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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Book 5 in the Detective Dan Riley series and what an absolute corker of a read this was. Dan and his team are investigating the brutal killing of teenager Libby Drayton. Libby was the perfect daughter, excelled at school and was an excellent piano player. So why was she killed and by whom. Well this book really reeled me in hook, line and sinker from the very beginning. Every time I finished a chapter I had to carry on reading so eager was I to find out what the hell was going on and who was responsible for the killing. I had so many people I was suspicious of that at times my head was in a complete spin. I did guess the outcome before it was revealed but it in no way took away from my enjoyment of this brilliant book. This book series is fast becoming one of my favourite ones and I think I have a bit of a crush on Detective Riley
3.5 Stars
One Liner: Interesting, but nothing new to offer
The Drayton family is enjoying dinner with close friends on a cold night. Libby is a 17-yo and the perfect daughter of Evie and Tom Drayton. Brandon, Evie’s stepson, doesn’t enjoy the same adoration.
Una and Jim are Evie’s college friends. Jim is a GP and a docile middle-aged man, while Una is the life of the party. When Libby goes out for an event and doesn’t respond to Evie’s messages or calls, Evie starts to panic. When the girl doesn’t come home, Evie knows something is wrong.
Dan Riley is assigned to find Evie and soon discovers that the girl was neither perfect nor as innocent as Evie believed. Soon enough, Libby’s body is found, and thus begins a murder investigation. As secrets are uncovered, we realize that no one is who they seem to be.
What made Libby turn into a manipulative daughter? Can Dan find out who the killer is?
The story is revealed in multiple perspectives, with Dan’s voice in the first person and the rest in the limited third person. This gives us all the necessary information to solve the case ourselves even before Dan does. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage.
Plus Points:
• I got to know after reading the book that it is a part of a series of cases solved by DI Dan Riley. Makes sense that his voice is the first person. It worked so well as a standalone! I wondered why there was a chapter at the end with more details about Dan. Now I understand.
• The main characters are all flawed, some more than others. The side characters are decent, though.
• The story moves more like a show on the telly. Given the characters, this approach worked well. I could read the book without being involved and still enjoy it.
Not-so-Plus Points:
• There isn’t anything new in the book. Story-wise or character-wise, we don’t have much to look forward to.
• The twists are super easy to guess (especially for a thriller reader). That does make the book slightly dull. Since there wasn’t any action, the story felt bland towards the end.
• Readers following the Dam Riley series might connect more and like it better than I did. For me, it was just another regular thriller.
To sum up, The Night of the Party is a decent thriller with a fast-paced narration. Non-thriller readers might find it more entertaining.
Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
#TheNightoftheParty #NetGalley
One Liner: Interesting, but nothing new to offer
The Drayton family is enjoying dinner with close friends on a cold night. Libby is a 17-yo and the perfect daughter of Evie and Tom Drayton. Brandon, Evie’s stepson, doesn’t enjoy the same adoration.
Una and Jim are Evie’s college friends. Jim is a GP and a docile middle-aged man, while Una is the life of the party. When Libby goes out for an event and doesn’t respond to Evie’s messages or calls, Evie starts to panic. When the girl doesn’t come home, Evie knows something is wrong.
Dan Riley is assigned to find Evie and soon discovers that the girl was neither perfect nor as innocent as Evie believed. Soon enough, Libby’s body is found, and thus begins a murder investigation. As secrets are uncovered, we realize that no one is who they seem to be.
What made Libby turn into a manipulative daughter? Can Dan find out who the killer is?
The story is revealed in multiple perspectives, with Dan’s voice in the first person and the rest in the limited third person. This gives us all the necessary information to solve the case ourselves even before Dan does. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage.
Plus Points:
• I got to know after reading the book that it is a part of a series of cases solved by DI Dan Riley. Makes sense that his voice is the first person. It worked so well as a standalone! I wondered why there was a chapter at the end with more details about Dan. Now I understand.
• The main characters are all flawed, some more than others. The side characters are decent, though.
• The story moves more like a show on the telly. Given the characters, this approach worked well. I could read the book without being involved and still enjoy it.
Not-so-Plus Points:
• There isn’t anything new in the book. Story-wise or character-wise, we don’t have much to look forward to.
• The twists are super easy to guess (especially for a thriller reader). That does make the book slightly dull. Since there wasn’t any action, the story felt bland towards the end.
• Readers following the Dam Riley series might connect more and like it better than I did. For me, it was just another regular thriller.
To sum up, The Night of the Party is a decent thriller with a fast-paced narration. Non-thriller readers might find it more entertaining.
Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
#TheNightoftheParty #NetGalley
I felt like this book had the potential to be something so completely amazing that it could have blown my mind off but everything past the 75% mark was a huge clusterfuck. I simply can't believe that the author found it appopriate to make a 12 year old out to be the murderer in a story with abuse, blackmail, manipulation and so much gaslighting. I feel betrayed and pissed off and maybe it's just me not understanding the whole concept author was trying to put across but I didn't like the conclusion of the book as a whole.
This book was really good and sucked me in from the first page! Even though I kind of figured out who did it, there were tons of other twists that caught me by surprise. Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
The Night of the Party is a murder mystery, the book starts with the discovery of the murder of Libby and, as Detective Dan begins to investigate, he unravels a plethora of secrets between those involved.
The novel was pretty good, I didn't guess who the murderer was until a little bit before it was revealed which is how I like my mysteries to be. I thought that the plot was interesting and well thought out and the secrets that were slowly revealed were done well.
3/5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this copy to review.
The novel was pretty good, I didn't guess who the murderer was until a little bit before it was revealed which is how I like my mysteries to be. I thought that the plot was interesting and well thought out and the secrets that were slowly revealed were done well.
3/5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this copy to review.
This is a book which is very fast paced with a lot of twists. It is a good light read with characters which are interesting. It finishes weakly in my opinion, though quite a few other reviewers do differ.
Evie is proud of her daughter Libby, who is always well behaved and gifted (she plays the piano). Brandon is Libby’s step-brother and there is an air of tension between them. Evie regards Brandon as being a difficult step-son though she tries her best to get along. On the night when Evie and her husband Dan are hosting their friends Jim and Una for dinner, Libby leaves the house saying she will be watching a performance with a friend. Evie loses contact with her and she is later found dead, brutally murdered. It turns out that Libby lied about going out with a friend, who denies she was to meet her.
As the story progresses, secrets which many of the characters including Libby held to themselves are revealed. There are a lot of twists and I loved how especially Libby’s character was revealed. However, the large number of twists right till the end also meant a not very serious tie-up of all ends (such as forensic evidence). I was also ok with that as it was engrossing and moved very fast. The end however was very contrived and extremely weak.
My rating: 3.25 / 5.
Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture & the author for a free electronic review copy.
Evie is proud of her daughter Libby, who is always well behaved and gifted (she plays the piano). Brandon is Libby’s step-brother and there is an air of tension between them. Evie regards Brandon as being a difficult step-son though she tries her best to get along. On the night when Evie and her husband Dan are hosting their friends Jim and Una for dinner, Libby leaves the house saying she will be watching a performance with a friend. Evie loses contact with her and she is later found dead, brutally murdered. It turns out that Libby lied about going out with a friend, who denies she was to meet her.
As the story progresses, secrets which many of the characters including Libby held to themselves are revealed. There are a lot of twists and I loved how especially Libby’s character was revealed. However, the large number of twists right till the end also meant a not very serious tie-up of all ends (such as forensic evidence). I was also ok with that as it was engrossing and moved very fast. The end however was very contrived and extremely weak.
My rating: 3.25 / 5.
Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture & the author for a free electronic review copy.
First book I’ve read by Anna-Lou Weatherley and I was blown away!! Absolutely loved this book! The lies, manipulation, and major twists were amazing!!
This book was really good and sucked me in from the first page! Even though I kind of figured out who did it, there were tons of other twists that caught me by surprise. Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
Turns out Libby wasn't quite the perfect little angel her mother Evie thought she was. Throw in some partying, sex, drugs, blackmail, extortion. Yeah, that makes for a lot of people who might want to kill her, but finding someone with the timing just right might be difficult. But not because they didn't want to.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Pedophilia