When a group of people win the competition of a lifetime they are the luckiest people on earth. The competition is an all expenses trip to be the first guests at a luxury hotel on the moon. They quickly discover they are the unluckiest people on the moon when they land and find the hotel deserted. Can they survive three days until a rescue ship arrives? When one of the guests is murdered the question of survival becomes even more intense. They begin to question if they are truly alone, if so, who among them is a murderer?

The Launch Party from Lauren Forry is pure escapism. I am sure that the vast majority of readers would jump at the chance to be one of the first people to vacation on the moon. As the prospect of space tourism becomes ever more real, we realise that it will be out of reach for the vast majority of the population. A competition win is probably the only means an ordinary person would be able to participate in an trip in to space.

The competition winners are an eclectic mix of people, they range in ages, nationality, occupation and wealth. Such a mix of characters would be expected from an international competition. Unfortunately very few of them are likeable.

The lead character is Penelope, a police detective who is on a leave of absence following a bungled case. Penelope is considering leaving the police and feels that the trip will give her the opportunity to examine her future. The problem is that she can't really relax as she has a number of phobias, including flying, the dark and open spaces.

When the guests are abandoned at the luxury hotel on the moon all thoughts turn to a new form of reality TV show. One of the guests is a veteran of such shows and points out that TV producers are constantly looking for a new twist to the format. Everyone seems prepared to accept the explanation, even though they didn't sign up to take part in a reality show, until one of them is murdered.

Numerous questions arise following the murder. Firstly, are they really alone? As they begin to explore the hotel they realise that behind the luxurious front face of the hotel is a maze of hidden rooms and service corridors. It would be easy for an individual to hide and sneak around without being spotted.

The second question is if they are alone, who among them is a murderer? You really feel the unease and distrust among the group as they wonder if it is better to stay together, safety in numbers, or if they would be safer hiding alone. The thought that any one of them could be a murderer is like the plot line from a murder mystery and a few crime writers are name dropped, including Agatha Christie.

As tensions between individuals increase you can feel the panic setting in. We learn more about the competition winners, discovering that not everyone is there by chance.

This was an enjoyable read that allowed my imagination to picture life in a hotel on the moon, however I did feel a little let down by the conclusion, after such a novel approach to a locked room mystery.

Worth a read if you like mystery. There were certain aspects that could have been better and others that were great but it did not meld together.

Enjoyable and creepy but it felt a bit bland.

The Launch Party by Lauren Forry

3.5 STARS

A classic locked room mystery with a space twist. The atmosphere is sufficiently claustrophobic and it's a good page turner.

Worth a read if you like mysteries with a twist.

This...is a little bit mad! Your classic locked room mystery, ie. and then there were none, but this one, with a twist. They are no the moon so there is no sneaking in, or making a quick unimpeded escape...This gives it a unique voice in the world of locked room mysteries. Quite a lot of fun, a bit different, not quite my thing, but can definitely see the appeal to others and the perfect recommendation for some customers!

Terrifically Entertaining…
Ten people, one competition, one very special launch party - for the very first guests to travel and stay at the grandiose Hotel Artemis, a luxurious hotel with a rather distinctive setting, the Moon. Three days to get there and three days back, two weeks at the all expenses paid hotel where every wish will be catered. Things do not exactly go the way the winners had expected and, after docking at the hotel, it’s not too long before things begin to go drastically awry. Who, exactly, will survive this stay? An eclectic and deftly crafted cast of characters populate this wholly engaging locked room mystery with perhaps the ultimate destination and location for such a technique. Terrifically entertaining.

A murder mystery set in a new hotel on the moon. Ten lucky winners get a trip to the moon to stay in a revolutionary new hotel on the moon, but from the get go there's something wrong, the staff are no where to be seen throwing the contestants through a loop, most of them ignore it and don't worry thinking it's a tv show, until one shows up dead.

I really enjoyed this book, I loved the twists and did not see any of them coming, I was constantly thinking the killer was someone that it wasn't and when the final twist was explained I was in shock. I love the initial plot twist about the first kill, I was fully expecting it to be a purposeful kill, but it wasn't, I was shocked.

The only reason the book just didn't make it to five stars was mainly the characters, I did love all of them, however I found some parts to do with the characters quite confusing, there were instances where Frau Richer was referred to randomly as Charlotte, which threw me off for a minute until I realised and I didn't really like some of the random pov changes, I feel like they happened a bit too much sometimes and happened for no reason.

However I really liked this book, and will be recommending it to anyone who loves murder mystery books.

Pick up this novel and you will find it hard to put it down again, and when you have read it, you will find it easy to believe that you have actually been there experiencing the story yourself.

Set in the near future, there is a top end luxury hotel opening on the moon. Before its grand opening, some lucky competition winners won a once in a lifetime opportunity to be the very first guests. All is not as it seems and immediately things seem to go wrong until one of the guests is tragically found murdered. There are no staff, no other people involved. The murderer has to be one of the group. But who? There are lots of mysteries, secrets and untruths that all have to be unravelled to reveal who the murderer is.
I absolutely loved the idea of this book. Its a classic locked room mystery in the style of Agatha Christie. The space element really added to the fun and danger of the story.
I enjoyed all the secrets that had to be unpicked along the way.

The trip of a lifetime, you’d die to be there.

A hotel on the moon, an amazing opportunity given to 10 lucky people to be the first people to stay there. All strangers with their own reasons for wanting to go on the trip. Things aren’t always as the seem though and as they find themselves 3 days away from home things take a dramatic turn.

I want to thank @netgalley for the opportunity to read this book, the locked room description grabbed me straight away but sadly I didn’t enjoy the book. I found all the characters dull and I wasn’t invested in finding out who did it or why at all. The world would be very boring if we all liked the same thing and I’m sure plenty of people will really enjoy it, I wish the author good luck on its release.

Publication Date - 22/06/2023

⭐️⭐️

#TheLaunchParty
#LaurenForry

What an incredibly cool setting and story!

The Launch Party follows Penny - one of the first guests to be invited to the opening of a hotel on the moon. She and her fellow guests were supposedly selected at random, but is that really the case? And when one of them dies in a gruesome fashion, how will they stop a murderer when they literally cannot leave the building?

Agatha Christie on the moon - a refreshing take on the “locked room” mystery genre, I really enjoyed this.

Disappointing.
I loved the premise and thought it could be a real twist on the standard mystery genre, unfortunately it fell a bit flat.

Characters weren’t that likeable or interesting and the narrative just fell a bit short.

The ultimate prize is a trip to stay in a hotel on the moon. Now, what could go wrong? Well, you will have to read it to find out.

An excellent who-done-it book, mixed in with troubled pasts, and scary secrets that the people all hide. I thought I had guessed really early on as to the outcome, was I right? ummmm pleased to admit I was wrong. A book that I did not want to put down. Very enjoyable and well written.

Lauren Forry is an author to follow in her literary journey for the future.

I loved this!! As soon as I read the premise, I was completely hooked and knew it was something I would be absolutely obsessed with!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. A locked in room mystery set on the moon which is an interesting concept. A good, unique storyline which kept me interested throughout. Easy to read and I finished it quickly.

I think this took a bit too long to get going. The idea of this being set on the moon was interesting but I wasn't invested in the characters and it took so long to get going that I wasn't at all invested in the reveals.
If you've got more patience than I do, then this might be your next read!

The Launch Party by Lauren Forry, is a intriguing locked room mystery .
Ten strangers win a competition to be the first guests at Hotel Artemis. A luxury hotel on the moon. But when they arrive, they realise that something is not right and that there is no staff at the hotel. At first they are enjoying themselves until they found of the guests ends up dead, murdered in fact and to contact anyone by the emergency alarm takes three days before someone will respond. Luckily one of the guests is a Police detective who does her best to find the murderer before they strike again.
Thank you, Bonnier Books for an advanced copy of ‘The Launch Party’ by Lauren Forry. This is a fabulous, locked room mystery, quite unique storyline to others that I have read. This is also a quick read and I managed to read it in nearly one sitting that will keep you guessing until the end. 4 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for a review

A hotel on the moon. A very interesting premise but without that this book is just your standard locked in room mystery. There are a lot of characters with little development which meant I found it difficult to distinguish who was who. Each chapter contained multiple POV's which I also found confusing. One of the characters name also changed from Frau Ritcher to Charlotte multiple times (???)

The big "reveal" also didn't happen until around 90% and in my opinion was very poorly done. Plots were not explained fully and it was very much rushed over. Also the explanation of the staff being missing made 0 sense.

I haven't read a book set on the moon before and this was fun! A bit out there to be honest but then that's the thing with space. I would hate to go up in space but ten people win a compeition and do just that. I enjoyed the whole journey and was intrigued . I don't read much sci fi but this was fun!

I thoroughly enjoyed this, a locked room (moon hotel) whodunnit. I felt that the ending was a bit of a brain melt and wanted it to hurry up.
Thank you Netgalley & Lauren Forry for an advanced copy of this book.

An isolated location combined with a killer on the loose makes this a page-turning read. I wouldn’t say it was a hands in your mouth kinda book but it certainly draws you in and the interesting characters all add depth to the book. I really enjoyed it.