The beginning of this book and its premise drew me in - who isn't interested in a group of friends who share their lives, until one day they disagree on how to act when they are witness to a dreadful act.

Although I enjoy reading about unpleasant characters, they do have to have redeeming features, which no-one does in The Guilty Party.

Cassie (the people pleaser) Anna, Bo and Dex are the four friends who have known each other for 15 years since university. They attend a music festival on Cassie's birthday and see a young woman being attacked. Her body is found in the river the following day but while Cassie feels they should inform the police, she is persuaded not to. The title is apt as each and everyone is guilty in some way for what has happened to the young woman.

However, the plot is convoluted and confusing to follow at times. By the end when I was supposed to be shocked by the reveal of final secrets and events I felt nothing. Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Not my cup of tea couldn’t make heads or tails about the whole thing didn’t even realise that two of the friends were men it was very unrealistic I couldn’t connect to any of the characters or plot it says some of them were married with children so who was looking after them !!!

The Guilty Party
Mel McGrath
Publisher: Harper Collins

This story intrigued and repelled me in equal measure. The 4 lead characters are flawed and unlikeable but the twists and turns drew me in and lead to an unpredictable satisfying ending. Different.

I’d like to thank the author, publisher and netgalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Once I got used to the timeline in this book (read the chapter headings carefully!) I realised how very clever this book is plot-wise. Yes, the four main characters are hard to connect with, due mostly to them all being a bit horrid in personality, but also cos we really don't get to know them very well at the beginning so a connection was hard to established. But, I persevered and, as more from the past came out, I started to gel to them as people even if I still didn't really like any of them in any way, shape or form!
We have four friends at a festival. As more is revealed, they have all taken very different path in their coming together and the actions they take at the beginning of the story, when they witness the crime becomes more and more believable. I can't say too much more about the book as to do so would break the spell of the very clever weaving of past into present, which basically is the whole point of the story.
I did have to read a lot through confusion but there was just enough key information imparted at exactly the right moments to keep me going and, when the whole, really rather shocking, truth came out I was a bit gobsmacked, horrified and appalled. To say that I really couldn't figure out where we were going was an understatement and that made for a breath of fresh air for me as I do find that books can get a bit samey and I tend to guess early which doesn't make for a good read. Here, I just lapped up every twist and turn as it was delivered at quite a pace, especially as we raced to the end. An end that, when I reached it, was exhausting. And satisfying.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This is an unusual idea for a story which is both a murder mystery as well as an intriguing analysis of the interactions of four friends. Make sure you read the date line at the start of every chapter! The group members are faced basically with the decision between group loyalty and doing the honest thing! The way it all unravels makes for compulsive reading.

When friends Cassie, Anna, Bo and Rex are at a music festival they witness an assault on a woman and do nothing about it. What motivates them to keep silent?

All 4 friends go away for the weekend to celebrate Bo’s birthday. They are a strange group of friends who had dated one another but then became close friends over the years. Well I say friends but at times are more like frenemies?
Quote “Ties between us had always carried the seeds of rottenness and destruction”

I loved the way this was written. Just when you are about to discovered what really happened at the music festival, the next page is a different timeline so you have to wait until the next chapter. A very clever way to keep the suspense going!!

So many secrets and lies. I loved this book and was totally addicted from page 1. I wouldn’t be friends with any of them in real life, but I was fascinated with how they kept secrets and justified their lies to each other and to themselves.

I wasn’t sure how this book would end and there were plenty of twists that at times had me shouting out loud, wanting to tell anybody in my vicinity what had just happened, whether they wanted to hear it or not!!

A must read book that finishes with the moral question
‘If you had been there what would you have done?”
“And are you sure?”

Well this book definitely had me thinking about it after reading it and I will 100% be reading another by Mel McGrath.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

It's ok to have a book with characters you hate, but they need to be the sort of character you love to hate, and to delight in their wickedness. The characters in this book were always going to struggle to redeem themselves after the book opens on a shocking scene and their lack of action, but they only ever came across as selfish, spoiled and mediocre. I struggled to believe that the group were still such good friends when they have little in common and are, at best, irritated by one another, at worst, hate one another.
I could have perhaps ignored this if the plot were gripping, but it was not only incredibly contrived, but there were sections that just meandered and felt like filler. There were also bits i had to read again; Bo's ability to grab car keys out of his pocket that only 5 minutes earlier had been left in his car, Cassie's sex with Will that she describes as the first time since Dec, but somehow she has also managed to add plenty of post-coital photos to the Black Book. This was exacerbated by the timeline told in reverse contrasted with the present day.

Not one for me, but my thanks go to Net Galley and the publishers for the chance to read an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Instantly sucks you in and doesn't let you go until you reach the conclusion. A dark tale about adulthood in the noughties. Brilliantly imaginative andhas you hanging on every word. Who did what? Where were they? What were they up to? And most importantly, what would you do in the same circumstances?

I wasn't overly impressed with this book, I found it confusing in places and repeated itself quite a bit - that's why I could only rate it 2/5

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher Harper Collins for the ARC.
As a start, I would say that this book is misnamed - should have been 'Secrets and Lies'.
Cassie, Anna, Bo and Dex - four friends since university - become The Group. Despite husband/wife/girlfriend/ boyfriend they still, after 15 years or so, meet up when they can, primarily now on birthdays. Cassie's birthday in mid-August sees them at a music festival in Wapping; Bo's birthday sees them at a rental cottage on the Isle of Portland 6 weeks later end of September.
After the August festival all four of them were involved in witnessing a violent attack on a woman in an alleyway but they all walked away. They all have their reasons for doing so, and these are revealed slowly as reverse-flashbacks leading up to that event, from each 'friends' point of view. The reason why is because Cassie has put a name to the body found in the Thames, a name to the woman being attacked in August in the alley - she wants to somehow talk about it, but her friends keep rebuffing her attempts. The Group has to stick together. Slowly the timelines for each person take us back to their individual reasons for not discussing the 'incident'. Psychopathy and Sociopaths come to mind. Throw in drugs, rape, attempted murder, a tiny bit of romance, and the Group's hidden 'Big Black Book' and you have a complex plot.
I didn't find this to be pleasant reading in any way, shape or form, however, it was intriguing and, with quite a lot of concentration I could follow the reverse-timelines and appreciate the writer's artistry in the story's creation. If this were on TV, with the flashbacks which only take moments to convey that which the narrative prolongs, it would have been easier to digest. However, not entirely my cup of tea but recognise the effort the author has gone to, to present the story in this way.

This book started off promising but didn't keep me hooked. I couldn't have cared less about the characters and what happened to the, I finished it reluctantly but wouldn't recommend as I got very confused as to what was going on.

Very gripping. And very surprising. This didn't go how I was expecting it to, and it was very clever how the author tied all the threads together and how everything matched. A few cliches in the characters to be honest - I felt like they were all a little bit of stereotypes and I'd seen them before, but a good story nonetheless. Really enjoyable.

A great read I was really surprised at the end when understood where all the narratives from characters had been said.
Cassie, Anna, Bo and Dex have been friends for years and nothing will tear them apart, they love and trust each other, or do they!!!
After all witnessing an attack and they do nothing the cracks begin to show. They go away to a cottage where the truth of what happened that night preceding the attack comes to light.
Cassie realises she doesn't really know her friends but is it too late for her to escape the group!!!

This sounded like a fabulous read. Four friends witness a vicious attack one night, but, do nothing and the story is how they each deal with that fact and the detail of the attack. However, I'm afraid, I didn't enjoy it. None of the friends are likeable and the story meanders and is difficult at times to follow.
All in all, a disappointing read.

Thanks to Netgally and the publishers for the opportunity to preview in exchange for this honest review.

I want sure at first as it seemed to jump about but when I got into it I really enjoyed it. It kept me guessing and so at the end I couldn’t put it down.

The Guilty Party was enjoyable in that way that only a truly sick psychological thriller is. I found the storyline dark and depressing, I had to take a few time outs since it was getting to me so much!

So why 2/5? I found the writing lacking. I also did not like the need to push on readers that Cassie is the only "good" one out of her group of friends, in reality Cassie is just as flawed and evil as the group she surrounds herself with. Also the final page was ridiculous not as ridiculous as the last two lines though...I mean come on are you serious?!? I don't know if Mel McGrath became so wrapped up in her story that it seemed a reasonable way to end but any average joe knows what they would do if they saw a woman being raped.

Review was originally a 3/5 but I've angered myself writing this. Overall it was a good plot I just hated the last page and characters.

This is a story about 4 friends who witness an assault on a young woman & do nothing to help. The woman's body is then discovered in the river.

I found it very hard to like the characters & couldn't really see how there friendship survived the span of time.

Not my cup of tea

On the way home from a night out after a music festival, four friends witness something that they choose to ignore. Why?
Anna, Bo, Luke and Cassie have been friends and sometime partners since university. They have all gone their separate ways but still meet to catch up every now and then.
Following the event they witness, they rent a cottage for a long weekend. Cassie is struggling with her conscience about not helping and when it is reported that a young woman’s body has been found drowned she is sure it is the same woman they saw on the way back after the festival.
The relationship between the friends becomes strained and it is clear that they each had their reasons for not helping on that fateful night. But who is telling the truth?
I engaged with this story but am not convinced by the inaction shown by the group - especially Cassie.
A good read!

Finally! A novel that isn’t predictable in any way. At the risk of using a cliche, this really is a tightly woven plot. The characters are deliberately unlikable, but there is a side to Cassie that somehow has you wanting her to come out of this in tact. The thing is, she’s meant to be flawed and as the novel deepens this is an interesting point of exploration. It was a little dark throughout with no real light moments but a good read nonetheless,

Four friends escape for a weekend, to celebrate a birthday.

But celebrations at a music festival for a previous birthday were marred by being witness to a rape.

None of the four did anything to help.

The woman found dead in the river, now has an identity.

Can any of the four feel guilty about not helping? Or did they know more than they have said?

The celebrations at the weekend away are told chronologically going forward..

The celebrations at the music festival are told sequentially going backwards from the witness of the crime.

I found this book very dark and depressing in places and this made it a bit of a slog to get through it. The characters were not likeable, whilst I think that added to the story in some ways it did mean that you never felt any particular empathy and certainly no sympathy with any of them.

An interesting concept as a plotline which kept me hooked to the story as it unfolds forward and backwards, you start to see what each person might have done and what role they may have played. But ultimately they didn't do anything or did they?

This author is new to me, and whilst perhaps this wasn't a book that ticked all the boxes for me, I would be interested to read what else she was written.