by Clare Mackintosh
SYNOPSIS
On New Year's Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests. His lakeside holiday homes are a success, and he's generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbours. This will be the party to end all parties. But not everyone is there to celebrate. By midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake.
On New Year's Day, DC Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects. The tiny community is her home, so the suspects are her neighbours, 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, a murder is just the beginning.
The Last Party is a mystery with echoes of Agatha Christie and Scandi-noir but with a modern edge all of Mackintosh’s own, and features her signature strong characters, heartfelt emotion and unpredictable twists and turns. It also draws upon her own experiences as a former police officer.
Dw i mor falch o’r cyfle i siarad am y llyfr cyntaf mewn cyfres drosedd newydd wedi’i gosod yng Ngogledd Cymru. Fel Cymraes sy’n achub ar unrhyw gyfle i hybu’r Gymraeg, ro'n i wrth fy modd bod yr awdures, Clare Mackintosh wedi gwneud yr ymdrech i ddefnyddio’r iaith drwy’r llyfr i gyd mewn ffordd sy’n adlewyrchu’r cymysgedd o ddiwylliannau ac iaith yn yr ardal. Diolch yn fawr Clare!
REVIEW
When a body is discovered in Llyn Drych during the annual New Year's Day swim, DC Ffion Morgan is called in to lead the investigation from the North Wales side. As the lake borders with England she is forced to work with DC Leo Brady from the Cheshire Major Crime unit. Their partnership is a tricky one - Ffion is a local trying to question people she has known all of her life, there are some indications that she might also have a more personal connection with the case. On the other hand, Leo is trying to do things by the book and isn't used to an investigation where it's hard to separate facts from local gossip.
As the investigation into the murder develops, more and more of the local residents come under suspicion, it begins to look like the whole village is tied up in the death somehow!
It isn't often that a crime novel makes me laugh out loud, but the link between the prologue where a body is found and chapter one of The Last Party really got me. I knew straight away that this was going to be a thriller with a difference. I have only recently read Clare Mackintosh's previous novel, Hostage, which was an action-packed international thriller, so it was a surprise to switch to The Last Party with it's North Wales setting and murder in a close-knit community. This book had more of a cosy crime feel about it and plenty of black comedy but I love the fact that each book has a different vibe, keeping the stories fresh.
Despite some really funny moments (I especially loved DC Ffion Morgan's dry sense of humour), there was also a tricky mystery to solve with a number of different suspects to eliminate. Having the two detectives work together on the case bordering England and Wales was reminiscent of The Bridge and was a really good way to highlight the different way of life in a small North Wales village compared to the bigger surrounding cities.
The Last Party is a fantastic start to what I'm sure will be a very popular series - DC Ffion Morgan is a really strong and interesting character to carry through, and her sarcastic and spunky attitude really makes her stand out amongst other detectives in similar series. I can't wait to read book two / methu aros i ddarllen yr ail lyfr!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Clare Mackintosh is the multi-award-winning author of five Sunday Times bestselling novels, including I Let You Go, which was the fastest selling debut thriller in the year it was released. Translated into forty languages, her books have sold more than two million copies worldwide, have been New York Times and international bestsellers and have spent a combined total of 64 weeks in the Sunday Times bestseller chart.
Clare spent twelve years in the police force, including time on CID, and as a public order commander. She left the police in 2011 to work as a freelance journalist and social media consultant and is the founder of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival. She now writes full time and lives in Wales with her husband and their three children.
www.claremackintosh.com / www.facebook.com/ClareMackWrites / @ClareMackint0sh
Thanks to Anne Cater @RandomTTours, Sphere @BooksSphere and Clare Mackintosh @claremackwrites for the opportunity to read and review.
Publisher: Sphere
Fiction: Psychological Thriller / Police Procedural
ISBN: 978-0751577105
Pages: 448pp
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