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bookshelf_al's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Gore
juliaaa02's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Rape
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Racism, Incest, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Stalking, Sexual assault, and Homophobia
Minor: Terminal illness
gemin1reader's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
5.0
Such a good murder mystery, I loved our two detectives and how all the side characters were so well fleshed out. I really felt like I was immersed in this world. And I never guessed who did it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Rape, Drug use, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism and Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer
shelfofunread's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Having written a number of successful thrillers, former police officer turned multi-award-winning author Clare Mackintosh is moving more firmly into mystery territory with her latest novel, The Last Party, which introduces readers to DC Ffion Morgan of North Wales Police, her colleague from Cheshire constabulary DC Leo Brady, and the small Welsh border community of Cwm Coed.
Nestled in the shadow of Pen y Draig, right on the border between England and Wales is Llyn Drych: Mirror Lake. On the lake’s Welsh side sits the small village of Cwm Coed, home to newly separated Ffion, her mam Elen, her younger sister Seren, her ex Huw, and a host of neighbours who’ve known Ffion since she was knee-high to a a grasshopper. It’s a small, close-knit, and primarily Welsh-speaking community with deep roots, old traditions, and even older secrets.
Over on the English side of the lake lies The Shore: a new development of luxury lakeside lodges that’s the brainchild of Cwm Coed’s local-boy-made-good, Rhys Lloyd and his business partner Jonty Charlton. Marketed to wealthy out-of-towners, The Shore hasn’t exactly made Rhys the most popular man in Cwm Coed but surely nobody hates the development so much that they’d kill the man behind it?
But when Rhys is found floating on the Welsh side of Llyn Drych following a New Year’s Eve party at The Shore that near-enough everyone in Cwm Coed attended, it certainly looks that way. Drawn into a cross-border investigation and partnered with a man she soon discovers she knows just a little too well, it’s going to take all of Ffion’s professional skill and ingenuity to crack this case – especially given that she has her own secrets to keep.
Having lived for several years in and around Mid Wales and the border counties of England, I thought Clare Mackintosh really captured the feel of life in cross-border communities, complete with the inevitable tensions that sometimes arise from that! I loved that Cwm Coed, although proudly Welsh, isn’t portrayed as clichéd, and the ways in which that both Mackintosh and Ffion play with lazy stereotypes (often in a dryly humorous way) to counteract expectations.
Ffion is a great character, although it rapidly becomes apparent that she has some significant secrets to hide that have a major bearing upon her investigation. Her colleague Leo – separated from his wife, increasingly estranged from his young son, and bullied by his horrific boss – is equally complex, and the two of them have a great rapport on the page which keeps the story progressing when the plot slows in places.
Readers used to Mackintosh’s thrillers might find The Last Party a little on the slow side at first. Although the chapters are generally quite short, the narrative weaves about quite a bit, moving between the viewpoints of several characters as well as between the past and the present in order to build tension and gradually reveal the various reasons behind Rhys Lloyd’s death. That isn’t to say that The Last Party is a slow book by any means – there’s still plenty of red herrings, as well as twist after twist to be had here – but it is firmly in the territory of a police procedural/mystery.
Because this is the first in a new series, there’s also quite a bit of time spent away from the central storyline, developing the characters and the community that they live in, as well as their interpersonal relationships. I really loved this aspect – and I’m looking forward to seeing Ffion and Leo’s relationship develop in future books in the series, as well as to revisiting other denizens of Cwm Coed following the fallout from the events of this novel.
The Last Party is a fantastic addition to the police procedural/mystery genre, combining the unpredictable twists and emotional turns of Clare Mackintosh’s previous work with a brilliantly evocative new setting and strong characterisation. Fans of Elly Griffith’s Ruth Galloway series and Sarah Ward’s Connie Childs series will find much to enjoy here – and, like me, will turn the final page eager to see what happens next for Ffion and her colleagues.
NB: This review also appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpress.com as part of the blog tour for the book. My thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.
Nestled in the shadow of Pen y Draig, right on the border between England and Wales is Llyn Drych: Mirror Lake. On the lake’s Welsh side sits the small village of Cwm Coed, home to newly separated Ffion, her mam Elen, her younger sister Seren, her ex Huw, and a host of neighbours who’ve known Ffion since she was knee-high to a a grasshopper. It’s a small, close-knit, and primarily Welsh-speaking community with deep roots, old traditions, and even older secrets.
Over on the English side of the lake lies The Shore: a new development of luxury lakeside lodges that’s the brainchild of Cwm Coed’s local-boy-made-good, Rhys Lloyd and his business partner Jonty Charlton. Marketed to wealthy out-of-towners, The Shore hasn’t exactly made Rhys the most popular man in Cwm Coed but surely nobody hates the development so much that they’d kill the man behind it?
But when Rhys is found floating on the Welsh side of Llyn Drych following a New Year’s Eve party at The Shore that near-enough everyone in Cwm Coed attended, it certainly looks that way. Drawn into a cross-border investigation and partnered with a man she soon discovers she knows just a little too well, it’s going to take all of Ffion’s professional skill and ingenuity to crack this case – especially given that she has her own secrets to keep.
Having lived for several years in and around Mid Wales and the border counties of England, I thought Clare Mackintosh really captured the feel of life in cross-border communities, complete with the inevitable tensions that sometimes arise from that! I loved that Cwm Coed, although proudly Welsh, isn’t portrayed as clichéd, and the ways in which that both Mackintosh and Ffion play with lazy stereotypes (often in a dryly humorous way) to counteract expectations.
Ffion is a great character, although it rapidly becomes apparent that she has some significant secrets to hide that have a major bearing upon her investigation. Her colleague Leo – separated from his wife, increasingly estranged from his young son, and bullied by his horrific boss – is equally complex, and the two of them have a great rapport on the page which keeps the story progressing when the plot slows in places.
Readers used to Mackintosh’s thrillers might find The Last Party a little on the slow side at first. Although the chapters are generally quite short, the narrative weaves about quite a bit, moving between the viewpoints of several characters as well as between the past and the present in order to build tension and gradually reveal the various reasons behind Rhys Lloyd’s death. That isn’t to say that The Last Party is a slow book by any means – there’s still plenty of red herrings, as well as twist after twist to be had here – but it is firmly in the territory of a police procedural/mystery.
Because this is the first in a new series, there’s also quite a bit of time spent away from the central storyline, developing the characters and the community that they live in, as well as their interpersonal relationships. I really loved this aspect – and I’m looking forward to seeing Ffion and Leo’s relationship develop in future books in the series, as well as to revisiting other denizens of Cwm Coed following the fallout from the events of this novel.
The Last Party is a fantastic addition to the police procedural/mystery genre, combining the unpredictable twists and emotional turns of Clare Mackintosh’s previous work with a brilliantly evocative new setting and strong characterisation. Fans of Elly Griffith’s Ruth Galloway series and Sarah Ward’s Connie Childs series will find much to enjoy here – and, like me, will turn the final page eager to see what happens next for Ffion and her colleagues.
NB: This review also appears on my blog at https://theshelfofunreadbooks.wordpress.com as part of the blog tour for the book. My thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Rape
Minor: Infidelity
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