An enjoyable psychological mystery. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this pre-release book.

A Death At The Party
By Amy Stuart
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Nadine and Paul are the perfect couple with their teenage kids Isobel and Damien. Nadine will do anything for her family, ever the protector.

It’s the day of her famous Mums birthday party where we follow Nadine (the party hostess) who unravels secrets and lies of her family and friends around them as the day unfolds.

Many twists in this story which had the unusual timeline of one day. Lots of coincidence and coming together of past stories which will all make sense in the end! Everyone has something to hide but there is one unthinkable secret that Nadine is determined to find out the truth about.

A very tense read - I really did wonder where this was going to end up but wow - what a finale !

Excellent story line and literally read in a day!

Thank you @netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review.

#lovetoread #thrillerread #adeathattheparty #netgalley #netgalleyuk #scotland #busymum #bookstagram #bookreview #books @amystuartwriter

The beginning of this book is also the end and what is sandwiched between is the story of what happened and what led to it.
Although I did enjoy this book, I did feel it was too long, some of the passages
being, in my opinion, too 'wordy'. Saying that. I thought the characters, main and secondary, were well written, as was the plotline. The majority of the characters have secrets, some of which have been buried for years, but secrets have a way of coming out and some coincidences may not be all they seem,

I was drawn to this book by the cover and the title and was so happy to receive an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I tried so hard to get into it but I really struggled with the style of writing and it just didn't work for me.

I loved this book. It was completely magnetic and I could not put it down.

It was full of mystery and kept me guessing until the end.

The characters were really likeable and the plot well thought out and flowed really well.

Highly recommended, 5 stars from me.

I would first like to say thank you to Penguin Random House for providing me with this ARC.

I have to say, I enjoyed this book, I empathised with Nadidne, a woman trying her best to hold it all together while inside she is crumbling. The storyline had me gripped from the beginning and I kept thinking that I knew who the victim was, only to realise that that could be the case. I found the duel storylines of River and Colleen really well written and again I couldn't work out the correlation and I certainly didn't see the family bombshell coming!

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Well this was interesting, very different genre for me. It was very character driven with so many secrets in this family some going back over 30 years.. The way that the book was written in three parts (with a hint at the beginning on how it was going to end but not who and why) just kept my attention throughout and I just needed to know why and who. Every character seemed to be someone that might be killed.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

The story starts with a bang and the reader is thrust into the middle of the drama with a woman, standing over a body........the story then winds back and builds up, with hints along the way to a terrific finale! One to read.

A Death at the Party is a domestic thriller, a fast-paced read that covers the usual arc: affairs, long-held family secrets, and of course, murder.

The story opens at the party (no surprise given the title) with Nadine, the hostess with the mostest, watching life ebb away from a man on the floor of her bathroom. He’s begging her to help him, but she refuses, walks away, and rejoins the party upstairs. But who is this man?

Next, we are taken back to the morning of that same day; Nadine wants tonight’s birthday party for her mother, Marilyn, to go perfectly and has a huge task list for all friends and family members.

Marilyn is turning 60, and she’s a famous murder mystery novelist who struck it big when Nadine was a teenager. They continue to live close to each other, but on a personal level, they're perhaps not as close as the picture-perfect picture portrays - secrets linger aplenty. Particularly concerning to Nadine is the death of Marilyn’s younger sister Colleen many years ago. There's nothing as tangled in webs of lies as families, right?

But they're not the only ones with secrets; in fact, Nadine's alone are considerable, and many men around her are potentially out to hurt her in some way, but as the day progresses and the party plans come together, we determine who the night’s murder victim is going to be.

With short tantalising chapters, A Death at the Party is easy to binge-read and would make an excellent poolside pick, but it felt too stereotyped, too predictable and overall fell a little flat for me.

Fans of B.A Paris, Lucy Foley and books of that style are bound to devour this one. 3⭐

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this advance review copy in return for an, as always, honest review.

At the very beginning of the book you are thrust right into the thick of it. Then it takes you back to that morning and as the main character, Nadine gets ready for the party you find out all about her life. I really enjoyed the book, it’s rich and full of life. I really enjoyed the writing style. All through the story I was trying to work out who it could be from that first scene. The author makes sure to leave enough bread crumbs for most of the characters that it wasn’t till close to the end that I’d worked it out. I recommend this book and I’m waiting patiently for Amy’s next one! Thank you #netgalley

The narrative is told from Nadine’s point of view, who is getting ready to host a party for her Mum’s birthday. Mixed in with flashbacks to a party which happened 30 years ago, Nadine realises she has been hiding a secret about what happened that night.
I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down! I would highly recommend anyone to read this.

I really enjoyed this book. The story starts with Nadine standing over a man's dead body in her basement. Above them a great birthday party for Nadine's mother is in full swing. The main part of the book reveals Nadine's relationships and connections with a number of different men, all of whom she might have hated enough to kill, but of course we only find out his identity at the end! There are some great characters in this book and it will keep you guessing up to the final revelation. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

I really loved this book. It grips you from the very first sentence and keeps your interest right until the end.
The story is told from the perspective of Nadine, a 40-something woman who is dealing with recently resurfaced trauma. She's a great character - very relatable and interesting.
The story takes place over the course of a day when Nadine is planning a 60th birthday party for her mother, a famous author. Throughout the day we meet the key people in Nadine's life and learn a lot about her past. Nadine is haunted by the death of her aunt, Colleen, at a previous party for her mother 30 years ago. The story sees her putting the pieces together to find out the truth about Colleen's death, and her identity.
Amy Stuart does a great job of creating characters, particularly Nadine's husband Paul and her two kids. The dialogue between them is I think very realistic, and the reader feels they are right there with them.
The plot of the book is great but I'd have read this just for the character of Nadine alone. I would definitely recommend it, and will be reading more from Amy Stuart.

I am new to this author and sadly am not overwhelmed by the writing.

A death at the party follows a family planning a party to celebrate the 60th birthday of the main character’s mother, a famous author. The last time this family threw her a birthday party, it ended in a death! Will this party have the same outcome?

A tale of deception, family and murder. How far would you go to protect those you love?

I enjoyed this book but wasn’t blown away by it…some of the peripheral characters were confusingly similar and lacked the depth to keep them separated.

I really enjoyed this murder mystery and raced through to finish it.

The narrative is told from Nadine’s point of view, who is getting ready to host a party for her Mum’s birthday. Intertwined with flashbacks to a party which happened 30 years ago, Nadine realises she has been hiding a secret about what happened that night.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my arc

Thank you NetGalley for this arc.

This book starts off with a bang and a death at the end of a party and Nadine, the main character with is with this person then they die. But why? And who is he? This is basically what the story is about.
It then moves to the morning of the party and how the day evolves. It feel like a very true story, I can really imagine it happening. It revolves around family dramas, relationships with childhood and ends with a bang of a few revelations.
I really really enjoyed this. I flew through it. It drip fed you little hints of what it as happening which just made you want to read more and more! Well done to the author for this great book which I will be recommending!

A new author for me, I enjoyed this one. It details a day in the life of Nadine, who we know from the start is involved with a death of someone at her mother's 60th birthday party.
Lots of dubious characters, this was domestic drama at its best. However, Nadine seemed to cram a lot into the space of one day! It was giving me the fear how slowly things unfolded, she ambled about doing various tasks, slowly all day and she had still to shower, do her hair and get make up done less than an hour before the party started! I was shouting at her to get a move on!

This is a traditional-meets-modern whodunnit, except the mystery surrounds which of the cast of party attendees has met their demise, and why. The story takes place over 24 hours as we follow our unreliable narrator Nadine as she proceeds to juggle the party planning in the run up to the event, while the reader has glimpses of past events to put things together.

With the party setting and large cast of characters it does have a traditional Agatha Christie feel but with a modern twist. I'd happily read the next novel from Amy Stuart. Overall this starts very strong and I felt the pacing was maintained well throughout - I raced through it in a couple of sittings.

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher and the author for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

A good basis for a plot but too many holes!

I am a fan of the ‘family secrets’ type of crime novel and this one had a good dollop of intrigue to have me hooked. Where it fell was that there were too many instances where Nadine’s actions were questionable in the ‘would she really’ way and one giant no-no near the end that lost it for me. I also thought there were too many sub-plots. Perhaps they were intentionally distracting?

What I love about this book is that the end appears to be the beginning. It starts with Nadine waiting for a man to die in her basement. From this point you are hooked.

The story basically rewinds to the start of the day and Nadine preparing for her mum’s 60th birthday. As the day progresses, we get to see different characters as we try to find out who is in the basement and why. Couldn’t put this down and would really recommend.