Don't you come knocking on my door: THE LAST PARTY

The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

The locals of Cwm Coed have an annual New Year's Day swim in the freezing Mirror Lake each year. But they'll never forget this swim... when the body of Rhys Lloyd washes up on shore. Once a local, Rhys left town for fame and fortune as a singer and only recently returned to start a fancy lakeside community known as The Shore on the "English" side of Mirror Lake. Suddenly DC Ffion Morgan of the North Wales Police has a dead body on her hands, a New Year's Eve party full of suspects, and an unwanted partner in DC Leo Brady from the Cheshire Constabulary.

"Out of the mist floats a man. Face down, and quite unmistakably dead."

I am a sucker for a good police procedural, but this one took it up a notch, as I didn't guess all the twists, which is so (so) rare. I also really liked the character of DC Morgan, and I'm so thrilled that she'll be back for another book. The narration alternates between the present-day investigation of Leo and Ffion and then chapters from the wealthy English personnel staying at The Shore. Their story is told backward, for the most part, starting with the The Shore's New Year's Eve party and heading back in time. We learn that just about everyone had a good reason to want Rhys Lloyd dead.

The setting of PARTY is wonderfully atmospheric, set right on the lake, and playing up the tensions of the locals from Wales versus the outsiders (seen as rich, snobby English folk). Even better is the fact that Rhys used to be one of "them" from Cwm Coed but now appears aligned with The Shore and all it stands for, including tearing apart landmarks passed down from his father, a member of the Cwm Coed community.

I loved the police procedural aspect of this book, as there is a true investigation going on to discover exactly what happened to Rhys, but there are also character-driven stories everywhere. Many of the characters are despicable, but as secrets unravel and dark pasts are told, you learn why many are the way they are. I loved the nuances and depth to so many in this mystery. Even better, plenty of twists and surprises exist to keep you on your toes.

Mackintosh is a wonderful writer, and it was great to have THE LAST PARTY to remind me of that. I look forward to the next book in this series. 4.5 stars.

I received a copy of this book from Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.

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