The Last Party

by Clare Mackintosh

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Clare Mackintosh’s previous book, Hostage, was our Mystery & Thriller Pick in March 2022. The same minute-by-minute tensions that ran through Hostage also move through The Last Party. A countdown to New Year’s Eve is fun, but it’s the morning after where the actual suspense starts.

"Wicked fun, devilishly clever, with echoes of Agatha Christie." —Patricia Cornwell, #1 New York Times bestselling author

At midnight, one of them is dead. By morning, all of them are suspects.

It's the party to end all parties….but not everyone is here to celebrate.

On New Year's Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests. His vacation homes on Mirror Lake are a success, and he's generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbors.

But by midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake.

On New Year's Day, Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects. The tiny community is her home, so the suspects are her neighbors, friends and family—and Ffion has her own secrets to protect.

With a lie uncovered at every turn, soon the question isn't who wanted Rhys dead…but who finally killed him.

In a village with this many secrets, murder is just the beginning.

"Brilliant, so atmospheric....I fell in love with the courageous, complicated detective Ffion Morgan and I think readers will too." —Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author of The It Girl

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728269849
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	07/11/2023
Pages:	496
Sales rank:	82,617
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

With over 2 million copies of her books sold worldwide, number one bestseller Clare Mackintosh is the multi-award-winning author of I Let You Go, which was a Sunday Times bestseller and the fastest–selling title by a new crime writer in 2015. It also won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2016. Both Clare's second and third novels, I See You and Let Me Lie, were number one Sunday Times bestsellers. All three of these books were selected for the Richard & Judy Book Club, and together have been translated into over thirty-five languages. Hostage, a thriller about a flight attendant who must choose between saving passengers lives or her daughter and husbands lives, was our Mystery & Thriller Pick in March 2022. Her latest book, The Last Party, was released in 2022. Clare is patron of the Silver Star Society, a charity based at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford, which supports parents experiencing high-risk or difficult pregnancies. She lives in North Wales with her husband and their three children.

Editorial Reviews

"The writing is superb. Wicked fun, devilishly clever, with echoes of Agatha Christie. This is a party you won't want to miss." — Patricia Cornwell, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Brilliant, so atmospheric….I fell in love with the courageous, complicated detective Ffion Morgan and I think readers will too." — Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author of One by One

"A superb blend of psychological thriller and police procedural...A gripping portrait of two fractured people merges with believable plot twists, and the author perfectly captures the ennui of a small town where gossip can destroy lives. Mackintosh consistently entertains.
" — Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

"Layers of historical and social context deepen the allure of this icy murder mystery set in North Wales...Come to meet the interestingly dysfunctional characters; stay to cheer them on with a full heart." — Kirkus Reviews

"Like the TV series Broadchurch and the novels of Ann Cleeves, this wonderful novel takes the reader—through twists and turns, and red herrings aplenty—deep within a community. Crime fiction is a whole lot better now that DC Ffion Morgan has arrived.
" — First Clue

Hands down the best closed cast mystery I’ve read in years! Clues and suspects fill every page as two detectives search for the killer of a former music celebrity on a lake that borders England and Wales. Readers will adore the cast of characters and never guess whodunnit! Clare Mackintosh is absolutely brilliant.

"I loved everything about The Last Party. Taut, pacey and so atmospheric with brilliantly executed twists and wonderfully written characters. DC Ffion Morgan is my new favorite detective. An absolute triumph." — Claire Douglas, author of The Couple at No. 9

"Superb. A compelling murder mystery told with warmth, humor and enough red herrings to keep even the most seasoned crime reader guessing." — C.L. Taylor, author of Sleep

"Expertly plotted and relentlessly gripping, a perfectly executed murder mystery. The whip-sharp and deeply likeable Ffion leads the investigation, introducing us to a cast of brilliantly realized suspects. I loved every page." — Lucy Clarke, author of One of the Girls

"Clare Mackintosh is just getting better and better with every book. This is a wonderfully assured and gripping read." — Peter James, creator of DS Roy Grace

"Whipsmart dialogue, droll observation, great characters and some very nasty business make this another standout from Mackintosh." — Linwood Barclay, author of Elevator Pitch

"Detectives Leo and Ffion make a storming debut in this twisty, cleverly-layered tale of worlds colliding." — Belinda Bauer, author of Snap

"Her best yet. A picturesque setting, wonderful cast and a pair of detectives you'll love. Plus I guarantee you'll never guess whodunnit." — Mark Edwards, author of Here to Stay

From the Publisher

★ 09/26/2022

This superb blend of psychological thriller and police procedural from bestseller Mackintosh (Hostage) begins with the discovery of Rhys Lloyd’s body on New Year’s Day in freezing Mirror Lake, which straddles North Wales and England. Rhys grew up in the village of Cwm Coed on the Welsh side, where he became disliked for building a luxury vacation development on the British side that the villagers believed would spoil the area and price them out. The case falls to Det. Constable Ffion Morgan of the North Wales Police and Det. Constable Leo Brady of the Cheshire Constabulary. Their working relationship doesn’t start well because on New Year’s Eve they had a one-night stand using fake names. Awkward doesn’t begin to describe the situation, but the two professionals find their investigative skills complement each other. Ffion was raised in Cwm Coed, an advantage and drawback, as she knows everyone, including their secrets, while Leo’s outsider status allows him to be more objective. A gripping portrait of two fractured people merges with believable plot twists, and the author perfectly captures the ennui of a small town where gossip can destroy lives. Mackintosh consistently entertains. Agent: Sheila Crowley, Curtis Brown (U.K.). (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 11/01/2022

On the Welsh side of Mirror Lake, New Year's means the annual plunge into the freezing lake for all the villagers. On the English side, the wealthy residents of The Shore, a luxury development of lakeside lodges, celebrate New Year's Eve with a party, inviting their village neighbors from Cwm Coed. When Rhys Lloyd, owner of The Shore, is found floating in the water on New Year's Day, all the local residents are suspects. The villagers resent the development, and blame Rhys, who already had a reputation as the local bad boy. Detective Constables Ffion Morgan and Leo Brody are assigned the case. But everyone has secrets, including Ffion, and her secrets could sabotage the investigation. While the police seem to find Rhys's killer in just two weeks, the effects of accusations and rumors, affairs and broken marriages, and drugs and booze, could change lives forever. Neither police officer comes out of the investigation unscathed, but Ffion's secret from her past results in several shocking developments. VERDICT The author of Hostage launches a police procedural series featuring well-developed, complex characters. The format alternates between the party and the investigation in a gripping story with twists and turns.—Lesa Holstine

Library Journal

2022-08-31
Layers of historical and social context deepen the allure of this icy murder mystery set in North Wales.

When Rhys Lloyd’s dead body is discovered during the traditional New Year’s polar swim in the village of Cwm Coed, it quickly becomes apparent that there is no lack of suspects; many people wished to see him dead. As the owner of The Shore, a new resort community, Rhys was a polarizing figure despite having grown up in the village. As the lake and the new mansions lie right on the border between England and Wales—and represent the fraught history of these countries—police officers from both sides are assigned to the case: Ffion Morgan, a local girl trying to live down her own history as “Ffion Wyllt” (Wild Ffion) and get back on her feet after a divorce, and Leo Brady, haunted by a decision he made that may cost him joint custody of his young son. Neither are they exactly strangers to one another, having spent one night together that was never supposed to mean more than that. Ffion and Leo must navigate their own tension—sexual and otherwise—as well as the historic tension between their countries and the extreme hierarchy of social class as it pertains to both their wealthy victim and their suspects. Mackintosh offers multiple perspectives as the chapters both move forward from New Year's Day and back into the past. As with most successful mysteries, the identity of the murderer, once revealed after a few red herrings, is both stunning and tragically logical. While the movement through time and perspective can sometimes be a little jarring, and makes the novel read slowly at first, the resolution—of not only the mystery, but also the relationships and side plots—offers a deep acceptance of human fragility and complexity.

Come to meet the interestingly dysfunctional characters; stay to cheer them on with a full heart.

Kirkus Reviews