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 by Clare Mackintosh was published by Sphere Books on 4 August 2022 and is the first in the D C Morgan series. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour
Oh my goodness, what a wonderful start to a new series. Welcome to the world of DC Ffion Morgan and her small community in Wales. This is high-class crime fiction at its very very best. With a plot that grips and twists and throws up the unexpected and populated by a cast of characters who are so richly described. Some you will loathe, some you will love, but each and every one of them are perfectly created.
Throw in the evocative setting of a small Welsh community of Cwm Coed, alongside a luxury lakeside development, and all of the bitterness and mistrust between the two communities and you have the perfect read. I flew through this in two days, never knowing quite what to expect and always thrilled by the turn of events.
Ffion Morgan is thirty, with a failed marriage behind her, she's moved back home to live with her mother and younger sister. Ffion has a well-known, long history of being something of a wild child and she does little to shake off that reputation. In fact, as the story starts and Ffion finds herself entangled in the bedsheets belong to a bloke whose name she struggles to remember, we realise that Ffion is a bit of a law unto herself,
Ffion Morgan is thirty, with a failed marriage behind her, she's moved back home to live with her mother and younger sister. Ffion has a well-known, long history of being something of a wild child and she does little to shake off that reputation. In fact, as the story starts and Ffion finds herself entangled in the bedsheets belong to a bloke whose name she struggles to remember, we realise that Ffion is a bit of a law unto herself,
Ffion is also a police officer. Based in her home town, everyone knows her, she's the person they come to when they need advice on anything crime related.
It's New Years Day and the residents of Cwm Coed are about to take the traditional swim in the lake when the activity is stopped. A body is in the water, and this is soon identified as Rhys Lloyd. Rhys was also local, but he crossed the boundary to the other side. It was Rhys who has developed the lake shore, using money that he inherited from his father. Rhys has also had a celebrated career as a singer, but his star has been fading recently.
It's New Years Day and the residents of Cwm Coed are about to take the traditional swim in the lake when the activity is stopped. A body is in the water, and this is soon identified as Rhys Lloyd. Rhys was also local, but he crossed the boundary to the other side. It was Rhys who has developed the lake shore, using money that he inherited from his father. Rhys has also had a celebrated career as a singer, but his star has been fading recently.
Ffion is teamed up with Detective Constable Leo Brady, from the English side of the border, although this is not the first time they've met.
Clare Mackintosh tells the story through multiple voices, both before and after the events of New Years Eve. It's a clever and compelling structure that keeps the reader on their toes, and allows us to form our own opinions on characters and motive. What this author does so very well is totally and utterly shock the reader, and there's a revelation that turns every single thing we may think we know totally on its head.
Clever, intriguing and compelling. Ffion Morgan and Leo Brady are an amazing team, both of them are flawed characters and both of them are incredibly likeable. Their relationship sparks from the pages, with their vulnerabilities exposed many times.
Clare Mackintosh tells the story through multiple voices, both before and after the events of New Years Eve. It's a clever and compelling structure that keeps the reader on their toes, and allows us to form our own opinions on characters and motive. What this author does so very well is totally and utterly shock the reader, and there's a revelation that turns every single thing we may think we know totally on its head.
Clever, intriguing and compelling. Ffion Morgan and Leo Brady are an amazing team, both of them are flawed characters and both of them are incredibly likeable. Their relationship sparks from the pages, with their vulnerabilities exposed many times.
The Welsh setting is just wonderful, with the smattering of the Welsh language throughout that brings an authenticity to the story.
Totally and utterly top-class crime writing, and Ffion Morgan is superb. I cannot wait to read more about her. Bravo Clare Mackintosh. Highly recommended.
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.
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