On New Year's Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests.
His lakeside holiday homes are a success, and he's generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbours. This will be the party to end all parties.
But not everyone is there to celebrate. By midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake.
On New Year's Day, DC 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, a murder is just the beginning.
What did I think?
You're always guaranteed a good read with a Clare Mackintosh book and The Last Party is no exception. It's the first in a new series and I'm already hooked as I love DC Ffion Morgan and the village of Cwm Coed on the Welsh/English border.
The traditional New Year's Day swim in the lake is disrupted when a body is found floating in it. Not many tears are shed when it's revealed that the body is that of local celebrity Rhys Lloyd. For starters, Rhys has brought the English to Cwm Coed with his controversial development The Shore on the English side of the lake. The tension and distrust of strangers in a small village is beautifully portrayed and it makes every single one of the villagers a suspect.
Ffion has her own demons to deal with and she wears her reputation of being a wild child like a badge of honour, although it has come at a very steep cost. I love Ffion's personality, her flawed character and the way that she meets and interacts with Leo, her partner in this case, is just brilliant. Cheshire police are involved as Rhys lived in England, but his body was found in Wales.
There's just so much to enjoy and devour in this book. Leo's personal and professional life is riveting with his ex-wife holding something over him and his boss being an absolute disgrace. Ffion's covering something up and I was completely thrown off course and blindsided when that all got revealed. As for who killed Rhys...well, you'll just have to read it and find out!
With a plot that would make Agatha Christie envious, Clare Mackintosh delivers once again in her stunning new novel The Last Party. It's an absolutely stunning start to a new series and I am so excited to find out what's next in store for Ffion. An easy five stars - very highly recommended.
I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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About the author:
Clare Mackintosh is the multi-award-winning author of five Sunday Times bestselling novels, including I Let You Go, which was the fastest selling debut thriller in the year it was released. Translated into forty languages, her books have sold more than two million copies worldwide, have been New York Times and international bestsellers and have spent a combined total of 64 weeks in the Sunday Times bestseller chart.
Clare spent twelve years in the police force, including time on CID, and as a public order commander. She left the police in 2011 to work as a freelance journalist and social media consultant and is the founder of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival. She now writes full time and lives in Wales with her husband and their three children.
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