This book was so bad. The writing was rubbish. The characters were flat and had no oomph in them. The plot was no existent.

I tried to finish this book but it honestly was too painful. I wanted more from the characters and the built up to nothing was just a disappointment.

The Ninth Guest is a locked-room mystery set at a fiftieth birthday party where each of the eight guests were carefully selected and the host would be found dead by morning. One of the guests is the killer, but who did it? In a very Agatha Christie-esque mystery, The Ninth Guest is a twisty tale from start to finish. Recommended to those who enjoy locked-room mysteries. Be sure to check out The Ninth Guest today.

Tess Little's The Ninth Guest is a locked-room mystery like no other . . .

We believed he had died from an overdose. There was no reason to suspect otherwise . . .

When Elspeth is invited to her ex-husband Richard's fiftieth birthday party, she's expecting a star-studded event for the famous British film director, full of A-listers and hangers-on. But she arrives to find just seven other carefully selected guests in attendance.

A surreal evening ensues, orchestrated by the charming yet manipulative host, culminating in what will surely become a night to remember . . .

Because by morning, Richard will be dead, and every guest a suspect.

'Very intriguing' Heat, Book of the Week

'Tess Little is a modern Agatha Christie, setting up her nine suspects, locking them in a sprawling Los Angeles mansion, and knocking them down one by one' Tanen Jones, author of The Better Liar. I really enjoyed this book. It was hard to put down as it drew me in immediately and before I knew it I was in the middle of the book!

I really enjoyed this book. I found it to be quite a powerful and thought provoking read which has kept me thinking about it even now a couple of months since I have finished it.

The book centres around a 50th birthday party where only seven carefully selected guests are invited. It was very interesting to slowly get to know the characters and their role in Richard’s life. Most of the characters there are quite unlikeable and all of them had a motive to hurt Richard, who is known to be quite horrible at times. I found this quite interesting as I couldn’t warm to any of the characters, aside from Elspeth, but at times even her character came off quite annoying and feeble. As such couldn’t pick sides, so was just able to enjoy the mystery side of things without putting my bias or speculation into it.

One of the key themes in the book is of power and control which all stem from the main character Richard. In particular the power Richard has over Persephone, who turns out to be one of the most unusual characters in the book, and over his guests. The way he seemed to enjoy the power he held over his pet was quite chilling and as the party is centred around the aquarium, it is a constant theme throughout the book. I think this helped the reader understand what a cruel man Richard was.

Elspeth was an interesting narrator as she obviously had a lot of history with Richard. She often made me wonder how reliable she was and if her recollections of things that happened was correct. I enjoyed trying to follow her thoughts and to attempt to unpick what I thought was true or not.

Overall I thought this was a powerful, intriguing read which would make a great book club read as there would be lots to discuss. It is also quite a current read as it helps show how hard it can be to confront your abuser and the impact it can have if you don’t come forward.

A classic murder mystery!. But that is where it ends. Unfortunately this book didn't deliver for me. The story chopped and changed and at times you felt pieces were missing. None of the characters were particularly likeable. You felt it was only a matter of time before the victim Richard Bryant met his maker anyway.
I put the book down at about 75% when I realized I thought I knew who the killer was and that was good enough for me.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to see an ARC

As usual in my reviews, I will not rehash the plot (plenty of other reviews like that already if that's what you are looking for!).

First of all, I read this book as a title called "The Ninth Guest" - (on Goodreads it is "The Last Guest", so obviously one or other has changed since I received my ARC from the publishers).

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but was intrigued by the premise - always love a "locked room" unexplained death mystery. However there was a lot more to the plot than just that...

If I'm honest, I found this a rather long, drawn-out read - it jumped back and forth in time, and at times it wasn't clear that a jump had occurred which was a little confusing. However I was keen to discover if my theory regarding the killer (formed early on in the book) was correct, so I persevered... (Reader, I was wrong!)

There are some interesting characters in this novel - I have to say I didn't really like any of them (apart from Persephone, bless her), as they all had some kind of unappealing flaw IMHO - but they were well observed and well written.

You'll enjoy this if you like multi-layered plots (think a very large onion in this case!) with what amounts to virtual people-watching. I can imagine this as a movie...

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

I wanted to read this arc as I read "Locked room" and I'm a fan of locked room.
As I read I discovered it was a book I already read&reviews but the title was "The Octopus"
This was my review:
"This is an unusual mystery that i thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the description of the life in LA, the great cast of characters and the solid mystery that kept me guessing.
Recommended."
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

A psychological murder mystery thriller with an unease tone and tense atmosphere. Reading it was an experience in itself.

Elspeth arrives in LA to attend her ex-husband, Richard's 50th birthday party. Being an actress herself she expects her movie directing ex to host an extravagant party full of glamour and music. Instead, Elspeth is met with an intimate gathering with some surprise guests. The most surprising of all is Persphone, a large octopus with the ability to escape her aquarium when desired. When Richard is found dead the next morning everyone is under suspicion, even Persphone.

I found the switching of the timeline to be abrupt and muddled. Whether intended or not this added a disorientating atmosphere to the book. The atmosphere could also be described as weird, especially in its obsession with octopuses.

The weird uniqueness faded as the book progressed which, getting to the end, I found a shame. The reveal could've been larger and more dramatic, the tension built higher. I found the ending to be lacklustre and disappointing. The book was so quirky and then it did nothing with it.

The characters lacked substance or dimension and didn't gain any development during the book. Elspeth was an interesting character but her relationship with others were distant. She could've stood for powerful and meaningful messages but fell short for me. For a book so focussed on her as the primary narrator, the reader knows nothing about her or her personality.

The book in my opinion would've been better as a novella as there was a lot of repetition that added no value. The layout of three parts threw the pacing off as sections dragged with no new developments. It turned the book into a very slow burn with little to no payoff.

My biggest problem with the book is the quirky potential it had. It could've been weird and unexpected but ended up a cliché. So many interesting aspects were brought to the front in the beginning and then seemingly forgotten about.

I'm sure this book's audience is out there somewhere but unfortunately, it wasn't for me.

It felt as if pages are missing from the book.
Incomplete narration and boom someone dies and even after reading for almost two pages I couldnt reallt=y understand who has "bought the farm." I had to stop reading.

Such an intriguing read! I really loved the different layering to the story, and how the locked mystery becomes a locked plot in itself too, the reader trying to understand the different backstories of the characters. All surrounded by a masterfully tense environment!

In an over crowded genre where it’s difficult to be original, this book managed to completely stand out from any thriller I’ve ever read! The Ninth Guest follows Elspeth, after she is invited out of the blue to her ex husband’s birthday party. It is revealed straight away that he is found dead later that evening, and only 8 people were present at the party, leaving a perfect locked room mystery in our hands.

The writing style makes this book truly unique, as the story is written with no chapters, only three large acts. We flit back and forth in time in the middle of a scene which can be quite jarring at first, and leaves you going back to figure out at which point we switched time lines, not one to read after a long day 😉 It actually reminded me a little of the stream-of-consciousness style used in Mrs Dalloway, as it seems to follow Elspeth’s thoughts. It was frustrating to read at first, but once I got used to the style, I actually really enjoyed it and I think the chaotic style suited the narrator.

The characters, particularly Richards and Persephone (The ninth guest) were especially well written and although I would say this book is fairly slow paced, I think that worked for it. The slow peeling back of layers and lies through all the other guests was cleverly done. Persephone added an interesting dynamic which I think really boosted the plot. I was hoping for a little more of a surprise ending though, I felt that after you had enough information it was easy enough to tell where it was heading. That being said, the journey is more than worth the read. Can’t wait to see more from this author in the future, definitely one to watch!

I really struggled to enjoy this book and came close to not finishing it.
This just did not work at all for me.
Promoting it by saying fans of Agatha Christie will enjoy it, is highly misleading as it does not remind me of her style at all.
The characters are so bland and not interesting enough, so they all blur into one another making it impossible to care about them or the outcome of the story.
It also felt like the story was just glossing over the plot with 2D characterisation.

Onion Like Layers…
Contemporary locked room mystery with onion like layers which the reader will revel in peeling away. Intelligent, clever plot, often odious characters and many themes, some disturbing but dealt with sleight of hand. Compelling, original and powerful.
(Note that this book was previously published as ‘The Octopus’)

Previously published as ‘Octopus’ which is a relevant title but this one suits proceedings equally well!

Richard Bryant, a successful film director, is hosting a party to celebrate his fiftieth birthday. The eight disparate guests include his ex-wife Elspeth, Anton Carlisle, known as Honey who is his boyfriend, his manager Jerry and old school friend Tommo. So who is the ninth guest? Well, that would be Persephone, a large octopus contained within a large aquarium in Richards's showcase house Sedgwick. The house is amazing and he knows it, it’s like a movie set and just like a film set, he dominates it. By the following morning Richard is dead, which of them is responsible and why? The story is told via events from the night and through snapshots of Elspeth's marriage to Richard.

This is a very original take on a locked room/ house mystery with Persephone central to proceedings. She is a demonstration of everything that Richard is about and is a powerful metaphor. She is exotic, alien in appearance, dangerous, her name symbolises the underworld and the hell that Richard can inflict and like everything else he has to control her but she is clever as she looms over proceedings. The imagery is vivid and powerful, it’s extremely different which sets it apart from other locked room mysteries. Add to this the surreal, theatrical, drug fuelled, Bacchanalian atmosphere of the evening gorging as an ancient Roman feast and you begin to feel as if you are in a drug infused haze yourself! Although it appears to be out of control at times, it becomes apparent that Richard is orchestrating something and the tension grows. Does it link to events on his latest film Dominus? The dynamics between the guests strikes an off note, there are bad vibes and a weirdness so that suspicion after the party free flows between all who are there that night, you have a host of suspects and so it's a tangled web of intrigue.

It becomes clear the further the novel progresses that the impression of Richard as a very unpleasant man increases, he seems to be in the mould of famous names brought to justice in the #MeToo movement, yet there are things that don’t add up especially with Elspeth but I’ll say no more! This is a novel which is basically about power and controlling everything around you.

However, although there are plenty of positive things to say about the book, the format is not always easy to follow as it flits from past to present which can be confusing. It’s slow in places especially on the night of the party, there’s too much detail at times. I think the role of Richard’s partner Honey could have been more prominent, he seems a side figure which is a pity as I’d love to know his inner thoughts! I’m not entirely convinced by the ending, it’s maybe a bit convenient and could have been stronger but that being said I’m glad it ends in that particular way.

Overall though, there’s much to praise here, it’s hard to be original in this genre but Tess Little achieves that successfully and it’s clear she’s a writer of considerable talent.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

A very well crafted book that really does make you question everyone and everything. I love these type of stories and this was definitely not a let down! It'll have you guessing the whole way through and yet you'll still never figure out the ending until you get there. Really well written and captivating

This was such an interesting premise that was done very well. I love locked room mysteries and this was no different it was thrilling, tense, twisty and gripping. It is a great read

Elspeth is invited to ex-husband Richard's fiftieth birthday party. Expecting a star-studded event, she is surprised to find just seven other guests in attendance. By morning, Richard is dead with all the guests being suspects... An intriguing, unique and thrilling mystery that keeps you turning the pages. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.