Sheppard’s debut novel “The Beach Party” was an addictive thriller that kept me engaged from the start.

Sophie and Kate are close friends from university studying journalism. They developed a podcast called “Small Town” focused on unsolved murders plaguing small towns. Kate brings a unique perspective, as she experienced a similar tragedy first hand. The summer before university, Kate’s friends throw a huge beach party. The following day the body of 19 year old Lacey is found murdered in cold blood. Although the police will explore several leads over the years, they will not identify the person responsible.

After graduation, Kate and Sophie are excited to begin the next chapter of their lives and Small Town will take a back seat. This changes when they are approached by an agency that offers to sponsor the podcast. The agency will provide financial backing but they must agree to spotlight a single case over several episodes and dig deep. Although Kate is apprehensive, she agrees to take on Lacy’s case.

There were subtle clues presented early on that raised my suspicions about the person responsible for Lacy’s death, however it took much longer to piece together the how and the why. The author also did an excellent job dropping bits of information throughout the story to direct suspicion elsewhere — and I never suspected the flip at the end.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in audible format. This was an excellent read - 3.5 overall (rounded up). The narrator was wonderful and I look forward to future publications by Amy Sheppard - definitely recommend!

Oh my gosh this audiobook knocked my socks off! I absolutely loved it! It was so compelling and thrilling, and I was here for it all!

What In The Woofles! 😳😯🤯

Fluffin' Muffin! For a debut novel this was really good! This was incredible with the mystery and suspense and the ending delivers a sure packed wallop! I loved the podcast aspect, which seems to be becoming a more common subplot to thriller novels. While the beginning seemed a bit slow, it quickly picked up momentum & suspense as little truths slowly unfolded. I will say I kept going back and forth of the "who" & still ended up completely wrong. This fast paced, quick debut thriller was still delish, like when you look forward to a favourite treat you haven't had for a while. This author has definite potential & I can't wait to see what else she'll end up coming up with. Sheppard has a devious, crazy mind with what she's come up with here, in a very good way. I will say that I had presumed the novel was going to be told at the time of, when actually its years later with flash backs. But she melded it really well & I very much enjoyed the writing!

Mყ 𝐒ყɴ𝐨ρѕιѕ: It's been five years since the murder of Lacy when Katie, Sophie, & Tom engage in hosting & investigating a true crime podcast. But Katie & Tom have a history having not just grown up in Cornwall, but there the night before Lacy's body was found on the beach at a bonfire. So what really happened to Lacy? Everyone will have their own secrets their holding back.

Thank you to NetGalley & Bookouture Audio for this ARC.
Release Date: August 30, 2022

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭: 3.5 / 5 Beach Waves! 🌊

Katie and Sophie come back to Katie's home town to do their podcast about a murder of a teenager at a beach party that was never solved. Katie was at that party and has had trouble remembering all the pertinent clues. Katie is plagued by flashbacks throughout the telling of this story and even though there is push back from the town, after all this is a tourist town, they are going through with the podcast and interviewing people still in the area. Secrets are discovered but what is shocking is when the murderer is found to be close to home.

First book by the this author and narrator.
And I am a fan of both.
The narration kept me focused on the story, and the story it self was being interesting and kept me guessing.
I did not see the ending coming at all.
I am looking forward to reading more of her books and f8nd more audios by the narrator.

Who doesn’t love a True Crime podcast?!

I absolutely loved listening to this audiobook, The Beach Party by Amy Sheppard. Amalia Vitale was an excellent narrator making it a very easy listen. I’m also a huge fan of True Crime podcasts, so was really excited to listen to this audiobook.

Katie and Sophie met at City University as journalism students. After graduation, they remain friends in London. Katie working as a Researcher at a newspaper and Sophie as a successful influencer/podaster. Together they work on a podcast looking at unsolved murders. They travel to Pengelly in Cornwall for their next podcast, to investigate the unsolved murder of Lacey Crew who was murdered when she was just 19 years old at a beach party. Katie’s interest and connection to Lacey is that they were in the same year at school and had both been at the beach party the night Lacey was murdered. Pengelly is a small town where everyone knows each other - surely someone must know something about her murder?

I liked the fact that not only did Katie know Lacey because they want to school together, they weren’t friends and Lacey had bullied Katie at school. I also liked the fact that even though Katie had grown up in Pengelly, she hadn’t visited in some time and felt the outsider. Combined, I liked the unease Katie felt at investigating Lacey’s murder - it was clear the investigation wasn’t going to straightforward.

It felt like I was listening to a true crime podcast - the audiobook had the same energy. I thought it was very pacy with the investigation looking at Lacey’s friends, family and colleagues at the time of her murder. And in true True Crime Podcast fashion unearthing revelations that the police hadn’t pursued at the time. I really thought I’d figured out who committed the murder as I was listening to the audiobook and was surprised by the unveiling of the actual murderer.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Bookouture Audio for the audio-ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Absolutely loved this audio book. Amazing story which kept me guessing till the end. Loved the twist at the end. I would highly recommend this book

BLOG TOUR REVIEW


Review for 'The Beach Party' by Amy Sheppard.


Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Amy Sheppard, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous


Publication Date 25th August 2022.


This is the first book I have read by this author.


I was originally drawn to this book by its eye catching beautiful cover and intriguing as well as intriguing sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book is 'Perfect for anyone who adored The Holiday, The Guest List or Gone Girl..' I am a huge fan of Gone Girl so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).


This novel consists of a prologue and 62 chapters. The chapters are short in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is based in Cornwall, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture. I have actually been on holiday to and visited Cornwall many times and am going back next year so will definitely be intrigued to see if I recognise anywhere or get ideas where to visit or avoid!!!


This book is written in first person perspective with the main protagonist being Katie. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. If there are several protagonists you also get to see more of what is going on.


'The Beach Party' discusses some topics that may trigger or upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Amy discusses/includes rape.

WOW!! IF YOU WANT A BOOK WITH AN ENDING THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND MAKE SURE YOU PICK THIS ONE UP!!

This book was very fast paced, unqie and addictive. I devoured it in one reading and was completely absorbed throughout!! This is only the second book that I have listened 100% on Audiobook. If I listen to a book on audiobook I usually also read the physical book between but for the second time I listened to the whole book and I was impressed! I must say a HUGE congratulations to the narrator Amalia Vitale who did a great job bringing this story to life. I would listen to it in the car and while walking at any opportunity and Amalia did a fantastic job on both male and female characters voices!!! I'm not only looking forward to reading more books by Amy but also to listening to more books narrated by Amalia! The storyline is rammed with suspense, tension and mystery throughout and I loved the unique way we are told the story through podcasts. Amy created a suspense and tension filled atmosphere and Amalia executed it perfectly through her narration. The location was perfect for the storyline and I could picture everything perfectly through Amy's vivid descriptions. The only niggle I really had was the short sentences which haltered the storyline somewhat. There were so many characters who had motive to kill Lacey and I was left guessing throughout. The twist at the end absolutely blew my mind, I certainly did NOT expecting that coming!!!


I was completely invested in the storyline and the characters throughout. The characters were all strong and realistic making them easy to picture. However, I can't honestly say I particularly liked any of the characters which given thay I was hooked on the storyline surprises me. The main character Katie seems to be very spoilt and there are several ways this shows in the book including the fact that she never seems to contribute to anything when staying with Sophie and Tom such as cooking. Katie also seems to bad mouth most of the females including her so called best friend Sophie and yet seems to have fallen in love with the three main male characters. I just didn't seem to click with her at all and was annoyed with the way she seemed to look down at other characters while being quite hypocritical herself. Sophie also reveals herself to be quite a spoilt brat on several occasions and it always seems to be what she wants. She had a tendency just to disappear doing her own thing and I must say who pushes their so called best friend into doing a podcast she didn't want to do? Tom was another confusing character who seemed to fancy Katie but was in a relationship with Sophie. It was a shame I didn't find one character that I could relate to but I still found it a very enjoyable read.

This is the first book I have read by Amy but I'm most certainly looking forwards to reading more!!

Overall a page turning mystery that will fill you with suspense and absolutely shock you at the end!!!

Genres covered in this book include Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Psychological Fiction,Fiction and Domestic Fiction amongst others.

I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of The Holiday, The Guest List or Gone Girl.


294 pages/ 9 hours 12 minutes.

This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle, £8.99 in paperback, £18.29 for the audiobook or £7.99 of you have Audible membership via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!


Rated 4/5 (I enjoyed it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.


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When I read the summary for The Beach Party I was excited to start it. I love a good beach read, especially on with murder, but the more I listened to it, the more I realized it was nothing like I imagined and I was a bit disappointed in that aspect.

I thought the book was going to be about a party at a beach where someone ends up murdered. You know... we would be reading about it as the party went along. However, the story actually takes place mostly five years after the party, where one of the people who attended the party is on a podcast about unsolved crimes, so she returns to the scene of the crime to investigate. I knew nothing about the podcast aspect of the story, which is a huge part of the story, and to be honest, I had mentioned in another review of mine, that crime podcasts seemed to be written often recently, and I was just kind of over it.

The writing, or in my case the narration, felt choppy as I listened. The sentences seemed short or cut off, I did not have an actual book to see if this was the case or if it was just the way it was read. The narrator had a pleasant enough voice, and a clear English accent, which sometimes can be a bit challenging with all the dialects they have.

This wasn't a horrible book, in fact I think I might have enjoyed it much more if maybe it had been what I thought, but it just prove to be something entirely different from what I was expecting

Everyone was at the party but yet no one knows what happened. In a small town called Cornwall, Lacey, a young beautiful girl was murdered with some many people she knew, right on the other side of the dunes. Fast forward five years and Katy is on her way back to Cornwall, where she grew up, with her friend Sophie. They have a podcast called Small Town where they investigate cold case murders that most people would not know about. Their podcast is pretty popular and they decide to do a long series on the murder of Lacey Crew. As the story progresses, Sophie and Katy find out more than the detectives were able to find and slowly start putting the pieces together.

There are so many turns and things you would not expect to happen. I do not want to spoil this book but I 100% recommend it. I am not a thriller or mystery person AT ALL. If you ask my friends, I won’t even watch anything somewhat scary. I am a rom-com fan all the way, but this audiobook kept me intrigued and listening. I finished it in one day. I can not believe that this is Sheppard’s debut novel.

A good page-turner - solid 3-star read!

SYNOPSIS:
"We were all at the party. Which of us wanted her dead?...
Who would have thought our beach party could end the way it did? Close friends gathered on the last night of a long hot summer – which one of us could have killed the girl everybody loved?"

MY THOUGHTS:

- Enjoyed the premise of returning to a cold case through a true-crime podcast. A case in which one of the presenters is very close to Katie was at the beach party where it all happened!

- Loved the two timelines of today and the murder case from five years earlier.

- It's pretty fast-paced once I got into it and it kept me intrigued, I didn't guess the murderer at all so that is always good for me.

- A good summer page-turning thriller.

- I listened to this on audio, which had a great narration and could easily be read at double speed as "normal speed" was pretty slow for me. But all in all, would recommend it as an audiobook for sure.

Have you ever been to a party that gets out of control? Teenagers, alcohol, and secrets are running ramped. At the end of the party one of them is dead. Lacey Crew is dead and it remains a mystery.

Fast forward 5 years later, Katie and Sophie decided to start a True Crime Podcast called “Small Town”. They get that opportunity to go to Pengully to do a show to investigate the old murder. Do they find out what happened?

This is a promising debut. I look forward to future books. Thank you Netgalley, Bookouture Audio and author Amy Sheppard for this advanced audio.

The synopsis drew me in as a potential mystery/thriller (mystery). However, in a store, I would have never picked up the book. This cover screams YA or rom-com, neither appeal to me. Turns out the book dates itself with its podcast back story.

The story starts well, and quickly the mystery twists start. There is quite a bit of young adult, fresh out of high school hard and romantic feelings thoughts. While the characters multiply, the story of an unsolved murder unfolds. The last third of the book is rushed and comes together not in a good way. I don't feel a solvable mystery was presented. The red herring is another overused trope.

I had the audiobook and thought the narrator was okay.

Three stars as the book isn't bad and it isn't great. It's okay with a little insight behind the scenes of current crime discussions.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for accepting my request to read and review The Beach Party.

It started off slow but soon picked up the pace. Its an intriguing storyline that keeps you listening and it flows well. Really liked the podcast aspect of the storyline. There was a good few characters but not in a way you became confused. Some very likeable characters with some more developed then others. I really liked the authors style of writing and how she divulges the twists along the way. I found the narrator engaging and I really enjoyed how it all came together.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to listen to #TheBeachParty

What makes a good thriller? One where I convict 4-5 people before we finally find out who did it! This one fit the bill. I loved how true crime podcasts come to life in this book.

When I heard who did it, my jaw dropped.

🌀Synopsis
Sophie and Katie are two friends who started a crime podcast together. Sophie has a lot of experience with business opportunities, so when a network offers them a deal for a special program she lines it up.

Only it’s not just any murder. It’s one from Katie’s hometown that’s never been solved. Lacey was the popular girl who never made it home from the beach party.

As the girls dig in they find that the group of friends have more secrets and, it takes some time, but eventually they all tumble out and the killer is finally brought to justice.

I feel like I won the lottery receiving an audio arc of The Beach Party. I have been in a reading slump, unable to finish many brand new books and simply DNFing them. As a reader, this is a terrible scenario. Amy Sheppard wrote a debut novel which I listened to, start to finish, in 24 hours and ENJOYED.

Many of my recent books had me criticizing them because I did not like the characters. I was starting to think I'd stopped liking humans. After this read, however, I can say, no, I do like humans, especially the ones featured in this book.

Brief summary - two women, Katie and Sophie, run a true crime podcast which gets picked up by a network based on a cold case which can be told over a 6 arc series. Luckily for them, Katie is from a seaside town with an intriguing unsolved murder of a young woman with the benefit that Katie knew her, knew the players and was there on the night.

I loved these two women, their relationship, the use of the podcast to move the story forward, combined with them doing the series in Katie's hometown she'd long ago left. There was an appropriate amount of intrigue, enough characters to be interesting but not overwhelming and kudos to Sheppard for writing an ending I never guessed.

Narrator Amalia Vitale appears to be new to the world of audio books and did a great job voicing the characters. I would not hesitate to listen to her and will be following to author Sheppard for her next book.

Highly recommend.

After a bonfire party, Lacey's body is found dead, and her locket is missing. Who, in the group of friends from the party, did it? Sophie and Katie (who knew Lacey) start a true crime podcast years later to figure out what happened.
The premise for this book is great, but it fell flat. The sentences are short, choppy. The beginning is slow, but it is full of good red herrings that keep you guessing. I liked the audio better than the book.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

WHOA! What. A. Book!

From the book title and description, at first, I was confused by the book. Yes, they are accurate, however left out the bulk of the book as was told through the production of a podcast. The first few chapters, I was struggling moving forward with listening, unsure what exactly was happening. Once in a groove, the method of telling the story, as well as the twists and turns, had me trying to guess who did it. The main characters were engaging and had me curious what was not being said - due to fear of lack of memories due to alcohol on the night of the incident.

Around every corner, something else was revealed and I was certain I knew.
Oh, so little did I know.

I also appreciated the book didn't just reveal and end. The last bit of the book was a nice wrap of of the story.

I was given the audiobook on ARC at Netgalley and in return gave my honest feedback.

Katie returns to her small beach hometown of Pengelly, England to work on a true crime podcast with her best friend about a cold case murder of schoolmate Lacey. As the investigation and interviewing begin this seemingly quaint seaside tourist town holds many secrets and those Katie grew up with are all hiding information, and not just about the night of Lacey's murder. When is seems like secrets and clues are adding up to finding the murderer the suspect pool widens. Will the mystery of who killed Lacey be solved, and can Katie recover after uncovering the many truths?

Very much enjoyed this audiobook, the narrator was wonderful. I have seen some critiques of the structure of the physical/ebook so if you are interested in this story maybe stick with the audio version. I enjoy a lot of murder mystery novels and was glad I was not correct about who the killer was, but proud I was only one degree of separation away from being correct.
Easy story to follow though do wish the synopsis on the back of the book included how this story is told from a podcasting perspective.

When she was 19 years old, Katie's acquaintance, Lacey, was murdered during a beach party. Five years later, no one has been arrested for the crime. Katie's friend, Sophie, has received an offer from a radio station for several episodes of their true crime podcast, Small Town. Sophie decides the episodes should be based on Lacey's murder, since Katie was well-acquainted with the story and area, even to the point of having been at the infamous party. Katie is hesitant, but allows herself to be drug back to her hometown to complete the podcast. Together, Katie and Sophie begin interviewing police and locals in attempts to figure out the cold case. But is it possible that the murderer is closer than they think?

Holy crap, this was good. I had an inkling of where they were going and I was close, but not correct. I sped through this one. It was easy to get caught up in Katie's life and the chase. Really enjoyed this one!

Narrator did a great job as well.