Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Matthew is stabbed to death in his own home, surrounded by his husband Charlie, son Titus, and family friend Rachel. The book begins with Rachel calling the police, while holding the knife, proceeding to confess to the murder. The book then goes back to review the past year through the eyes of Charlie and Rachel with the occasional post murder chapter.

This sort of closed room mystery should have been sort of boring when there are only 3 people that can be guilty. I hesitated to request it based on this concern and the mention of Donna Tartt in the blurb, whose Goldfinch I was deterred from reading after hearing multiple reviews detailing how wordy and boring it was. I am glad I overcame those concerns and requested this one. It was really really good. I had to know who actually killed Matthew and why. This is one of the best books I have read this year, granted it is only February, but the point is that I really enjoyed it. I read it in a day, and I will not hesitate to read more from this author.

This new mystery novel grabbed me on the first page. BPW lays out the bloody plot at the dinner table in Matthew and Charlie's home in a wealthy London neighborhood. Rachel, an unwelcome guest, is there, and Titus, the son, stands in the doorway. The unraveling of how and why this murder happened is a well-written novel.

Different time frames from before and after the murder and various points of view make this a fuel-filled read, and I loved it. Rachel's intentions are clear from the beginning, but why she wants revenge is a mystery up to the very end. Matthew and Charlie love each other, but they also have secrets. Titus, the sweet fifteen-year-old, is loyal and loving, and both fathers do their best in raising a child who lost his parents when he was an infant.

The plot's downward spiraling is riveting, and I recommend this novel to anyone who loves a murder mystery. It gets more intriguing right up to the last page.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this e-ARC.

4.66 stars

The Dinner Guest grabs you from the first page – How can you turn away from a book that starts with a murder? The short answer is you cannot.

On the first chapter we are introduced to Rachel, who’s calling 999, knife in hand and confessing to the murder of Matthew. We also meet Charlie, Matthew’s husband, and their son, Titus. Everyone is shaken by the events.

Not long after the readers are teased to wonder if Rachel had indeed killed Matthew and wonder why shed confess if she had not! We get the full picture through the POVs of Charlie and Rachel from both the time leading up to the murder and the events following the murder.

The Dinner Guest was such a good thriller, it’s impossible not to keep reading. I was emotionally invested in the lives of the characters as much as I was in the mystery. Walter did an amazing job in developing characters. He also was a master in pacing this book, he slowed down when he needed to and gave us action when necessary.

I am a cis female, but I simply adored how he centered this book around a male couple and their son. I feel that their characters were amazing, and their relationship felt real. It read like an author being respectful, not at all like an author trying to be “woke”.


I also have to say that he played mostly fair, and it read like a contemporary/psychological thriller. I feel that fans of Donna Tartt and Leïla Slimani will love this book.

There is one chapter I feel did not add much to the plot enhancement. I won’t go into more details as I don’t want to spoil the book, but this didn’t take away from my thorough enjoyment of The Dinner Guest.

Thank you, B. P. Walter, One More Chapter and NetGalley for allowing to read The Dinner Guest before its release in exchange for an honest review.

#thedinnerguest #netgalley

This book is quite a thrilling ride, a nerve-tingling psychological thriller that stands out from the usual, generic novels of the genre due to its magnificent story structure and the exceptional handling of the double timeline narrative by the author, B. P. Walter. The Dinner Guest is Walter's third novel and his best so far, a captivating story tackling many significant themes such as class discrimination, infidelity, betrayal, the stereotypes through which we are used to judge the others, the horrors and disastrous consequences of drug addiction, and many others. All the above angles are smoothly wrapped into a gripping, twisty plot that keeps the reader on their toes, trying to guess the truth about the characters, the possible connections between them, and, of course, who is the real culprit of the crime which is described in the first chapter and kickstarts the book. The novel is divided into two major parts: in the first one the story is set, and the suspense is kept at high levels as we follow the voices of the two narrators who describe from their own point of view the events that led to the perpetration of the murder, while in the second the tempo gets quicker and every obscure plot point is explained thoroughly and in a completely satisfying manner before the story reaches its climax in the last few pages.

In the novel's beginning we read as a young man, Matthew, is getting stabbed in the kitchen of his house and dies after struggling for a while. There are three people present at the house at the time: Charlie, Matthew's husband, Titus, their adopted son, and Rachel, an enigmatic woman whose role remain unknown and her connection to the family is revealed as the plot evolves. Rachel confesses to the police that she killed Matthew, but she denies to reveal the motive for the murder. In the next chapter, the reader is transferred a year back in time, when Charlie bumps into Rachel in a bookstore. Their first meeting seems to be random, even though Charlie, as himself admits in his narration, is instantly suspicious of her behavior and possible motives. Rachel digs her way into Matthew's and Charlie's life slowly and meticulously, first by participating in Matthew's book club meetings which are held in his house, and then by saving Titus from a gang of juvenile delinquents who try to mug him in broad daylight in a dodgy London neighborhood. She seems to be specifically interested in Titus and attempts to approach the teenage boy who likes her and wants to befriend her. Charlie tries to warn Matthew of the possible risks that Rachel's behavior entail, but he can't convince his husband who sees nothing wrong with their new friend and accuses Charlie of being a snob.

The fact that Rachel's intrusion into Matthew's family is chronicled by herself as one of the two main narrators adds up to the overall suspense as she lets the reader know enough to create an overwhelming sense of suspense , while at the same time holding back her true motivation and reasoning behind her actions. A bitterness and eagerness for revenge permeates Rachel's point of view and her character's struggle to adapt to the big city life in central London further emphasizes her working class background and the difficult financial situation she is in. On the other hand, Charlie's point of view is filled with descriptions of his posh lifestyle, his seemingly perfect family life, the idyllic relationship with Matthew and his daily activity as an Instagram influencer. Charlie's background is totally different than Rachel's as he comes from a wealthy family with a lot of high-level business connections and he never had to earn anything during his lifetime. The contrast between the two narrators' personalities makes the story feel more tense, even though both of the characters aren't particularly likeable. The reader cannot root for either of them as their flaws are evident and exposed by the author who doesn't want the reader to identify easily with them

Chronologically, the narration jumps backwards and forwards in time with the event of the murder being the fixed point from which the story extends in the past and the future. The past narration is more dominant as it covers the larger part of the book, though there are some interjected chapters where we witness what happened after Matthew's murder and the effect of the terrible event to Charlie, Titus and Rachel. We know from the beginning that even though Rachel had confessed to the crime, she is not the real culprit, so the reader has to guess who is the most probable perpetrator: Charlie, Titus or another person for whom we know nothing about? And why is Rachel willing to take the fall for such a serious offence? The answers to the above questions will be answered throughout the second part of the novel where past secrets and lies resurface and every piece of the puzzle falls into place as the connections between the characters become clearer and everything begins to make sense. I didn't guess correctly the guilty party and I was fascinated to read the final few pages of The Dinner Guest where a string of effective plot twists make the reader dizzy until the finale.

I think that this is a novel that will be greatly appreciated by fans of crime writers such as Shari Lapena, Mark Edwards, Ruth Ware, or even Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay. I've never read a book by B. P. Walter and my first experience proved to be more than gratifying. I will certainly keep an eye on his latest work and I will definitely devour his next novel. It is rare to encounter such an exquisite domestic thriller featuring a splendid combination between multiple perspective and double timeline narrative. The characters are well-outlined and the atmosphere that pervades the story is so gripping and suspenseful that renders the book unputdownable. I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Matthew and Charlie meet Rachel, a young woman who tells them she is new to London when on impulse Matthew invited her to his weekly book club meeting. Charlie is unhappy at this stranger being invited in to their home and how quickly she becomes part of their lives and suspicious of her relationship with their son Titus. Now his husband is lying dead at the dinner table and Rachel calls to report the death and confess. ( in blurb of book, not a spoiler!)
Wow this was a great find! The book alternates between the time leading up to the murder and the days after dropping background and if you think you know where the story is headed you are wrong.
Brilliantly plotted, with secrets and lies that keep the reader guessing .
Thank you to #netgalley and #harpercollinsUK for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. This is scheduled for release in May 27,2021.

Perfect for fans of Alice Feeney, Jennifer Hillier

Rachel, working a dead-end job at a garden centre, is mindlessly scrolling Instagram. And then she sees something which makes her sit up. She quits her job, ends her lease, and moves to London – intent on finding the family she saw in the photo.

And as luck would have it, she does. The Allerton-Joneses are browsing a bookshop in their native Kensington, and Rachel engineers the perfect accidental meeting. From then on, she steadily ingratiates herself into their inner circle. But such a manoeuvre is not without its challenges. Whilst Matthew and Charlie Allerton-Jones are from the upper-echelons of British society, the very definition of being born with a silver spoon, Rachel’s meagre savings stretch to renting on a scary housing estate in Pimlico. Their fine dining and housekeeper-cooked meals contrast sharply with her discount Sainsbury’s pizzas. But Rachel knows she has to persevere with her plan, whatever the cost.

‘It’s a mirage. A charade. Stacks of money in concrete form, that’s all. Rows of houses filled with people who haven’t a clue about the horrors of this world.’

This domestic noir opens with a brutal murder, I should mention. When we first meet our protagonists, one of them is dead – and another holding a knife. But it will take the unspooling over the course of the novel to find out the how, and the why, behind this attack.

The pacing is steady, and I was engrossed in the plot and the cast of complex characters. The way that B P Walter deftly managed the twists and turns in the plot was one of the novel’s greatest strengths, divulging and withholding information at exactly the right pace to keep the reader engaged. I found the exploration of the lives of the mega-wealthy and what goes on behind the façade of respectability to be one of the most interesting things about this novel. It gives you a window into how such people live (Charlie name drops dinner with a past Prime Minister, garden parties with a verifiable Lord and Lady), and to just what extent that contrasts with the life Rachel leads.

‘Back then, I’m not sure I ever felt guilty, knowing where a portion of our income came from. I'm not sure. You see, when you're brought up being told certain things are the way of the world, it becomes very hard to question them when you’ve just accepted them for so long. And I’m not sure it bothers me much now.’

A very solid addition to the domestic noir genre, and highly recommended for anyone looking for an engrossing thriller with a bit more substance. My only gripe would be the way this is marketed – it’s not really appropriate to name drop Donna Tartt or to try to market this towards fans of a literary thriller. The title and tagline would also suggest that the dinner is a central point of this thriller – when that’s very much not the case, and the key plot points of the novel span the course of several decades. I hope that readers can go in with the right expectations and enjoy this gripping read for what it is.

With thanks to HarperCollins for the advanced copy. The Dinner Guest will be published on 27th May 2021.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Dinner Guest.

The Dinner Guest follows a formulaic route inherent in all thrillers, namely domestic.

All the characters have seeeecrets that they constantly elude to but never say out loud, just offer the reader in drips and drabs, and these seeecrets motivate them to pursue a certain course of action that will have devastating consequences for all.

When a stranger who bumps into Charlie at a bookstore, Rachel quickly insinuates herself into his and his partner's life one day, causing him to become suspicious, almost immediately.

He's right, naturally. But Charlie is left holding the bag because he's the only one without secrets.

Everyone else has them including his partner, Matthew. Their adopted son, Titus. Rachel. Charlie's first love, Rupert.

So many seeeecrets, so little time.

But, there is time because the author gives the readers plenty of exposition on these unlikable, annoying characters, drawing everything out, and in the end, info dumping all the secrets onto the reader.

You'll find all the popular tropes here; Charlie and Matthew are (naturally) handsome and privileged, adultering, oat sowing, drug addiction, social class hypocrisy, there's a lot going on and it's up to the reader and his or her ability to suspend disbelief.

The Dinner Guest is not a mystery or a thriller; it's a family drama. You know who did and did not commit the evil deed right from the start. It's not hard to figure out who did do it.

I think some readers will enjoy this, especially if they love drama piled on top of drama. The writing was good but this wasn't for me.

I enjoyed this book more the further into it I read. Although it starts in quite dramatic style, I found the first parts of the book a little slow, maybe that’s me being impatient and desperate to know what the heck had happened.
I found myself questioning everyone and every little action, trying to figure it all out before the end. There are alternating POVs and time frames but are made clear and isn’t at all confusing, in fact it’s very interesting to be able to see everything being played out – whilst also thinking you know what happened but need to know why.
Some classic misdirection and red herrings, I did piece together some elements of the plot, but I was pleasantly surprised with some aspects too. Maybe a touch unbelievable or unimaginable at times but a good read that I powered through in no time at all.
Fans of domestic thrillers will enjoy this.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book

This was a proper wtf book. From the shock opening and all the twists that start to come out, it was just one surprise after another and totally compelling.
I genuinely couldn't see who the killer was, the ending was yet another huge twist that left me going "and then what happened?"

Beware the definite article... THE..we’ve had THE Hunting party and The Guest List , The Girl Next Door, The Chalet... etc , you get the picture . The Dinner Guest is part of this group of contemporary psychological thrillers. The simmering revenge and retribution linked to past deeds and wronged relationships are the key requisites. The Dinner Guest follows a familiar path ; the tale begins with the crime and moves between past and present as we try to determine who killed the victim and why. As with many of this modern form of the thriller whodunnitis many of the characters are truly unlikeable. The principal characters in this story live in a very privileged world ( the name dropping of brands did become irritating) and despite what we are initially led to believe is a strong relationship of parents and child gradually unravels. No spoilers but the reveal and the explanation of one character’s motives towards the final stage of the book left me feeling cheated especially when confronting events from an alternative viewpoint and especially as I felt some of this could have been further signalled through the story. This is tightly plotted story and has been carefully crafted. By the end as with other similar ‘THE’ thrillers I was left with no real sympathy for anyone which is a shame as they were all ultimately victims of childhood ,lifestyle ,circumstance, and greed.Sadly this didn’t do it for me like some books but I appreciated the chance to read it courtesy of NetGalley.

The Dinner Guest by B.P. Walter

3.75 ⭐️

The book opens strong with a murder and a confession.

Charles and Matthew: devoted partners. Titus: their loving son.
Rachel: friend and book club member.

Four people at the dinner table that night. One leaves in a body bag. One leaves in handcuffs. The book explores what’s happened to get to that night, and what happens after.

This is a domestic thriller/mystery about a family with lots of secrets. I found the pace to be quick enough to keep things interesting. We time jump from between about 1 year prior to the murder, to several months after. The big reveal(s), while not altogether surprising, were still exciting to read and watch unfold. Be prepared for lots of juicy scandal. If you are a fan of B.A. Paris, you’re very likely to enjoy this book.


Thanks HarperCollins, NetGalley and B P Walter for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

(This will post to GoodReads now, but will wait to post to IG and Amazon until pub week)

Wow! Rarely do I sit down and read through a book without stopping except for necessary breaks. From the opening lines to the very last chapter/epilogue, I was fully drawn into this world of the "elites" and how they lived. I kept thinking I knew where the author was going only to find out I had only part of the plot unscrambled. Although the characters are not necessarily the nicest in the world, I found their reactions to be believable, except maybe for Rachel. Her motivation was realistic but her final decisions were not, at least to me. I hesitate to say more as I do not want to give away any part of the twists and turns this story takes. Well worth the time to read! I received a free book from NetGalley in return for an honest review, but I LOVED this book!

Book Review for The Dinner Guest by B P Walter
Full review for this title can be found at: @fyebooks on Instagram!

This was a great read that had plenty of twists and turns on the way. Matthew Charlie and their son Titus are all believable characters. Rachel enters their life and their lives change forever. It is a great read and I can't wait for more from this writet

Could not put this one down!

The Dinner Guest is an excellent psychological thriller that kept me guessing at each turn. Set in the posh places of London’s elite, Matthew and Charlie seem to have it all. Everything is golden, but then the secrets, the lies, and the deceptions begin to fall out of the pages like sand slipping through your fingers.

Every time I thought I had this one figured out, I was surprised.

With characters you care about, characters you don’t care for, and characters that you want more of, B P Walter has given us a gem of a mystery. I’ll be looking for more of this author’s work immediately.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A totally addictive closed room mystery that would be perfect for all Agatha Christie’s fans out there.

This was a character-driven domestic thriller with a gripping plot and edge-of-your-seat suspense.
I found it fast-paced and well-plotted. I did not find the well-drawn, memorable characters remotely likeable, but they held my interest. Many twists in the fast-paced plot contain devious, deceptive people, lies, illicit sex and adultery, drugs, blackmail, snobbery, and teenaged rebellion.

The story begins with a family dinner. Charlie and his husband Matthew sit down with their 15-year-old son, Titus. An uninvited guest, Rachel, joins them. Soon, Matthew is stabbed to death in his seat at the dinner table. Rachel, holding the bloody knife, promptly calls the police and confesses to the murder. What could her motive be?

They appeared to friends to be a happy family. Both Charlie and Matthew were devoted to Matthew's adopted teenaged son, Titus. A chance encounter with a stranger, Rachel, in a bookstore leads to turmoil and trouble. Matthew invites Rachel to his book club, attended by wealthy people from old school money. Charlie feels very uneasy about this, although he has never attended the meetings, and makes it clear to Matthew that the invitation is a mistake.

Matthew, Charlie and their friends lead privileged upper-class lives in London society. This is a world unfamiliar to Rachel. She works at low-paid menial jobs and lives in a shabby apartment. She quickly inserts herself into the lives of the family. At her first book club meeting, Charlie's suspicions about Rachel seem to be confirmed. He finds her snooping in their bedroom. She seems to be taking too much interest in Titus. She breaks up a mob menacing Titus in a different part of the city. Charlie believes she was following their son, but Matthew passes it off as a mere coincidence. Rachel leaves her job to work as an assistant to a wealthy book club woman and is soon leading a lavish lifestyle.

This menacing, well-constructed plot moves back and forth in time, before and after the murder. The timelines are never confusing. The chapters are narrated from the perspective of Charlie and Rachel but are their words reliable? As it delves deeper into the characters' backgrounds, the twists and revelations kept me riveted to the pages. Charlie hints that Rachel, now in prison, might not be guilty.
If so, why did she confess and what really happened?

This was my first book by B P Walter and left me wanting to read more of the author's novels. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this intriguing book. Recommended to readers who like a tantalizing domestic thriller.

The vast majority of this book is everyone walking around teasing little snippets of what I'll term their "motivating secrets." Yep, they have secrets. Yep, that's why they're doing stuff. Then, when the secrets are revealed, everyone kind of stands around going - yep, it makes sense that that did that stuff. Yep, on account of that thing we didn't know. Yep.

Just when you think you know what is going on, think again. What you know for sure: Matthew is stabbed to death, His husband, Charlie, their adopted son,Titus, and their friend Rachael are in the room. Rachel calls police to report that she has killed Matthew as she holds a bloody knife. That is the only information you know for sure. The narrative is told from two POVs - Charlie 's and Rachel's.- and moves in time to pre and post murder. This is not a distraction or the least bit confusing for the reader, It is B.P. Walter's method of deconstructing their lives in a way that reveals the characters to us.
Charlie and Matthew had led privileged lives as part of the upper crust of society. Rachel had not. She did, however manage to insert herself into their lives in a way that made Charlie very uncomfortable. Rachel would be going nowhere. But what reason would she have to kill Matthew?
The Dinner Guest weaves interlocking webs of secrets and betrayals. You will be hooked. I read this book in one day. It is an easy read with complex layers, It will keep you going until the last sentence...and perhaps a bit beyond. My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC or this book in exchange for my honest review

Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for gifting me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not what I thought I thought it was going to be.
I went in thinking I was ready..... I was not ready.
Usually, I read romance novels but man, this was good!

The plot, characters and the whole book in general was a massive case of the unexpected.
There are a lot of twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat and make sure that the only time you put this book down is in case of dire need.
It grabs you, holds you and does not let you go.

Pick it up! You won't regret it.