A great new series by a fantastic author.
New years eve and Rhys Lloyd's holiday home is full of guests its the party they all want to be at he champagnes flowing and people are buzzing.As midnight arrives Rhys is no where to be found,only to be found later floating in the freezing waters of the lake.
New years day DC Fifion Morgan is called to the scene,she lives in the community where now neighbours,friends and family are all suspects.
Everyone has their secrets but which ones have led to murder.
Really enjoyed the mixture of characters each with their own flaws and the chapters told from a different timeline going backwards and forwards added to the suspense.
Really looking forward to reading more in this series.
Thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown Book Group uk for the ARC.

I was a bit excited to read this one as it isn’t just the new book from Clare Mackintosh but the first in a series featuring DC Ffion Morgan. I suspect she might be a bit of a marmite character but I liked her and I’ll be happy to see where the author takes her in the future. This is set in Cwm Coed, a (fictional) village on the border between Wales and England. The main story is the investigation is into the death of Rhys Lloyd and it is chock-full of secrets and lies. There is such depth to the description of places and people here that it feels like I’ve visited the location. The author has announced that the tv rights have been optioned which is great news but I feel the casting of Ffion will be crucial to its success. This is a really good read and an excellent launch for a book series.

I am a huge fan of the author's psychological thrillers so was excited to have the opportunity to read this, the first in a series of police procedurals.
It's set on the border between Wales and England at an exclusive development of lakeside holiday homes. DCs Ffion and Leo (from North Wales and Cheshire police forces respectively) are called to the scene.
I absolutely loved the North Wales setting by the lake and longed to be there myself! The characterisation is excellent- the two DCs are likeable and interesting and MacKintosh brings the cast of characters and suspects to life.
The novel is told in multiple timelines, going back and forth from the present day slowly revealing the secrets of the victim and others in the community.
Overall I found this to be gripping and enjoyable read, although at times it was a little too slow paced for me the quality of the writing, the characterisation and the plot kept me reading. I was completely invested in the plot and the characters and felt quite bereft when I reached the end. I can't wait to read about Ffion and Leo's next case and to see how their own relationship develops. Recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Another absolute corker from Clare. Again, I don't want to give too much away but it's a thrilling murder mystery with a magnificent twist. The two main characters, police officers Ffion and Leo, have so much on-page chemistry. I really found myself wanting more from them as I came to the end of the book, so I'm beyond pleased to know there is more to come.

It's brilliantly paced, which I find is important in murder mystery novels. At no point was I left thinking 'just get to the point'. I'm not always a huge fan of police procedurals as they can sometimes feel jargon-filled and dull, but Clare balances the police work with the character's personal and emotional lives perfectly.

Her fans won't be disappointed and I think the characters will bring her new readers too. A great read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Little, Brown Books for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I have read all Clare Mackintosh’s books to date, and this did not disappoint. It is different from her others because it is the start of a police procedural , introducing DC Ffion Morgan, of North Wales Police. Unlike her other more psychological thrillers, this one was a whodunnit/whydunnit, but no less riveting for it.

I am still undecided about the ending and hope I will get my answers from the next in the series which I’m looking forward to. Can definitely recommend..

A who-dunnit where absolutely everybody has a reason to hate the victim; Rhys certainly was one of the most odious male characters but I have to say that I was expecting a more devious twist.
Since being caught out by the author’s first book, which is one of my favourites, I’ve been hoping for more of that unexpectedness. However it is still a very entertaining read, and I’m interested to see how the series will develop. I enjoyed it.

New Years Eve and Rhys gives a party for the local residents but by the end of the year he is found dead. There are many candidates who dislike / hate him but who would do so enough to kill him?

I enjoyed the storyline and relationships between the characters. An engrossing read

Yes! Yes! Yes!
This is the book I’ve been waiting for! Something to captivate me and completely indulge my inquisitive mind. An absolutely cracking start to a new series that I am sure to become a super fan of.

What a start to this new series. I cannot wait for more.

A brilliant setting and a great plot. I loved the characters involved and the intricate web of connections between them all.

I loved the unreliable narration which was exposed as we learn other people’s points of view. The moving back and forth with timelines helped build the suspense.

I love the characters of Ffion and Leo and can’t wait to be back with them for more adventures.

This was a slow paced psychological thriller that kept the reader guessing with every turn of the page. It makes you think that people once behind closed doors are not always as they seem on the outside to others and explored how secrets of the past can shape the future.

I was so excited to read this book and it certainly did not disappoint. I am a huge fan of Clare Mackintosh having read her previous books and can’t wait to read more in this series.
I’m looking forward to watching the characters develop and getting to know Ffion Morgan a little better.
I found the pace of the book a little slow at the beginning but it soon raced along with credible characters and twists and turns. I love Wales therefore found the setting and description of surroundings amazing.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review. I cannot wait for the next in the series.

I did not complete this book. So let me explain… this book was just to slow to get to the action. In the beginning it took time to warm to the main characters but I did and thus got invested in the story; I wanted to know more. I love how the main characters came together and really hoped for more from this tangled web. It’s obvious the love the author for wales and I loved the description of the setting - I could see The Shore, the lake, the mountains etc in my minds eye. Dispute the changing of timeline and narrator, I was just willing the next chapter to the one that got exciting and propelled the story forward but unfortunately it’s not happening and I’ve lost the ‘care’ required to make it to the end. The writing is professional and slick and I feel this world be around the 3⭐️ mark had I finished it.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this one early

Emily

Now, if you listen to local legend, it is Llyn Drych's dragon that you need to be mindful of, but, having just finished reading The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh, I'd say that, as a visitor to new opened resort, The Shore, a mythical dragon is the last thing you need to be nervous about. And with Cwm Coed's traditional New Year's Day swim interrupted in a very dramatic fashion, it will take some nifty marketing to enhance the allure of the resort. One of The Shore's owners is found floating in the lake, local 'celebrity', Rhys Lloyd, and I didn't for one minute think that Y Ddraig Goch was responsible.

This book both is and isn't your typical Police thriller. It is, in as much as we have two central characters, Ffion Morgan and Leo Brady, the two police officers who have been been tasked with investigating Lloyd's murder. Ffion is the local Detective, born and bred in Cwm Coed, Leo her English counterpart, drafted in from Chester's Major Crime unit because, technically, Lloyd was murdered on the English side of the lake. Possibly. It's fair to say that our introduction to the pair is somewhat unique, but something that brings a smile to your face. It also puts the pair on somewhat of an awkward footing and seeing them navigate those early awkward moments really did make me chuckle. It adds a tension to the investigation at times, but also adds to the chemistry of a pair who, on the face of it, seem to be very chalk and cheese. It's less meet-cute, than meet-drunk, but it's New Year. Who are we to judge?

Where it is less 'typical' when it comes to the police procedural aspects, it is really down to the character of Ffion Morgan. She isn't necessarily the easiest person to get to know or like. She's very forthright, and at times quite cagey, so it was hard to know whether to fully trust her. It's not just that her personality and her attitude, especially towards Leo, is sometimes quite brusque, but some of her actions cast more than a little suspicion her way, and her ties to the local community did make me wonder just what she was up to at times. It certainly spiced things up a bit, and got the cogs whirring, trying to second guess her own motivations. Ultimately I did grow to like her, perhaps because she was somewhat atypical of most police based characters. Kind of like a Welsh Hamish Macbeth. Straight but sharp as a tack too.

Leo was a very different kind of character, more open and quite easy to get to like although, much like Ffion, there were times I wished he had shown more of a backbone. He has a complicated personal life and, if it's possible, a more complicated professional one too. It's fair to say his boss was a complete idiot and a throw back to the very worst of policing. But his focus on the job was unwavering, even when the suspicion fell upon his partner.

There are no end of suspects when it comes to the murder, and the more we delve into the investigation, the clearer it becomes that the victim's personality left a lot to be desired. In fact, by the end of the book, it was hard to find someone who didn't have a motive to kill him. It meant that trying to work out who the ultimate killer was proved to be very difficult and the mystery remained right until the end of the book. Each time we, and the detectives, thought they had their perp, a new piece of evidence was uncovered that cast new light on the investigation and what seemed obvious, suddenly seemed much less so. I liked this aspect of the book, the way it forced you to think outside of the box and if you really want to work out what is what, and who killed Rhys Lloyd, then the clues are all there but you really will have to pay attention.

The story is told through multiple timelines, with a large proportion of the book taking readers through the main investigation. Interspersed amongst this are scenes from various times in the past, from the previous summer, Christmas and the preparations for that fateful New Year's Eve party. The scenes from the past are not told in a linear fashion, but they are easy to keep track of and the back and forth does help to ensure that the mystery is maintained. It's a very skilful narrative style that informs readers just enough at just the right moments in time to keep the suspense and tension finely balanced and the intrigue rolling right to the end. As for that ending ... It was actually very fitting and perhaps a touch surprising. Did it leave me satisfied - honestly, I'm not sure but it made sense for this story. If this is to be a series, I'll be very interested to see how it feeds into future stories. A recommended read for fans of the author and of suspect laden police thrillers.

This is a much different book than the previous ones I’ve read by Clare Macintosh and is the first in a new series featuring Welsh detective Ffion Morgan and English detective Leo Brady. Set on the beautiful Welsh/English border I loved the descriptions of this enchanting area and I liked the two main characters and look forward to getting to know them better in this new series. Ffion is a very strong woman with a forthright manner and far from being a goody-two-shoes is flawed in many ways but comes over as a likeable person and the chemistry between her and Leo is good. The story begins with the finding of a body in a lake which turns out to be local boy made good Rhys Lloyd. What follows is the search to discover the truth about his death and who is responsible. As he is disliked by many of the locals the list of suspects is large. It took me a while to get into the book – not helped by the huge number of characters which I found quite confusing. I’m never very good at keeping up when multiple characters are involved so this is just a personal hang up of mine but it did cause me to struggle a fair bit. I’m supposing that many of these people might turn up in future books in the series so introducing them early is probably a deliberate thing. Once I got further into the book, I found the story gripping with so many twists, turns, shocks and surprises. The slow start and the huge cast lose one star from me but doesn’t detract from the fact that this is an excellent book and the start of a great series which I look forward to continuing in the future. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC which it was my pleasure to read and review.

Layer upon layer of secrets make this an absolutely riveting read. Just when you think the case is close to being solved yet another complexity or relationship is revealed turning everything you thought on its head. The beautiful descriptions of the lake and its surrounds is an added bonus and there's a budding relationship between the two investigators to add yet more icing to the cake. Stunning, I couldn't put it down!

Oh what a fantastic book and characters, Ffion and Leo are a great match, I do hope there’s more to come.
Claire Mackintosh has done it again!! Thank you for the opportunity to read this, it’s great, I was hooked and I loved it!!

I can definitely see this police procedural whodunnit adapted into a tv series a la Broadchurch.
There are a wide range of characters and motives for murder gradually revealed, albeit backwards as the time lines for the investigation and the past diverge in chapters. I didn’t have any problem keeping up with the plot, however.
The Welsh setting was refreshing and enjoyable: the wilds are often used in crime novels as part of the menace but here it is a reason for tensions as both the locals and the wealthy investors of The Shore complex want to enjoy its peace and beauty.
I look forward to the next in this possible series.

A great mystery and beginning of a series. This one was one that I was unable to put down and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it.

A man has been found drowned after a New Years Eve party.
Two police detective from two different regions have been asked to look into the case.
A story with lots of twist and quite a few interesting characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow , another great book by this author. It could be perhaps a bit slow the first half but then it definitely hots up . A lot of tangled webs in this isolated part of Wales with plenty twists and turns . I would definitely recommend this book , 5 stars from me