to the past to give the reader a complete picture.

Overall, this is one of the best books I’ve read this year and would highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK/ One More Chapter for providing a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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