Yes! I love this book, I love a well written reunion book with intriguing characters. I felt the book overall, was a bit slow off the mark but it developed brilliantly into the heart of the story. The characters were, in my opinion, well written and fleshed out - even if I did not directly relate to many of the characters - i think that is a mark of a good book. Perhaps, whislt the concept of post-university reunion isn't original it is well written and a good page turner. Would recommend to readers who like mysteries (and maybe thrillers?).

Caro Carmichael receives an expensive looking envelope. Inside, there is an invitation to a memorial statue unveiling of Henry Bellinger, Caro’s former boyfriend at Oxford.

She decides to host a dinner party the night before the unveiling and invites her old university friends: George Kingsley, Travis Lawrence-Dixon, and Lily Enfield.

Unknown to Caro, Lily reaches out to Elle Andrews (whom Caro hated and was envious of throughout their time at uni), who appears on the doorstep and gate crashes the party.

You can definitely tell that things are going to get heated as the five of them reminisce about their time at Oxford. It also brings back memories of Henry, who tragically died during their last year of studies.

All five have a secret or two. Is one of them a murderer?

I really enjoyed this tense psychological thriller.

The characters were unlikeable as you could have portrayed them (hats off to the author!). The only ‘real’ and down to Earth people in that room were Lily and Elle, polar opposites of each other. Lily was always shy and nobody really noticed her, whereas Elle was loud and not afraid to speak her mind. I must admit that I loved Elle’s meddling and revelations during that evening. She can come to my house anytime!

I liked the dual timeline and chapters written from different points of view. I was desperate to discover what really happened at Oxford. Did one of them snap and kill Henry, who was despicable and entitled, or was it just a tragic accident?

Pick this book up for yourselves to find out! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

Thank you to HQ for my review copy.

The Fifth Guest is an addictive read that had me on the edge of my seat! Told in two timelines we get to really delve into this mystery and the five characters involved. I loved seeing the story unfold from all their points of view, even when the majority of them are incredibly unlikable. At first I was scared to have so many main characters but Jenny has done an amazing job of giving them their own voices.

This book was full of twists and turns that I didn't see coming and I really enjoyed the way the story wrapped up. This book also deals with a lot of different topics and contains some dark themes such as drug abuse and violence so be sure to take that into consideration!

Overall I really enjoyed this one and found myself constantly wanting to pick it up! I definitely recommend giving this one a read and I cannot wait for Jenny's next book!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Fifth Guest had a very different feel to the types of thrillers I usually read. I think what surprised me was that none of the characters were likeable so there wasn't really that one person to root for, but at the same time it was very successful in getting those difficult personalities across and they were totally believable.

I really enjoyed the dual timelines split between the group during their time at Oxford University and the present day where they meet for a reunion dinner party. I loved that when the story switched to the dinner party, each section started by listing the course and what they would be eating. I thought that was a nice touch to separate the narratives.

It was quite complex to follow Caro, Lily, George, Elle and Travis but it was necessary to build up each story and get you thinking about who had done what, who had secrets to reveal and what the final outcome would be.

Overall I thought it was a cleverly written suspense novel which gave an interesting portrayal of competitive personalities, privilege, family pressures, shame and the dangers of ambition.

I couldn't get enough of this book, I loved the dual timelines of what happened all those years ago at Oxford, and what was happening at the dinner party being hosted by Caro.

It's about a group of people who under normal circumstances probably wouldn't have been on each other radars, but due to an accomodation issue, all ended up living together

In the past sections I was rooting for George and Henry to make the boat race boat, for Lily and Travis to get it together, and for a whole lost more too.

In the present sections I was reading with bated breath to see just which character would reveal something shocking or eye opening next and that might she new light on their past times together.

By the end of it, I was really despising at least one character, thought another was incredibly brave, and was shocked at the lengths others would go to.

This may be the author's debut thriller but all of her women's fiction skills that I have loved in the past were present in this book, making it incredibly readable, to the extent I read it in an afternoon.

Absolutely enthralling.

Thank you to HQ and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

In principle, this book should not work, but it so does! When four childhood friends reunite for a dinner party, along with one uninvited guest, fireworks sure fly! All participants have secrets they wish to keep buried, but reminiscing about old times means it is inevitable that they will be revealed. I really enjoyed the two linear storylines being told alongside each other and found it really built up the tension towards the final reveal! Highly recommend.

I really enjoyed The Fifth Guest and found it to be a complex and compelling study of a group of old university friends who meet up 15 years after the death of their ex University flatmate in order to attend his memorial service.
Caro, Lily, George, Elle and Travis were at Oxford together but have been estranged since the events during their third year which led to Henry's death.
This is a dual timeline novel that moves from the present day back to their days at Oxford and is told from multiple points of view. It took me a while to get into it but once I did I found it to be an excellent and original addition to the 'reunion' genre. The characters are mostly unlikeable but the characterisation is excellent and shows their complexity and how their family histories contributed to their personalities. It excellently portrays the self entitlement of some male Oxford students and their abusive treatment of young women.
The plotting and pacing of the novel are excellent and the author slowly reveals the secrets of the 5 friends.
A recommended read and I look forward to the author's next novel.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley, HQ and Jenny Knight for my ARC of 'The Fifth Guest' in return for an honest review.

I could not put this book down. It was so cleverly written and an insight into reunions, which happen all the time around the country. hopefully, not many have such dark, sinister secrets.

Caro is hosting a dinner on the evening before a memorial of one of their fellow students from Oxford. Attending are George, Lily, Travis and Elle turns up uninvited to stir up the memories.

All of them are hiding things from their time at Oxford and the story is told going by the revelations at the current dinner party then flips back to the time at University.

Highly recommended. Brilliant read.

A suspenseful domestic drama which brings five university housemates together at a dinner party. Most protagonists are unlikeable, but this doesn't stop you from wanting to know their secrets and what happens to them. It spans two timelines and multi viewpoints. The pacing is perfect, and it's a book that's hard to put down. There are some elements in this story which are particularly disturbing. It's a domestic noir because lines of legality and morality are transversed by most characters. It portrays the prejudice and privilege in English society well. There are poignancy and twists in this engaging story.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

I’ve always enjoyed books by this author (who previously wrote women’s fiction as Jenny Oliver) in fact I was even a character name in one of them! So I was very excited to hear that she’d changed genres and was writing a thriller as Jenny Knight – here’s the blurb:

“Five friends. One deadly secret.
Five old university friends gather on the eve of their flatmate’s memorial at a beautiful riverside house.
Host Caro is as perfect as always.
Shy, awkward Lily’s now a bestselling author.
Sports hero George loves suburban fatherhood.
Bad-boy Travis only gets his highs from meditation.
And gatecrasher Elle is still a troublemaker.
Estranged for years, they’re finally ready to reminisce over dry martinis and delicious food. But there’s more than that on the menu…
Because each guest is hiding a dark secret about their time at Oxford.
They’re all guilty of something. Is one of them guilty of murder?“

The book is set in two timelines –

‘now’ which is the night before a memorial is unveiled to a friend / frenemy / lover of the cast of characters at the dinner – 3 of whom are there by invitation of the host, Caro, and 1 who is a gatecrasher.

‘then’ which is when the same cast were all at University in Oxford and Henry was still alive.

None of the characters are particularly likeable in either timeline, to be honest, but you begin to understand why as the stories unfold and twist and turn. They were flatmates at Uni – but by circumstances rather than choice – so that throws up lots of differences and foibles that wouldn’t necessarily have happened if they’d chosen whom to live with.

Whilst I didn’t go to Oxford – the University flashbacks are very reminiscent of my uni times – and the different types of students you get! Similarly I didn’t row – but friends of my children do, and so the cut throat / competitive nature of getting in ‘the boat’ was written really well.

I’ve seen the book described as a modern day Agatha Christie – and I can completely agree with that, with all of the players in one room as the explanation for the stories evolve. It also reminded me of recent books by Lucy Foley which have a similar vibe of middle class mates meeting up somewhere and historic secrets being revealed.

I would say it’s a mystery rather than thriller – I really enjoyed it, and was keen to see how both timelines unfolded.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC – and the book was released YESTERDAY – so I’m not tempting you into something months before you can actually buy it (and this is no way just an excuse for the fact it’s taken me a few weeks to get round to writing my blog post, nope, not at all!!)

A good thriller. I don't think I will ever be able to watch the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race in the same way again. A reunion of old university friends with one missing. A great backstory of secrets and lies leading to whodunnit.

Five former flatmates from Oxford university receive an invitation to an old classmate's memorial. Henry Bellinger died in their last year at university & his family are unveiling a memorial to him & his late father, Sir Charles. One of the group, Caro, invites George, Lily, & Travis to stay at her home the night before, not knowing that the fifth friend, Elle, will be gate-crashing. During the meal old secrets & rivalries are gradually revealed including infidelity & drugs, but did one of them actually commit murder?

The five main characters are Caro (former girlfriend of Henry, now married to a rich husband who she doesn't love), George (Henry's friend & main competitor for a spot on the Oxford rowing team, ex-boyfriend of Elle), Elle (a late arrival to the flat, Elle was a bit of a nonconformist but fell for George), Travis (stoner & secret boyfriend to Lily, he is now a self-help guru who rejected family money for freedom), & finally Lily (quiet, unassuming, a bit of a nerd really but fell in love with Travis. Now a successful author.) These five shared a house during their years at Oxford with Henry - rich, entitled, general misogynist.

It was a little slow to start & I didn't really like any of the characters to start with, but that changed as the story developed. Elle came across as rather hard & brash but by the end of the book, the reader understands why, but the only really decent character seems to be Lily. I wasn't sure whether or not to DNF during the first 30% but I'm glad I stuck with it as the story suddenly took off & I couldn't put it down. There seems to have been a lot of reunion based books recently, but this is definitely one of the better ones that I have read. I ended up really enjoying it. 4.5 stars (rounded down)

TWs: alcohol, drugs, infidelity, misogyny, sexual assault, sexual content.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, HQ, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

A university reunion turns sour as it soon becomes evident that all the friends have something to hide. I liked how my attitude towards the different characters altered over the story; reading about their time at Oxford University influenced where I felt more sympathy.

For the most part, I don’t think Knight intends for readers to like the characters. They all display selfish tendencies and their rich, indulgent backgrounds reinforce this. Elle is an outsider, coming from a more humbler background, and I was fascinated to see how the other housemates were envious of her care-free character. She strives to work hard but there is a tough exterior that makes her rather alluring and a bit of an enigma. Her relationship with George was different because of their contrasting backgrounds, but I do believe the feelings were genuine.

In present day, the five housemates are coming together on the eve of a memorial for the sixth housemate. No information is given at the start of the story about how Henry passed away but when the friends come together, it is clear that they are not as innocent as they portray. I liked watching the different characters squirm under pressure, especially as facts about their time at university start to get revealed. It is the comeuppance that they definitely needed and is long-overdue.

Some of the plot development was obvious but I was still keen to see how the story would conclude. In fact, I found the last couple of chapters to be more sinister than the rest of the novel. If the whole book had been like this, I would have found it more suspenseful; instead I thought the character actions a bit obvious and conforming to established stereotypes.

Knight shows a darker side to life at Oxford University, driven not just by wealth, but dangerous obsession and ambition. There are many victims to this lifestyle and the five friends are all deserving of finally facing the consequences. As secrets are revealed, so are the levels of guilt, and I found it intriguing to see who had committed the worst acts of them all.

With thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A group of college friends get together the night before a memorial is set to be unveiled of a mutual friend, Henry. Everyone of them has a secret about what happened in college that they don’t want the others to know. But only one of them killed Henry.

This was a fast paced mystery with lots of reveals and shocking revelations. I feel like this genre of old college friends and a murder is such a favorite of mine, and this book filled that craving. I enjoyed that we got multiple POVs and flashbacks as this made the mystery a bit of a slowburn. I found some of the reveals shocking but I wanted more of a follow through to some of them. It kinda felt like once something was revealed nobody did anything about it.

All in all it was a fun and quick mystery that I enjoyed reading.

Not an author I have read before, but Jenny Knight is now firmly on my radar!

Five friends - now estranged, but once close enough to share a house together during their university days. Each has followed their own path but with the memorial for their friend taking place the next day, one of them decides to hold a dinner party to get reacquainted with three of their former housemates - but, with everyone harbouring their own secret from their Oxford days, things don't quite go as planned . . .

This is definitely my kind of novel; as get to know all about these six as they were at university, which begs the question - who died, and why? It didn't take long for me to get completely immersed in each person's tale, and I relished finding out about each of them - their backgrounds, hopes and dreams. As the dinner continues, it becomes clear that each one of them has something to fear, something they don't want to share but boy, that's just the tip of the iceberg! The surprises just keep on coming and I reached the end with my jaw well and truly dropped. What a cracking read, and one I absolutely recommend! A full five glowing stars - nothing less will do.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

A group if old friends gather in a beautiful house by the river in Barnes, for a dinner party. They've barely seen each other since they left Oxford twenty years ago, and they don't like to look back on those days much. As we find out, their student flatmate, Henry Bellinger, died one night on the eve of the boatrace. All five have been invited to attend a memorial for Henry the following day, and they're finally ready to reminisce over some good claret and excellent food. But there's more than that on the menu.

The characters are well rounded and realistic. The story has a dual timeline - the past is their university days; the present is the memorial for Henry Bellinger. Caro had invited three people round for a meal, but then an extra person turns up - uninvited, and everything starts to unravel. The story is told from different points of view, I loved how the story unfolded. This is a story of revenge, betrayal and obsession. This fast-paced read pulled me in after reading a few pages.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HQ and the author #JennyKnight for my ARC of #TheFifthGuest in exchange for an honest review.

Just how many secrets can five old university friends who have touch over the years have from each other?
Caro decides to get in touch with the friends she shared a house with at university to host a dinner party on the eve of Henry's memorial (her boyfriend at the time). Her idea being that they can air all their issues with each other before they get to the memorial. However, she just doesn't realise how many secrets they've all been keeping from each other all those years!!! Hers is the biggest of all but doesn't get revealed to the friends, just to the reader!
After a long night of revelations and an emergency hospital.trip for one of them,they all decide it best to stay away from the memorial!!!

I read to the end just to see what would be revealed at the dinner and ended up being surprised by some of the things that were revealed! The characters were very unlikable as they were so entitled even the ones who didn't have money!!! Too many of the were harbouring on things that had happened and they had no control over.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book, only given 3 stars because of the unlikable characters!

I thank NetGalley and HQ for providing me with an ARC copy of this novel, which I freely chose to review.
Jenny Knight is a new author to me, although based on her biography, she has been writing for a while in other genres. Judging by this novel, I am not surprised that she has a following, as she has a good grasp of what makes people keep reading, and knows how to create surprising and engaging, if not always likeable, characters.
Readers who enjoy fast thrillers with plenty of action might find this one a bit slow and somewhat disappointing because there is a slow build-up, little action (at least in the present), and most of the reveals come very close to the end. On the other hand, readers who enjoy getting to know the characters, digging into the psychology of all involved, and not having to contend with tonnes of characters and lots of difficult names, will have much to enjoy here.
This novel falls into what seems to have become a popular subgenre recently: a group of friends (often people who met as students, and some of whom might not even have kept in touch that much) who get together after quite a while, to celebrate something (a memorial of some sort is a popular motif). They all go to the reunion with different expectations: some might want to boast about how well they’ve done in life, some might dread facing people who made their life difficult in one way or another, others might look forward to picking up where they left off, revenge tends to rear its ugly head somewhere or another, and there might even be one or two who are just genuinely interested in connecting again. There are always skeletons in the cupboards, and things come to light that had been hidden, sometimes with pretty shocking results.
The description includes all the characters who play important parts in the story. There are a few who appear in the novel —some in person, others only by reference— but those only play small parts, and we don’t get to know them in-depth, other than through the thoughts or reflections of the five main protagonists. There is also Henry Bellinger, the golden boy of the group, who shared their apartment in Oxford for a year before moving to better accommodation, and whose memorial they’ve all come to attend (well, or almost all). The novel is narrated in the third person, from the point of view of the different characters (more time is dedicated to the female characters, none of whom come from money, in contrast to the boys), and the present time of the story alternates with the events from their joint past, the two years when they lived together in Oxford, which are also narrated from the different characters’ points of view. The story starts with the invitation to the memorial, sent by Henry’s mother, and we get to know the protagonists by the way they react to it, and the events that develop following that. Caro, whose role is that of the perfect hostess, wife, and mother, decides to invite the other flatmates to her house, for a dinner party, the day before the memorial. Although she doesn’t invite them all (she only invites Lily and George), things don’t go according to plan, and the dinner party ends up becoming a confessional of sorts, and secrets and lies come to the surface. However, not everybody leaves knowing the whole truth. (Thankfully, we, the readers, do).
I’ve read comparisons with Agatha Christie’s novels, and there is some of that, as Christie was fond of locking up her characters in a place and forcing them to come to terms with what they had done in the past. Here, though, the body count is not high (at all), and the reasons for their behaviour are more complex and dubious than we are used to in classic mystery novels.
The writing style is fluid, and there isn’t a lot of extraneous information thrown in. Although part of the novel (the one that takes place in the past) is set in Oxford, there aren’t lengthy descriptions of landmarks or beauty spots. The novel captures well the lifestyle of the characters, and the different spheres they move in (with some being rich, popular, members of the rowing team, and sons of alumnae; others having to work hard to be able to afford their most basic needs; and others struggling to keep up appearances), without drowning readers in a lot of detail. Despite the changes in characters’ points of view and time period, these are clearly indicated in each chapter, so readers don’t need to worry about getting lost.
I have mentioned the skill of the author in creating psychologically complex and plausible characters, and I particularly enjoyed the way she subverts expectations, as we are introduced to characters that might seem unsympathetic or not particularly likeable at first, moved by jealousy, pride, fear, revenge, greed... and by the end of the novel we’ve learned things about them that put them in a completely different light. Of course, the opposite is also true. Not everybody comes out of it smelling of roses, but that is at it should be. Although the story itself is intriguing, and we get to learn a lot about Henry, the elephant in the room, or perhaps the ghost hovering over them, all of the characters (or at least a few) get to discover plenty about themselves.
I enjoyed the ending, and although there is plenty of drama, and some disturbing events take place (it is not an explicitly violent novel, but there are references to drug use, drinking, sexual abuse...), there are also touches of humour I enjoyed, I made my peace with a few of the characters by the end, and there are a couple I’ll be sorry to lose sight of.
In sum, this is a novel for those who prefer a slow-burn mystery/thriller, who aren’t looking for a detailed police procedural or a book with lots of action, characters, and exotic locations, but rather enjoy getting to know the characters and trying to understand what makes them tick. If gore and violence bother you, but you are fond of exploring the psychology of the characters and the inner workings of their minds, you should try this one. I am going to keep an eye on this author, as I am sure we’ll keep hearing from her in the future.

A group of former Oxford University friends get together on the eve of a memorial of Henry.
Throughout the book we read the individuals stories, their friendships as well their backgrounds; that were a strong mix of economical differences.
After all the years of separation the group all have personal issues which has affected their lives.
Can the meal bring together bring answers to the unanswered questions?
Can the truth cause more damage than good?

I thought this book was okay. However it didn't really thrill me, I didn't like the characters enough to really care what happened to them. Sorry.