Welcome to Litsy!

1. Yes, I still carry cash, but not $3000 in cash. IYKYK
2. Some of the characters in this book are wealthy. Some characters are not. Some characters want the world to THINK they are wealthy. Therein lies a great deal of the conflict. #two4tuesday

The Nationals were snowed out (!) in Colorado on Friday, so they‘re playing tonight. It‘s a good backdrop for #hyggehourreadathon as I read this moody mystery set in North Wales. It‘s for book club tomorrow, so I need to make some progress! I agree with some Littens about maybe too much side story, but I‘m intrigued by the setting. This might lead to a new series being added to my repertoire.

This took a bit to get into and at times I felt the pacing was too slow. That said, it was twisty and I didn't guess many of the twists or the ultimate ending. Though really, when seemingly everyone wants to murder someone, it is hard to place bets on THE murderer. Anyone else want to both choke and throw up at “initial“ Leo? He grew on me....

I was expecting a basic police procedural, but this was really character driven & so twisty!
A celebrity responsible for building a luxury vacation commune on the English side of the lake, exploiting & disrupting the local economy of the Welsh community on the other side… & generally terrible person… turns up dead after a New Years Eve party.

This was my first time reading a Clare Mackintosh. I enjoyed her writing. I liked the setting of a small lake in Wales. The novel was medium paced with plenty of reasons why Rhys was disliked and even hated. Finding him floating in the freezing lake wasn‘t a surprise. I liked most of the characters. I found myself wondering if there was anyone who truly liked Rhys. 4/5

Confusing for the first 15 pages but then I figured out what was going on and Mackintosh just sucked me in. She layered some really good personal bits on top of the mystery and I‘ll definitely pick up more books if this does turn into a series.

Roll 10 for #Roll100

Ffion was fierce character who had to work with Leo to solve the case. Leo was Ffion's counterpart; prudent and peaceful.

I loved that it wasn't easy to guess who had done it, I might have suspected almost everyone at some point. But at the same time this felt sometimes a bit mess: there was so much information about previous events from different POVs and I don't know if I needed the same scenes from different POVs.

#SeriesLove23

Bingo board updates for The Last Party:

#littenlisten - Longer than 10 hours
#ISpyBingo - Weapon
#Falling4Books - A Favorite Author
#bodycountbingo - Party

#scarathlon #skeletoncrew

I love me some Claire Macintosh but this is not a favorite. It was really hard to keep up with the myriad characters, especially as an audiobook. But it was still a good, twisty story and I do like that the main detective character was intriguing and will be an ongoing character in a series. 🌟🌟🌟💫 #scarathlon #skeletoncrew readathons: #31by31 #spookoween I‘ll post the updated bingo boards separately

I really enjoyed this after the hostage which I did not love. It‘s for strong characters, a great community with secondary characters a go go and a twisty anyone could have done it murder mystery. Really enjoyed !

Wow, this book was like trying to put a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle together. Lots of characters and lots of stuff going on. It wasn‘t a bad story but I felt like the story dragged on and on and all the red herrings thrown in started to stink. By the time the big reveal of the murderer came I was over trying to figure it out. Just a so-so for me 🙁

The first part of this book was kind of boring, but at the end of the first part, quite a twist I wasn‘t expecting! Though there are so many characters to remember, they are for the most part pretty unique, so I didn‘t confuse them. It also flips between timelines and that was a bit confusing listening on audio. You also got the same interaction but different point of views. So it could have been a bit shorter.

#bookspin - January

A friend shared this idea and I fell in love with it. This year, I am going to crochet a reading log snake. Let's see how long it is going to get. I have chosen red to represent mysteries. The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh was the good read to bring in 2023 as it is centered around a News Years tradition in a small town in Wales. 3/5 ⭐️ #BooksAndCrafts #ARRCReads

4/5 ⭐

Rhys is found dead at the lake in The Shore, on New Year's Eve. Everyone at the party has secrets they don't want anybody to know about. Detective Leo and Ffion are trying to find the killer. Not easy when everyone had a reason to want Rhys dead.

Currently reading 📚😊

#5 of 2023. November 2022 #BOTM. Just a bit behind 😜 Started: 1/30/23
Finished: 2/4/23
6 Days

#bookspin square 7. @TheAromaofBooks

So that's gonna be a no. This one just didn't work for me. I was bored. I thought most of the characters were terrible. Truthfully, I didn't care who killed Rhys, I was just upset they didn't off me too before I read this book. Hard pass. ⭐⭐

First in a series⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another book club book! This one was pretty good! If you can get past the very large cast of characters, then you stumble upon a pretty epic murder mystery. Many twists and turns — literally until the final pages of the book. Lots of healing within this book, so some very triggering material. I recommend this book if you want a complex mystery with some hard topics.
For me this was…
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)

DNF @ 11% I‘m not feeling this one at all.

Oh wow, there is so much story wrapped into this book that I have no idea how to recap it on the limited lined side of my index cards! A pile of characters were introduced to convince the read what a scumbag Rhys Lloyd was. I did a fairly decent job tracking who I thought were the key characters, but when I got to the end I looped back to revisit some characters. It was super fun to pick up details I missed originally!

Set on the border between Wales and England, racism and colonialism form the backdrop to a murder mystery where the victim could have been killed by anyone.

Two thumbs up for this mystery set on a lake at the border of England and Wales. Sort of a town and gown dynamic between the Welsh who live there and the English on holiday. Lots of secrets all the characters are hiding, the murder of a generally disliked guy, lots of motives and several twists to find out what happened. It looks like the author is writing a second book featuring the police officer Ffion Morgan, and I will totally want to read it!

Clare Mackintosh is such a first rate thriller writer so I was naturally intrigued by her first foray into a detective series. While it wasn‘t anything earth-shattering, I thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to further installments. And with all due respect to the Welsh, your language is…interesting. #StartASeries

This is a new-to-me author and I was not disappointed! A murder mystery that I don‘t think I can succinctly sum up, as there are a lot of characters and the timeline is non-linear, but it‘s very well done. And I guess it‘s a bit of a slow burn but then there are so many twists!

#pop23 - book with a map
#booked2023 - book described with the words stretch, twist, or balance
#bookspinbingo - free space
#jumpstart2023

Great thriller with so many twists and turns! I love it when the victim is so despicable that any number of folks want them dead. Fun to read about a NYE mystery at the start of the year too. #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks #BOTM

Here are my January books for #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin - super excited to read both of these books!

Seems like a good one to kick off the New Year! Happy 2023 all! Cheers to great books!

Finishing up this one as my last read of the year!😄 #wintereadathon @Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES #newyearseve

Closing out the year with a solid crime novel set largely on and around New Year‘s Eve and an amaro spritz with orange. Enjoyed this and look forward to more DC Ffion Morgan. #BOTM

Cheers to 2023! Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

We are at the farm spending NYE with my Mom. This is my last book of 2022. Have about 100 pages to go to finish it. I‘m enjoying this one too so going out on a high note. Happy New Year everyone!!! 🍾🍾🍾🎉🎉🎊🎊

I found this crime novel, set in a small Welsh community, on the eve of New Year, to be an enjoyable read. Lots of suspects, a few good twists and some interesting characters. I‘ll be keen to read more of DC Ffion Morgan. 👍

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved the Welsh setting and characters of this police procedural, although I do admit there was a lot to keep track of and it was a bit long. There was an extra twist at the end that really surprised me! The murder takes place at a New Year‘s Eve party, so it‘s a great time of the year to read this. I‘ll definitely give the next book in the series a try! 🎧

This was a very slow book until the last 100 pages or so. Could have been made a lot shorter without losing anything.

Didn't enjoy the jumping back and forth in time, it made it difficult to keep track of things. It was already difficult enough with the amount of characters.

Book 220🎧 1.5⭐️

I sucked it up and finished this even though I almost bailed numerous times.

I don‘t typically enjoy cop thrillers so this isn‘t a surprise.

‘‘Twas written well but just not my cup of tea, and was a tad long.

TW - Rape

Rhys just seems to go around sticking his fingers in peoples mouths and raping who ever he wants.

Needs a swift kick to the jewels🥝

Seems like a good way to start a Saturday 📖🪱

I couldn‘t put this book down! I loved the characters in the book and I‘m so happy it‘s going to be a series because I have to read more about Ffion! It had an unexpected twist at the end and it made the book so much better! I can‘t wait for another book in the series!

I should have bailed on this book. I did consider it multiple times but I wanted to see if it would get any better. Unfortunately, it did not. Three weeks of my life I can‘t get back. Yes, it took me that long to read it because I kept taking breaks away from it. Needless to say, I will not be continuing with this series. 🥱

Good introduction to a new detective series 👍🏻 liked the character build ups and the twists and turns. Will definitely try the second.

A little last minute reading (and soccer) before family arrives!

My #botm books and my book club choice. Just a little TBR for Thanksgiving

This is my first Clare M book I‘ve read even though I have lots of her books on my TBR pile. I enjoyed this murder mystery and hope that we get to hear more about Leo and Ffion‘s story in the future. #botm

BOTM has finally launched in Canada - and it‘s stupid expensive. First book is only $9.99 but the regular monthly credit price is $26.99 - for perspective, The Last Party has a list price of $24.99 in Canada but is currently 30% off at Indigo. I‘ll be interested to see how popular it is - and won‘t be surprised if it‘s gone within six months.

Any other Canadians experimenting with BOTM?

#quicklunchtimeread
Have about 20 mins! Enjoying book so far, only 20% in as yet.

I enjoyed this one to an extent. In the end,l got bored with it and wanted it to be over. There was too much side story and not enough main story. Also, I feel I shouldn‘t be routing for the detectives to get together.

Gosh, I just love Clare Mackintosh! This was a great whodunnit, with plenty of viable suspects and unreliable narrators. I thought she balanced the multiple POVs and "then/now" time swaps well - though there are a lot of people and dynamics to keep track of, so that might not appeal to everyone. I appreciated the subtle Welsh pronunciation help, otherwise I never would have pronounced Cwm Coed correctly in my head ? #BOTM

It definitely was the last party for Rhys Lloyd.

Was it an accident or did someone kill him?

FULL REVIEW: https://tinyurl.com/yeym5dez

@claremackwrites
@bookmarked

So Leo left his son alone and Allie is punishing him for it? Why? Does Allie hate her ex-husband so much? Also, I‘m not sure why I‘m focusing on a side story rather than the main focus of the book, and I understand that the side stories make the main character/s a bit more human.

Well it‘s been a whirlwind! Just got back from a week back home because I got married!!!!! And now back here in California slowly preparing to move in a month! So much going on I don‘t know how I‘ll make time to read but I‘m trying! (Any good book recs for/based in Nashville/Tennessee I‘m planning to read about my new home!)