Another cracking novel from Katie Bishop!

Tamara Drayton has been dead for 20 years by the time the novel starts, and Josie Jackson has been convicted of her murder. However, the facts of the case are not as clear cut as the prosecution would have liked you to believe and this book is all about seeking the truth. Josie was mainly convicted on the word of a five year old - Tamara's little sister, Nina. However, the weight of this knowledge has played on Nina's conscience for years. The story is told in a variety of voices, changing from one character to another and across the original timeline leading up to the murder and then 20 years later when the story is brought back to the public's consciousness via a social media influencer.

There are many complex characters in this novel, many of whom have reasons to lie, deceive and try to cover their trail, It is hard to know who to trust and no-one if very likeable for a large part of the story. Intricate plotting and many complex twists and turns will keep you guessing almost to the very end!

This has a satisfactory ending after an unpredictable and exciting read.

A top class thriller that kept me going. Often I find with who-dunnits there is a pile of useless, boring and slow stuff in the middle of the book, but this kept me going on every page. I’d love to see it as a Netflix series, the setting is lush, the good guys sweet and the bad guys horrid. I thought the story was well plotted. And most satisfying of all, there is an excellent last few chapters that wraps everything up, well after the reveal. I was a big fan of Bishops first book, The Girls of Summer, and this is as good.

For twenty years, Nina Drayton has told herself that she must have seen her sister, Tamara, being murdered by the family babysitter – Josie Jackson. That she doesn’t remember it because she was five, and amnesia is a normal trauma response.
But now, with the anniversary of Tamara’s death approaching and true crime investigators revisiting the case, Nina finds it harder to suppress her doubts. Returning to her family’s sparkling villa on the Cote d’Azur for the first time since the murder, she wants to uncover more about the summer that changed so many lives. Because if she was wrong, then she sent an innocent woman to jail – and the real killer is still walking free.

This is a wonderfully written book. Lots of intrigue, twists and turns and a great ending. The characters are well described, some lovable and some that deserve hate. Once it got going I found it hard to put down.

Katie Bishop’s ‘High Season’ is a murder mystery exploring the idea of memory and family and displacement. The novel looks at two particular time frames: a 2004 party that ended in a murder and the present day (2024), when a true crime podcaster seeks to examine whether the convicted murderer actually committed the crime at that party.

‘High Season’ is all about memory. Nina wants to remember what happened that night as the sole witness to the murder of her sister. She wants to believe that what she testified to at trial was the absolute truth. As the convicted murderer, Josie wants to live her life but she's constantly haunted by her conviction, and readers have to question whether she did commit the murder or if she's an innocent victim. Did Josie kill Nina’s sister, Tamara?

Bishop also introduces us to the character of Imogene, the true crime podcaster who wants to solve this mystery. Imogene believes that Nina was too young to testify and she may not have understood what she witnessed. Imogene acts as the plot device to get all the characters together to recreate the events of 20 years ago.

Bishop does an admirable job of creating the mystery and the cast of characters who work as suspects. She blends third-person narration, police interrogation transcripts, true crime podcast narration, viewer comments, emails, etc. to explore the fascination that happens with true crime. Anyone who has followed The Mushroom Murders will understand how oftentimes a real life murder case will become entertainment fodder for the masses.

I have two problems with the novel. ‘High Season’ is way too long as it could have been cut by about 50 pages. There are conversations that feel repetitive and slow down the progress of the narrative. Bishop constantly switches back and forth between the past and the present so readers can put the jigsaw pieces back together. In doing that, readers are very much aware that the authorial voice knows the identity of the murderer and is keeping it from the reader. This would not be a problem if the novel were not almost 400 pages.

‘High Season’ has potential and Bishop has a nice eye for describing haughty and callous behaviour. She knows how to create a possible list of murderers and that’s integral for the mystery genre.

For those triggered by instances of sexual abuse and assault, I would go into this novel knowing that there will be descriptions of such events. Proceed with caution.

In the heat of summer, the past can become hazy.

Twenty years ago, five-year-old Nina watched her sister die. Or at least, that’s what everyone said happened.

The suspect was convicted. The case closed.

But trauma distorts things, and as the anniversary approaches and a true crime podcast revisits the case, Nina starts to question what she saw. Did she really witness her sister’s murder… or did she help put an innocent woman behind bars?

Set between the shimmering beauty of the Côte d’Azur and the sharp, shifting dynamics of adolescence, High Season is a slow-burn domestic thriller that blurs memory and reality. It’s about grief, guilt, girlhood, and the stories we tell ourselves, especially the ones that help us survive.

The 2004 timeline is packed with the unbearable intensity of teenage summers, suncream and secrets, pool parties and betrayals. Bishop captures that phase of life so perfectly: when every emotion feels huge, every friendship is a battlefield, and a cruel word can feel like the end of the world.

In contrast, the 2024 narrative brings reflection, emotional weight, and a growing sense of dread as Nina begins to pull at threads long buried.

Bishop once again delivers her signature blend of evocative settings, psychological suspense, and deeply human messiness. If The Girls of Summer swept you off to the Greek islands, this novel drops you into the glittering Mediterranean heat of southern France: same tension, same slow unravel, new emotional terrain.

Read it if you love literary thrillers with unreliable narrators, dual timelines, and twisty explorations of memory, truth, and trauma all wrapped in sun-soaked suspense.

Thanks so much to the publisher for the advance copy, as always, all opinions my own.

High Season is out later this month, and it’s certainly one you’ll want to pack for your holiday reading.

I very much enjoyed reading this fast paced novel. The plot centres around an entitled family who live for part of the year in a jaded mansion in the Côte d’Azur. . One of the family is murdered and her five year old’ sister who allegedly witnesses the murder gets the housekeeper’s daughter sent to prison. The story is told in the present day and also in the year of the murder, A new documentary programme in the present day questions the strength of memory. The characters are well depicted and the ending of the book is very satisfactory. Recommended. Thank you Netgalley.

When Nina was five, she found her sister dead in the family swimming pool. Soon, she remembered something she had seen. She became the youngest witness ever to testify in court. Her testimony resulted in her babysitter being sent to prison for ten years.

Twenty years later, a TicToc podcaster wants to make a new documentary about the case. For Nina, it is all still fresh, and she is still unsure whether she did the right thing back then. Nowadays, she can barely remember what she saw as a child.

The story is told from different points of view and in two timelines. One timeline is set in the present day, while the other starts a few weeks before the murder. Unfortunately, I cannot praise this book as much as other readers did. I did not find the characters appealing or well developed. For half the book, I wondered where Hannah was in the present storyline. But when she finally appeared, I was hugely disappointed. The characters' actions were completely incomprehensible to me. Hannah and Josie in particular conceal so much for reasons that are sometimes baffling. Their friendship was a mystery to me, both when they were teenagers and in the present storyline.

The pacing is extremely slow. Unfortunately, I almost immediately figured out who was responsible for the murder. So I had to wait impatiently for the characters to get there, too.

I was drawn to this book because I enjoyed the author’s previous novel, The Girls of Summer. Unfortunately, this follow-up did not meet my expectations, but I will give this author another chance. This one just wasn't for me.

What a great summer read! Relaxed yet intense, the kind of book that will keep you entertained till the last page. The title and the book cover made me expect a lighthearted chick flick, but this was so much more than that!
Katie Bishop is a great writer for this crime/murder mystery type of narrative, she knows how to keep the reader engaged, constantly guessing and looking for clues that were there all along. I found it quite hard to put down actually, at some point couldn’t even go to sleep when I got to the ‘juicy’ part. It’s smartly written as there isn’t any unnecessary character or detail added in, everything works together to build a picture of the setting and the characters. I liked the element of the social commentary too, a massive dig at the ‘nouveau riche’ and their interactions with the working class but also with the ‘old money’, I feel the social classes were very well represented.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for an entertaining and fun summer read with a bit of substance and a lot of mystery.

oh ok what an exciting and well done story this was. i loved everything about it and was fully involved from the outset.
we have the past and in this part of the story we have a family in the high season. this one ends in tragedy though when 17 year old Tamara is found floating in her family pool. and its down to her little sister Nina that the murderer was jailed as she was the only witness...wasn't she?
now decades later little Nina is all grown up and there has always been that sense, those questions. did she see it? where did the memories go? and is the woman they called their babysitter really the murderer?
when a new true crime docu programme starts looking at this case again Nina thinks its time to find out the truth,
as soon as i stepped into this book(and yes i say stepped into because thats how involved i felt) i new i was going to enjoy it. from page one right down to the way Katie was writing i new i was in, hooked, here for the duration.
the dual timelines work so well in a book like this but they aren't easy to do and definitely not easy to do well. Katie captures both timelines and stories so well. they are separate but also very much part of each other.
i was constantly trying to piece together what happened. i was looking for clue and jumping to conclusion but Katie kept me guessing right until the end.
there was also some really great themes and moments to think on from this book. so it had little truth bombs and added bonus points for that. i love a good think, lol.
the characters all felt real. like i could actually picture them wafting, walking strolling through the pages right down to their outfits and accessories.
i loved this book. its a five star and more for me. i cant wait for more from Katie Bishop. what an exciting time to be a reader.

I liked the plot for the book and I was intrigued at the start, about what Nina had seen but I didn't like the other characters and couldn't relate to them. I found the story was a bit long and too slow paced in parts. Would be ok for a beach/pool holiday read

Nina saw her sister die when was six years old, murdered by her best friend. At least that was what she told the police, but now-- decades later -- she's beginning to wonder if that's what really happened.

Flicking between the past and the present, Katie Bishop's domestic noir, explores the corruption of memories, the cruelty of our teenage years, and how the stories we tell ourselves can become the truth, even if they diverge from the lived reality. Her evocation of the excitement and the cruelty of later teenage years is expertly done, and while the climax of the book may feel almost over the top in some aspects, there is an inevitability and topicality around the truth of Tamara's death that is hugely affecting.

This is an accomplished second novel that pulls you into it's world, especially the flashbacks to 2004 that slowly ratchet up the the tension as we see all those teenage rivalries that seem life and death at the time collide and become a true tragedy. The 2024 timeline never quite compels in the same way, perhaps. but adds context and emotional maturity to the way we view earlier events.

High Season an immensely readable novel that will keep you turning those pages, always unsure if you're bringing your own prejudices to what happened, and always intrigued by the next twist of the knife. Definitely recommended.

I'm a fan of Katie Bishop so I was excited to get my hands on her new release. I wasn't disappointed! I love a bit of upstairs, downstairs action, and this was exactly that with a landscape of summers in the South of France. Lush.

The story moves through 2004 when Tamara Drayton is found dead in the pool of the iconic pink house on the hill. And Josie, a local girl and family babysitter is charged based on the testimony of 5yr old Nina, Tamara's sister. To 2024, Josie has been out of prison for a while and is trying to make a life for herself and still drawn back to her childhood home. And Nina now can't trust her memory... did she even see Josie do the deed at all?

High Season was fast paced - short chapters, thank you! But also felt luxurious in it's telling evoking the sea breeze and the sun on your face while you read. The characters were certainly, well, characters! And the ending was satisfying. Thanks Katie!!

Firstly thank you for my chance to read and review .
This is a fantastic book to read this summer !
You can feel the atmosphere and sizzling heat coming off the pages as we go back and forth in these characters summers .
Incredibly well written ,fast paced , fresh ,great range of characters. The contrast of people’s lives based on class and families that enable what opportunities they are given .
A exciting ,suspense filled psychological thriller that will have you not trusting anyone !

I really enjoyed this one. It’s a great summer read. I liked the TikTok sleuth element as it made it feel very current & relatable. People have so much to say and get so invested in a case but often forget that there are real people with real feelings at the centre of it. The suspense built well throughout & there were plenty of twists. The different timelines & dual narratives worked really well & built plenty of mystery. It’s fun trying to solve what happened & coming up with multiple theories along the way. The characters were well defined and you feel as though you really know them all & how they work by the end of the book. A summer page turner that had me hooked. A great read.

An indulgent read about an affluent family who holiday home in the south of France entangles the locals…..when one of the teens dies, a local goes to prison. This follows them in the past and present. A great read I enjoyed with excellently written characters.

Tamara Drayton’s rich and chaotic former It-girl mother owns a villa on the Côte d'Azur, where the family always spends the summer. In 2004, teenager Tamara drowns in the swimming pool. Nina Drayton, Tamara’s five-year-old sister tells police she saw their housekeeper’s daughter, Josie, push Tamara under the water. Nina’s testimony sends Josie to prison for ten years. Despite frequent media bids, neither Josie nor Nina have ever given interviews, nor have either of them returned to France.

Now, twenty years later, a new true-crime podcast and investigation piques their interest. Both return to the Côte d'Azur and meet for the first time since the trial.

This well-written thriller revolves around these women, their pasts, their presents and their memories of Tamara’s death. A third viewpoint character is Hannah, a friend of Josie’s, who at the time of the murder was in love with Tamara’s twin brother, Blake.

The fourth perspective comes from the true-crime podcasts and the scandal-hungry comments from followers, who see Tamara's murder purely as an entertaining case.

The writing is fluent with thisness of detail and in-depth and visceral interior thought from the three rounded protagonists. The author also does a great job of evoking the Riviera setting. Seasoned thriller readers may not be shocked by the denouement, but the journey there is absorbing and suspenseful. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it as a literary thriller and well-written beach read.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.
On publication I will post this review on my blog, on Amazon and on GoodReads.

This was my first ever e-ARC from NetGalley, and it absolutely did not disappoint — thank you!

Katie Bishop’s book is the perfect blend of suspense, thriller, and romance, all wrapped in a sun-soaked summer setting. Its August release date couldn’t be more fitting! The storyline kept me guessing throughout; with every new twist, I found myself suspecting someone else. The Côte d'Azur backdrop added the perfect holiday vibe — ideal for readers who enjoy a summery setting without diving fully into a romance novel.

The dual timeline and alternating perspectives kept the pacing sharp and my attention fully locked in. I was always eager to uncover the next piece of the puzzle.

I’m giving it 4 out of 5 stars — I’m deducting one star only because I figured out the twist earlier than I would’ve liked.

Still, a brilliant read overall. I’ll definitely be checking out more of Katie Bishop’s work!

Thank you for my copy of this book to read and review.

I really enjoyed her first book so I was looking forward to this one.

I liked the concept of it but unfortunately it just didn't grip me. I found it hard to get into and a bit slow throughout.

I found this an okay read. The ending was pretty predictable, which took away some of the suspense, but I still enjoyed how the story was told. The different POV and timelines kept things interesting and gave the bigger picture of what was going on. Josie was actually my favourite character in this because she was the only one who didn't really lie or twist anything, she always seemed to want what was best for others. I also like how she wasn't sold on the allure of the Drayton's.

I really got into this one immediately, the character dynamics really intrigued me and I'm a sucker for novels that deal with possible wrong convictions with a real mystery at the heart.

The writing is immersive and the plot I'd clever, you flip flop between one theory and another whilst being entirely caught up in these characters lives.

Overall an excellent read. I enjoyed this authors last novel too so now she is on my must read list.