The Last Party

The Last Party is set around the murder of a local celebrity at a New Year's Eve party in a small, posh vacation community in rural Wales. The Welsh locale is atmospheric, and the suspect list is long which will keep readers second guessing the identity of the murderer.

Admittedly, the Welsh names were a mouthful for this Canadian, and even though I initially mispronounced many of the names in my head (Cwm Coed and even Ffion's name), I enjoyed taking the time to look up a few pronunciations to better understand this language which is part of my (albeit far back) Welsh heritage.

The Last Party felt more like a domestic drama/murder mystery than psychological thriller with a cast that had more than its fair share of dark secrets. Mackintosh provides many twists and red herrings that kept me guessing the identity of the culprit and the underlying conflicts/pasts of the townspeople and the residents of the posh Shore community added to the tension and mystery.

But it took me a long time to get into the story. The pacing is very slow and while the first half of the book gave me enough to keep me interested, it wasn't until just after the halfway mark that I felt things click and I was really pulled in. I enjoyed getting perspectives from multiple characters but there was a repetitive, drawn out feel as we witness the same scenes from different POVs. Add in a very large cast which was hard to keep straight, and the nonlinear timeline and things got a bit muddled at times. 

This was an entertaining, multilayered mystery in a beautiful setting, that was a quieter, slower burn read than I was expecting. I enjoyed the police team of Ffion, a detective from Wales and Leo, a detective from England (and their unique meet up and chemistry) and look forward to reading more books featuring them and the beauty of Wales in the future.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for my complimentary digital copy of this book which was provided in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Author: Clare Mackintosh

Genre: Suspense

Type and Source: eBook from publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

First Published: November 8, 2022

Book Description from GoodReads: At midnight, one of them is dead.

By morning, all of them are suspects.

It's a 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 neighbors.

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 neighbors, 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.