Thank you NetGalley, Boldwood Books, and L.H. Stacey for a copy of this ARC. I enjoyed reading this book. It took a little while to get used to the writing style, but I liked how it flipped from the past to the present.

10 years ago, Thomas was killed during a party. Now they’ve all been invited back by to where he was killed for a memorial. But it’s not just a memorial. Thomas’s Mom, Ada, wants to find her son’s killer:

It’s slow paced, but kept my attention. There are some good twists as well.

I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars.

DNF at 16%

Sadly had to dnf this book as it just wasn’t for me. The story and the characters didn’t do anything for me.

The only appealing character in this book was Alfie, to be honest. It is disjointed, and full of grammatical errors, and I found the constant references to drugs, hedonism and stupid people making stupid choices incredibly dull and off-putting. I really think the most spoken word in this book is naked in its various forms, which is how the majority of the characters spent most of their time while high on something or the other.

I almost DNF, but I hate doing that, I always hope things will pick up. Alas, no. I rarely give a rating or review like this, but there were very few redeeming factors. Maybe it's just me (and I'm seriously no prude), but this was definitely not for me.

A sad 2 stars. And one and a half of those are for Alfie.

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

⭐️Rating: 2/5
✍🏼Author: JLH Stacey
📖Genre: Thriller

My Thoughts::

I didn't connect with this book or the main Lizzie at all. I think the setup was good and the synopsis got me intrigued- with her traveling back to her ex-boyfriend's 10-year memorial and trying to solve his murder, however, it was too confusing with the dual timelines and a real slow burn thriller for me. I like my thrillers to be faster and filled with twists and turns.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately this one didn't work for me. The main character Elizabeth/Lizzie travels back to her murdered boyfriend's house where his mother is having a 10 year memorial honoring him and has invited all their old friends gang. Her true motive is to find out who murdered him. Sounds like a great setup but it fell flat for me. The switch from past to present felt jarring and I didn't really connect with (or even be able to differentiate between) most of the characters.

was completely blown away by the number of secrets that were in this plot. I didn't trust anyone, even the main characters.

"And you my darling. You're going to help me figure out which one of his friends is his killer. "
That is what Ada had said to Lizzie on arrival. Ada is William and Thomas mum. Thomas was found dead 10 years ago.
Ada invited all of Thomas' friends to a 10 year memorial in hopes of getting answers.
As the story goes on, more and more secrets are revealed. And with so many suspects, it's hard to know which direction it will go

This was an ok story, flitting between the present and ten years earlier when Lizzie’s boyfriend, Thomas, died at the graduation party. The dual timeline was easy to follow but I did find most of the characters unpleasant, I usually like to root for at least one character. The story was full of suspense and with a good twist at the end.

This is a slow burn psychological thriller.

Told as a dual timeline in the present day and ten years earlier, it is predominantly presented from Lizzie/ Elizabeth’s perspective. The use of the past and present allows the author and, subsequently the reader, to begin to piece elements together at a given pace, providing a gradual build up of events and character traits in an attempt to discover who was responsible for Thomas’ murder a decade ago.

I liked the author’s writing style and found it easy to read, while, in keeping with the genre, conveying just enough tension to keep the narrative dramatic and suspenseful.

An interesting read.

With thanks to the author, Rachel at Random Resources and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to participate in the tour.

I was so intrigued by this book. It's definitely my usual genre and it was really good. A dual timeline meant that clues were scattered through the book and just when I thought I knew what had happened in the past, something happened in the present to send it all sideways!
I enjoyed the characters and how they were written - so many theories as I read! I enjoyed untangling it all and finding out what actually happened that weekend.

This was a pretty quick read for me. I really enjoyed it, it literally grabbed me and didn't let go. The flashbacks and dual timeliness drip feed the truth and the multiple twisted motives. I did not expect the ending itll one I struggle to forget. If you like a dark, twisted domestic thriller then this is perfect

I had high expectations for this read after enjoying previous works by this author. However, unfortunately, this did not hit the spot for me. The feeling that something was missing plagued my enjoyment. The plot was good but was too much of a slow burn for my preferences, although the pace did pick up towards the end. The conclusion was a little disappointing, and the multiple points of view of the dual timelines made the storyline difficult to follow.

If you enjoy simple murder mysteries based around the psychological effects of a weekend of drugs and alcohol, then you will enjoy this read.

I have read this author's books before, so I was eager to get stuck into The Weekend. I was expecting a skilfully written psychological thriller but didn't expect to be consumed by this book. Well,I was. I think this book could be edging to be my favourite from L.H. Stacey's books!

Told from the perspective of Elizabeth, or Lizzie as she was known, this is a dual timeline story. Told from the present and from ten years previously. Elizabeth is invited to a memorial event for Thomas Kirkwood who was her partner ten years ago when he drowned. His death was ruled an accident, but his mother, Ada, believed differently.

Elizabeth is pretty surprised to be invited as she felt Ada never quite took to her being with Thomas. She decides to attend but when she gets there things take a turn that Elizabeth could never have expected.

A plot that had everything need to ensure I was having on to every word. If you love a psychological thriller that's crammed with lies, deceit, secrets, and revenge, this is perfect. Just to make it more of an addictive read more or less all the characters are unlikeable too! They are all well drawn and fleshed out so well, I loved to hate them and they made the story even more intriguing for me.

I do enjoy a dual timeline because it gives a more more rounded picture of everything. This was a book that I found the pages flying by so fast. It's such a well written book that's atmospheric with plenty of twists that kept me on my toes and guessing all the way through. Not that I got it right, which is always the best bit.

The rollercoaster of emotions had me on the edge of my seat at times, I'm glad I didn't have to go for a blood pressure check whe I was reading this anyway! All in all a brilliantly dark and tense story that has the power to keep you turning the pages without stopping until you reach the end.

Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources, Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

This weekend marks the tenth anniversary of Thomas' death and you've been invited back to the Kirkwood family home for a remembrance service. What could possibly go wrong?

The story narrated from multiple POV switches back and forth in time, from events leading up to Thomas' death and then to the remembrance weekend reunion.

It took me a while to get into the story as it's a bit of a slow starter, but pace soon picked up, as did my intrigue in the story. I'm glad I persevered as I enjoyed it immensely and wouldn't have missed that ending for the world.

Many thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for my tour spot.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The story begins ten years ago with a group of friends living a hedonistic lifestyle at Kirkwood Manor after graduation but this changes suddenly when one of them, Thomas Kirkwood found dead in the pond. Thomas is the oldest son of the Kirkwood family.

Fast forward ten years and we meet up with Elizabeth (Lizzie) has been invited back to Kirkwood Manor for a memorial of Thomas’s death by his mother Ada.

Lizzie was Thomas’s girlfriend at the time and she has cut all ties with the family and the friends she had at the time, but has come back to have some closure on events. The manor house has been turned into a hotel by Thomas’s younger brother William much to the disgust of Ada his mother who inherited the house on the death of his brother.

Ada tells Lizzie right from the outset what this weekend is intended for her to find out who is Thomas’s killer. As the story uncovers we discover that Thomas was a very unlikeable man and there are probably many reasons that he ended up dead.

I really enjoyed the dual timeline as we uncover what happened ten years prior to Thomas’s death, his relationships and character. It is a great setting and the book captured my attention from the start. It is well paced and there is plenty of drama as the story progresses.

The characters were well developed and interesting, I wanted to know more about them.

When a body is discovered at the memorial I was really surprised and couldn’t wait to find out who the killer was, and I was kept guessing, many twists and turns in this unpredictable and engrossing thriller.

A fantastic read !

5 stars *****

*BLOG TOUR* This was such a gripping read. It is a story about Thomas's death in the past but also a reunion set in the present, where everyone comes back for a memorial but with a twist. It's not a memorial I'd want to attend. Who killed Thomas? With tensions high and more deaths ahead, what is going on at this Manor? The story flicks from the past (ten years before) and the present, and it really is a who dunnit story until the final pages. The main character, Lizzie, was Thomas's ex, and it seems not many people like her, but one person still does... Thomas's brother William. With everyone under a spotlight, including the staff, will they find the killer? With family secrets uncovered along the way, this is a tense, fast-paced, and deadly read. It kept me guessing, and it wasn't who I thought it was. Highly recommend. Enjoyed this one. A well-deserved four stars.

I really enjoyed this chilling book. It starts off with a really arresting prologue and then we delve back into the series of events surrounding the shocking outcome of that weekend.

I liked the dual timeline, which gives us more insight into the past, and then brings us back to the present day, where everyone has been invited back to the scene of the crime for a memorial ten years later.

The novel is very descriptive and I think that this really adds to the spooky and tense atmosphere. The lake with the weeping willow, the woods, the hedonistic atmosphere surrounding that eventful weekend and even the hot weather which lends itself to a languid pace, all contribute to the build up of suspense.

The pace is slow but this matches the plot very well. None of the characters are particularly likeable, but perhaps this is deliberate, as there are many suspects.

Overall, a really well written and mysterious story, well worth a read

The Weekend was an interesting change from the last few nonfiction titles I have read. I found myself rereading frequently at the beginning trying to keep the characters straight. Lizzie, now calling herself Elizabeth, returns to the home of her former boyfriend who was killed at his graduation party 10 years prior to this. The story is told in dual timeframes, clearly noted, and from multiple points of view. The hedonistic graduation party was hard for me to fathom. The characters, other than Lizzie, William, Allie, Cookie, and Bobby were not likable, intentionally so I gather.
I found myself eagerly reading chapter after chapter, changing my guesses about who committed the murder along the way. L. H. Stacey kept me engaged and avidly reading. There were a few surprises, although much was not a surprise.
Many thanks to L. H. Stacey, Boldwood Books, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an arc of this just published murder mystery.

Holy Plot Twist!

The Weekend, put me on a dark and twisted ride of a lifetime.

I cant even begin to describe the way this book was skillfully crafted to come together with an explosive ending that no one will see coming. Talk about twisted! Cue the jaw drop.

This was my first book by L.H. Stacey, but there is no way I will stop now, I just want more more more! Stacey, is a true storyteller that will have us all eating out of her hands if she keeps delivering books like this. After concluding The Weekend, I did my research to find any and all books that might have been published previously and imagine my surprise when I had EIGHT books to choose from (I ended up choosing The Serial Killer's Girl)

Not only did I find 8 books but I also found out some history behind Stacey and how she came to start writing. Her story just goes to show you, when one door closes, another will open. Stacey was a scuba diving instructor but after a horrific car accident left her with limited mobility in her right arm. Stacey hung up her fins and traded it in for a pencil .

I have become a fan of Stacey with just having read The Weekend and I am sure you will be too! Check out the teaser below :


That Lake. This house. His friends. They all know what happened to my boy. I know they do. And you... you have to help me find the truth...

A weekend to remember…

Ten years ago, deeply in love, I would have done anything for Thomas Kirkwood.

But on the night of our graduation, fuelled by drink and drugs, Thomas’s lifeless body was found floating in the Kirkwood family lake. That weekend changed everything, and I swore I would never return to Kirkwood manor.

A weekend to forget…

Now, ten years later, I have been invited back to the place that holds such terrible memories for me, to a memorial weekend for Thomas, organised by his still-grieving mother Ada.

But this is no ordinary weekend. This is a reunion to catch a killer…and I fear that I could be top of Ada’s list….

Spoiler Alert : A little birdie told me The Weekend is going to be FREE on Kindle Unlimited !!!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. I didn’t finish this book and it just didn’t hold my interest. The characters were unlikable and the plot was slow as molasses so this was just not for me unfortunately.

“And with deep inward breaths, he felt a new and more powerful rage tear right through him. A scream that began in his toes and travelled upwards with force. But before it could burst out of his mouth, he decided that screaming was not the way forward and instead, he needed to devise a plan, a way of making Thomas pay. Once and for all.”

I imagine that the hardest part of writing a thriller murder mystery novel is the balancing act of creating a victim that could plausibly be murdered by a number of people, but still keep readers interested enough to care to solve their murder.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find this balance in The Weekend by L.H. Stacey. The only time that I felt empathy towards the loss of Thomas was when we were exposed to the grief of his mother, Ada, or the residual accusations towards his brother, William. But even that dwindled as we saw more of Ada’s character (and her motives), and William became more of a love interest rather than a fully formed character of his own.

Elizabeth (or Lizzie) herself also felt rather two-dimensional. I would have liked to explore her character more apart from Thomas. As it is, her entire identity, actions, and development revolved around Thomas, both in the past as a young woman in an abusive relationship and friendship group, and now as an (not as young) adult thrust into the same environment that caused so much pain.

I have to say that these less-than-positive comments are ones that I made throughout my reading journey. Without going into spoiler territory, it is the final chapter that completely flips the story on its head.

The Weekend ends with a chapter that makes you question everything that came before, and guarantees that I will re-read this thriller with a new perspective. Maybe I will end up with a completely different review and rating after a seconding reading, but for now, this is a solid 3-star read that is well-written, flows nicely, and presents enough intrigue to keep the reader engaged.