This was a speedy, unputdownable read for me. I won't go into the plot but here are the elements I enjoyed:

Themes of privilege and elitism.
Misguided and nasty characters who commit bad deeds. I also loved the fact that their choices do not go unpunished. Karma bites back and no one is left unscathed.
Fast-moving plot with many twists.
The darkness and mess behind a perfectly curated social media account.

I enjoyed this and look forward to reading more by the author.

4 Stars. I couldn't put this book down. The story centers around the lives of four characters and how they become intertwined. Right from the beginning we know what happens but we don't know why. The remaining chapters switch back and forth between before the incident and right after the incident told from both Charlie and Rachel's point of view. It was more of a slow burner that had you flipping pages to try and determine where it was going. I thought the last couple of chapters really pulled it all together in regards to motive and the Epilogue was great. Would read more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for my advanced copy.

It’s dinner time!

Grab your place setting and take a seat at the table for this twisty domestic thriller! Matthew, Charlie, Titus and Rachel are all in attendance. When Matthew is stabbed and murdered, Rachel says she did it. Or did she?

The Dinner Guest is a slow burn domestic thriller that will have you guessing until the end! Told by alternating narrators and through multiple timelines, the story goes back and forth detailing the lead up to the murder. Be prepared that the first half of the story moves very slowly, with an abundance of references to the names of the houses and neighborhoods where the characters live. Being American, unfortunately these references were lost on me, but I get it, they are posh and snobby! Needless to say, I had a difficult time getting through it until the 50% mark. While it does pick up pace quite a bit and I was surprised at the complete change in all of the characters, I was unfortunately let down by the final reveal. It is not the kind of WHY that the reader will figure out, as it is seemingly out of left field and not entirely believable. Kudos to Walter for pulling one over on me! However, I was disappointed that all of the characters turned out to be completely detestable.

Overall, this is a very intriguing mystery with a clever premise, but just fell short for me in the end.

3.5/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the ARC of The Dinner Guest by BP Walter in exchange for an honest review.

The Dinner Guest was a great character thriller that had me reading this in just a day as I couldn’t for the life of me think where this was going, obviously I had my thoughts but they were kicked to the ground pretty early on.
This is definitely a book best going in with as little knowledge as possible, that’s what I did and I really enjoyed knowing nothing. I liked how the chapters were from the three main characters so you got a better insight into their characters and that the chapters were labelled before the killing leading up in months and after the killing. I can’t say I was a huge fan of a couple of the characters but I think because if that it made it a better read.
I would like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins UK. One More Chapter for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

THE DINNER GUEST by B.P. Walter was a fast-paced luxurious mystery. The identity of the players involved in the final whodunit are revealed right away, and the rest of the book slowly unravels their secrets.

I loved that this book had multiple timelines - before the murder and after - and also really enjoyed the multiple perspectives. Like I mentioned before, this book was fast-paced and was constantly moving the reader, whether that was ahead or behind because there was A LOT of catching up to do! The characters were all extremely interesting, but, as a reader, I found them difficult to trust.

There were several side plot points that I didn’t really enjoy, though I understand their intention was to add some unease to the story, but they feel a bit unnecessary upon reflection. The overall motive for the murder also fell a bit flat for me. I think there were many other ways it could have gone that would have been more believable.

Overall, this was an extremely intriguing mystery with a lot of secrets, but it still fell a bit short in terms of the overall execution.

Publication Date: April 01, 2021

*** special thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review ***

Posted to Goodreads and The StoryGraph: 03/11/21
Posted to Instagram (Bookstagram): 04/01/21

I was at first wondering if this book was going to be quite predictable as I already had my suspicions with some of the characters. I was pleasantly surprised at the direction that this novel actually did take! This is a fresh and original book which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Rachel confesses the murder of Matthew but nothing is as it seems. Charlie and Matthew, affluent spouses with a teenage son, live the perfect lifestyle of high society. And who is Rachel, she comes in their lives all of the sudden.

But this world, as any other, is full of lies, jealousy, control, revenge and passion.

Really gripping thriller, characters are very believable and well developed and the story is in parts shocking.

Great read!

Had I reviewed this at the 50% mark, I almost certainly would have given it 5 stars. The alternating perspectives and changing timelines — devices which I usually find really distracting — worked well to build suspense and create tension. However, the second half of the book dragged for me. All of that buildup seemed to fizzle, and the few twists didn't provide much impact. Additionally, I struggled with believing the motivations for some of the characters, and was left wondering what happened to others.

This was my first book from this author and it definitely won’t be my last. This book was full of twists and an ending that I did not see coming. This book is unique and definitely worth a read.

Four people walked into the dining room…but one would never leave…at least not alive…

Told from multiple points of view with a deadly countdown, The Dinner Guest is a highly character driven mystery with the cast having so many secrets, you will be guessing the motive behind the murder up till the very last page! Dear reader, I thought for sure I had it all plotted out, but the author reminded me that revenge is a dish best served cold.

I’ll not spoil the fun in solving the mystery in a review…you will just have to snag your own copy! Loved and highly recommend!




**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

**Many thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK/One More Chapter, and B.P. Walter for an ARC of this book!**

Whatever you do, even if you think your plate is already overflowing, save room for this absolutely juicy thriller which would put even the most sizzling piece of steak to shame!

Charlie and Matt are married, co-parenting teenaged son Titus who they are raising as their own, when Matthew decides to bring in book club newbie Rachel to share a meal. She has slowly been creeping further and further into their little world...but why? And when Matt is viciously murdered at dinner, WHY is she so quick to make the 999 call to confess to cold-blooded murder?

Trust me, this is all the setup you'll need to dive headfirst into this shocking and suspenseful tale, replete with everything from underhanded characters, dual timelines which slowly divulge details at the perfect pace to keep the reader guessing, devastating secrets aplenty, and an absolute knockout ending! I'll be honest, I thought I had this story figured out at about 25%...and I was COMPLETELY wrong. Luckily, I think this says less for my shoddy detective skills and more for the absolute talent of BP Walter to baffle and confuse his reader! When it comes to thrillers, I almost enjoy being wrong more than being right, and the hits don't stop coming until the very last chapter. I also love a thriller that leaves the story a little bit open-ended, because whether the author pens a sequel or not, it's always fun to speculate the next steps for our characters....the ones still ALIVE, of course!

This is one thriller that will leave you ravenous for more...and I'm already waiting for BP Walter's next book! (and maybe a fabulous piece of devil's food cake to go along with it!) 4 stars

I know how this is about to sound, but I liked this, but I just didn't LOVE it. 3.5 stars!

This book opens with a bang as we find that Matthew has been stabbed to death during dinner in his own home. The non-deceased guest list includes Charlie (Matthew's husband), Titus (Charlie and Matthew's son) and Rachel (a woman that Charlie and Matthew have only just met. Rachel phones the police while clutching the bloody knife and the reader is quickly made a aware that Rachel is not the person that killed Michael.

In alternating POVs from Charlie and Rachel, the story unfolds and we learn about everyone's secrets/dark pasts in the typical "who dunnit" fashion. Not a bad read, I just sort of lost interest by the time the big reveal came about towards the end.

Good page Turner ,lots of wonderfully dislikeable weak characters and a fun read of why they did it .
It didn’t really make sense to me she wd give in and do what she did ,I’d be like Phew someone else got there first and wouldn’t feel had to spend some time away to atone for my plan personally and she clearly was making decisions that effected others still so why take a moral decision in the end when she’s still v immoral in managing them like puppets after the fall out .
I enjoyed it but is average thriller so three stars .I would look at other novels of this author to pass the time ty netgalley and publishers for the advanced copy

I was on the edge of my seat for this entire book! I thought it was fast paced, and I liked the back & forth with the timeline. I thought all the characters were well-written & unlikeable - I just wanted to know who was going to get away with what. I kept trying to guess what was going to happen next & was never able to do so.

Big thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins and One More Chapter for this much appreciated ARC in exchange for an honest review

4.5 ⭐️ stars/5
Holy wow was this novel a gripping psychological thriller!
It started out on a good and fast pace and executed the introduction to each character very well. As the story goes on, we are fed small puzzle pieces of what happened at that fateful dinner that four walked into and only 3 left alive. I genuinely couldn’t put it down, I even brought it with me to work to sneak in a few pages of reading.
It’s been awhile since I’ve read a book that has kept me guessing like this one has. The changing between POV definitely added a lot to the suspense as we’re able to slowly realize what led to the events of the murder of Charlie’s husband. A few plot points, I believe, were a little convoluted and weren’t completely necessary in my opinion but nonetheless we were delivered a solid novel with characters that dabbled in a very gray area. The conclusion did leave a few loose ends and introduced us to a character we only briefly saw mentioned earlier and didn’t get a true feel for but it felt as though one could fill in the blanks yourself to determine what was to come after the final page.
I would recommend this book to fans of any who-done-it’s and mystery/psychological thrillers like The Silent Patient.

The Dinner Guest is set to be released on April 1st, 2021.

The Dinner Guest by B P Walter is a thriller where four attend a dinner, but only 3 leave alive. The story is told from the POV'S of the two main suspects, Charlie the husband and Rachel the new friend. How well do you really know those sitting across from you at the dinner table?

From false confessions to navigating British society, readers are in for a wild ride. With the dual perspectives and changes in timeline, this is one book I recommend not skimming over any passages or pages.

The Dinner Guest will be available for retail April 2021.

A special thanks to everyone at NetGalley, HarperCollinsuk and OneMoreChapterhc for this arc.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable, well written thriller. I have found many thrillers in the past to be very mediocre in terms of the writing quality, so this was an immediate plus for me. I have read lots of thrillers in my time, and would consider it to be my favourite genre - therefore, finding something surprising and refreshing is very pleasing!

The storyline was twisty and full of surprises, most of which I didn't see coming. I enjoyed where the storyline was leading me in terms of who the killer was, and I didn't find any of the twists and turns to be especially obvious.

One thing that surprised about this book (in the best way!) was the surprisingly attentive discussion of social class issues; most of the characters are upper-middle class, and the way they perceived Rachel, a working-class Northerner, is a key part of both Charlie and Rachel's narrative. I enjoyed the handling of social-class issues in the story - clearly, there is a lot of prejudice towards Rachel and other important characters, purely because of her class and background, and assumptions are made about characters being involved in some unsavoury things based on their class.

It was refreshing to see a gay couple feature front and centre in a thriller novel too. I find most domestic thrillers centre on husband and wife relationships, which I find can become really repetitive once you have read a few. It is always a positive to me if characters are more diverse in a story, so the LGBT representation was great.

I enjoyed the dual narrative aspect of the story. However, Charlie was generally a more fully-realised and well rounded character in my opinion. I would have liked to see some more hints dropped about his violent tendencies throughout the novel, though.

I found Rachel to be an interesting, albeit less convincing, character. Her reasons for the actions she took at the end of the novel didn't seem to be totally convincing or realistic unfortunately.

Similarly, I found Titus to be an odd character. He seemed to undergo a total personality transplant over the course of the story; I'm unsure whether his good boy persona was supposed to be an act or not. The obsession with sex and becoming a party boy later in life seemed like an abrupt change - this change occurring more subtly and slowly may have made for a more convincing character development.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable domestic thriller, and the cliffhanger ending was fantastic! I would gladly pick up another thriller by B P Walter.

Ooh, this was good - I had absolutely no idea where this was going, I just sat back and thoroughly enjoyed this twisty tale which is a cross between a whodunnit and whydunnit (not sure if that's an actual thing!)

Charlie and Matthew's perfect life with their adopted son, Titus is thrown into turmoil when they meet Rachel in a book shop and invite her to Matthew's book club. Charlie dislikes he on sight, Matthew accuses him of being a snob, but there is something to be said for gut instinct...as Rachel confesses to Matthew's murder.

Then, everything you think you know or suspect is turned on it's head. Excellent writing and characters that get under your skin. The teenage angst and sexual awakening of Titus was particularly well written.

The rollercoaster ending still leaves you with questions at the end, Rachel might have confessed, but she is holding all the cards!

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

How enticing was the synopsis – a dinner party where four people sit down for dinner, but only 3 survive. A real Agatha Christie like hook. To add to the resemblance of the Golden Age author, the action is set in the elite landscape of the rich and privileged; with their opulent accommodation set in the very best locations in London and, of course, their country piles. Their social gatherings allow the participants to shine and glisten in their traditional habitat of the rich, powerful and famous. Charlie and his husband Matthew and their son Titus are very much part of this set and all is well in their world – or is it? Then in the best of the tradition the other is introduced; the outsider in the form of Rachel – who is the dinner guest at this fateful gathering.

Of course, Rachel is not part of the wealthy set, she lives close by but on a council estate – in little more than a cupboard but somehow she has managed to break into their circle, by virtue of joining their book club. And lo and behold by virtue of meeting the elite her circumstances change and she becomes a companion to a wealthy member of the book club and moves into her beautiful house.

We learn all of this from two sources – Rachel and Charlie the narrators who reveal the background, hint at secrets and motivation and propel the story onwards. In doing so we learn about the characters – their strengths, their weaknesses, their pasts.

We discover that these people are flawed, each and every one of them – even 15 year old Titus who is introduced as a polite, hard-working, studious boy but as the plot unveils shows him to be selfish, indulged and spoilt – much like the adults that surround him.

So, what did I think? As the plot unfolds I really didn’t like the characters, I didn’t like their spoilt, indulgent lives with their multiple residences. But I didn’t like Rachel, the ‘other’, either. I felt she was secretive, duplicitous, manipulative and not entirely safe, but I was curious about her motivation. What was she hiding, what was her connection to this family?

Oh, and I did like the book, quite a lot actually. I couldn’t figure out why Charlie didn’t trust Rachel; couldn’t figure out why Matthew was so interested in her; more importantly I couldn’t figure out what was going on with Titus, why were Rachel and him so close? Secrets and lies.
A really easy read, easy to pick up and get straight back into the action.

All in all, a good domestic thriller (using the term loosely as my ‘domestic’ is nothing like their domestic). A thoroughly enjoyable read.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

This was so compelling right from the first page. I love a book where you’re thrown straight into the action. I’m a fan of alternating timelines to before and after, I find they keep a story moving and this was done so well. The jumping between time and characters meant that just as you thought you were about to get the answers you were back to before the murder, which I found kept me really engaged.

Trying to work out who Rachel is and why she’s trying to worm her way into the family kept me captivated throughout.

Overall I liked the ending, I liked the explanation of Rachel and Matthews shared background. However, I didn’t like the revelation that it was Charlie, I felt that the fact he has a history of violent thoughts was very abrupt and there was nothing throughout to indicate that which might have made the ending more satisfying.