A crowd of friends and an evening beach party ends in tragedy when one of the young woman, Lacey is found dead in the morning. Her body left in the sand dunes starts an unwinding of what happened at a gathering of friends and the damaged it does in the aftermath of their lives.

A mystery throughout and some interesting twists along the way.

I found this book to be ok. The story was interesting and I liked that I never trusted anyone's motives. I never saw the twist at the end. I think this was a solid debut novel from the author.

Really enjoyed this audio book
Listened to it while I was baking
I could picture scenes with the descriptions of Cornwall, spent most of my childhood there
I liked how they set up the pod cast, I found the book came together and flowed nicely
I kept thinking I knew who it was
But no completely wrong about that

Thank you netgalley and Amy shepherd

Thank you NetGalley for an early listen! Interesting mystery. Interesting characters. Easy listen that wasn’t super suspenseful but kept you engaged. I would recommend.

The story was entertaining enough, even though in the end, it isn’t a story that we haven’t heard before. The beach party setting in the small Cornish town did make it a little bit different but other than that it was a tired tale. From the audio perspective, I really did not enjoy the narrator. I appreciated her accent and youthful voice with the main character of the story but I felt like she did not have enough inflection to really get the feeling across in certain situations. For instance, in one seen, Katie r is running barefoot over roots and rocks with something pursuing her. The narrator’s voice made it sound like she was walking into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. You really didn’t get the suspense for urgency of what was taking place in the scene.

I did not see that ending coming, what a DOUCHE!! This was a wild ride, for sure! So many people were so fucked up, I loved it!! Will definitely be looking for more books by this author!

#TheBeachParty
#NetGalley

This is definitely a mystery worth reading. The plot pulls you in and I found recalling the events happening before and after the murder to be a refreshing point of view. I definitely did not guess the murderer.

The characters are interesting even though the focus is not on them, it’s more on the murder

I enjoyed the audiobook a lot. It was easy to listen to even though the book itself is quite dark and heavy. The narrator is pleasant to listen to and I think they bring the book to life.

I truly needed this book for an end of summer listen. I am not quite ready to say hello to fall and it’s like this book knew just that. Loved/hated the characters and the events that transpired!

I was drawn to this book first of all by the lovely cover . After reading the blurb I knew it was definitely my type of read. The Beach Party is the authors debut novel and with all debut novels I never really know what to expect. A few chapters into this read and I was completely hooked and knew this was going to be a great read . A mystery thriller that is a slow burn read but it suits the story . Plenty of twists and turns and I had my suspicions about various people but was proven wrong and that is to me a sign of a really good well written book where you fail to identify the culprit until it is staring you straight in the face . So after finishing this gripping read I’m really looking forward to reading more by this author.

I have just spent 3 days, on and off, listening to this book. Great story, with a very underestimate twist at the end, very well written and read. I was completely enthralled. Thank you for this great entertainment.

A slow starter but as the girls start working on the podcast and getting closer to the truth I started getting more and more hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for letting me review this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, I liked the characters they felt really developed and real. It had a few twists and I was wondering the whole way who was the murderer. It was well paced and held my attention. Was a good thriller beach read

The Beach Party definitely kept me entertained as I was crafting. Another plot involving a teenager murdered during a party and the quest to determine who killed her. The aftermath of her murder changed many lives forever. The introduction of a true crime podcast in an effort to solve the murder was a very creative twist to the plot line. I do enjoy listening to podcasts so I found the addition of a podcast enjoyable. I did not find any of the characters very interesting and the interactions between them seemed very stilted. The ending was almost predictable but did have a slight twist. A two star read for me. Amalia Vitale’s voice was very appropriate as she narrated the read.
Thanks to Amy Sheppard, the narrator, Amalia Vitale, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

"We were all at the party. Which of us wanted her dead?"

This mystery/thriller is the kind of story that you just can't put down. I found myself constantly thinking, just one more chapter....and then another and another.
The story is about an unsolved murder that our main characters, Katie and Sophie, are featuring on their Small Town podcast. But this isn't an ordinary unsolved murder story for their podcast because Katie was present the night of this murder.
I really enjoyed this story, the characters were well fleshed out, and I loved that one of the podcast hosts was present the night of the murder. The author did a great job introducing the characters in the present while also remembering back to the night of the murder. As the story moved forward and we learn more about that fateful night I thought that I had the murderer figured out - and in the end the story lead you to this person. Just as I was ready for the murderer to be named the author threw in one final twist that I did not see coming. It was a twist on top of a twist and was fantastically written!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this audiobook.
On Sale Now.

‘The Beach Party’ by Any Sheppard.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Amy Sheppard for an audio arc in return for an honest review.

I LOVED this audiobook. The Beach Party is a podcast based thriller which explores a crime from years back. It is a little slow to start with due to setting the scene with differing timelines but soon amps up. It is dark, thrilling and utterly nail biting. A really good thriller and I can’t wait to read more by her.

Thanks to Netgalley for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the cover of the book.

This one was marketed as a mystery/thriller. This definitely wasn’t something I’d consider a thriller. It was an ok run of the mill mystery. Nothing mind blowing.

I think the podcast trend in books is overly saturated right now. The last few books I’ve read have involved a podcast about a murder mystery in a small town. It just never grabbed me. It wasn’t terrible but wasn’t very interesting either.

However, I did like how everything came together in the end.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the audio narrator on this one either. There were a lot of pauses and the audiobook repeated a few times too so that was a bit distracting.

I didn’t hate it. I didn’t love it. I think it was a miss for me.

The Beach Party is an intense and addictive read with an intriguing mystery at its core. From the very first page, I was hooked on the story of Sophie and Katie, two women who return to the town where Sophie and Lacey grew up in order to investigate the death of a ''friend'' who was killed when she was just nineteen years old. As they delve further into the secrets of Pengully, they begin to uncover a web of lies and deceit that reaches far beyond anything they could have imagined.

Sheppard's debut novel is expertly crafted, with well-developed characters and a plot that kept me guessing until the very end. The Beach Party is a suspenseful and atmospheric read that I couldn't put down, and I can't wait to see what Sheppard does next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early version of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Post scheduled for September 24th. Apologies for the delay, I am waiting to receive the physical copy I ordered from Amazon to create content.

I fell in love with the cover of this book and the fact that it was about cold cases done as a podcast sealed the deal for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Amy Sheppard for the ARC audiobook of this book. I understand that this is a debut novel for this author Amy Sheppard. I look forward to more books by Amy. I also want to mention Amalia Vitale who is the narrator of this book. Amalia Vitale is wonderful she really kept me listening. She has an amazing voice.

The Beach Party
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Audiobook
Date Published: 8/30/22
Author: Amy Sheppard
Publisher: Bookouture
Narrator: Amalia Vitale
GR: 3.95

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Bookouture and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: We were all at the party. Which of us wanted her dead? As the smoke from the bonfire spirals into the night sky and the cool drinks slip down our throats, none of us can take our eyes off Lacey. Her adoring boyfriend, her little sister, and me. Sad and full of rage, after an argument forced the man I love to leave the party early. When the fire burns out, we stumble away from the beach, along the cliff path – faces burned by the wind, hearts full of secrets. But Lacey never makes it home. The next morning, her body is found in the sand dunes, a heart-shaped locket missing from around her neck.

My Thoughts: The premise of this story, two podcasters diving into the mystery of Lacy disappearing 5 years ago was a fabulous premise. I tend to gravitate towards this type of stories. For a debut novel, this was impressive. The narrator did a fantastic job of breathing life into the characters with variance in the voices. There were some slow parts, but overall, the story moved in a face paced movement. Katie was portrayed at the protagonist but I felt her character was not written as she sometimes was in the shadow of Sophie. I did like Sophie’s character. The characters were pretty well flushed out with depth, mystery, and creatively written. The author’s writing style was complex, suspenseful, tense, and kept me engaged. The plot was well executed, it was the ending that I wanted more from. The twists were good, some predictable and some were unpredicible. I feel like the book would be best on audiobook.

I thought it was a great mystery that really kept you wondering.

PROS
- podcast element: since I did the audiobook edition, I thought the podcast element was great. For me it really added to the mystery and was a great tool in unravelling the mystery
- the ending surprised me. I thought the author did a great job of introducing possible whodunit characters and also giving them great reasons for being Lacey's potential murderers
- an ending that actually surprised me and that everything was explained

CONS
- the main character wasn't very intriguing. Katie was a great source to guide the story as she was part of it, but she herself was a little blah
- without revealing anything, and I actually really liked the ending, there was a part of me where the resolution seemed to just come and end really quickly. But at least all the questions were answered which I appreciated