Everyone is invited in. Not everyone will get out alive.
It is a big day for Sophia Matthews. It’s her sixteenth birthday, and her rich daddy, Ethan, is throwing a huge party in celebration of this special day at his huge, supposedly haunted mansion.
It’s killer guest list includes . . .
Dani: Sophie’s new stepmother who’s been plagued by self-doubt ever since the birth of her own baby girl
Órlaith: the superstitious Irish nanny who senses a looming danger in this cavernous house
Mikayla: the birthday girl’s best friend who is not nearly as meek as the popular kids assume
Kim: the cunning ex-wife who has a grudge she can’t let go of .
The story is told from five different points of view: Ethan, Dani, Órlaith, Mikayla, and Kim. And the chapters are short.
This book is advertised as a psychological suspense thriller. The psychological part I can see. By the end of the book, you know all there is to know about each character. And they all have lots of secrets.
Suspense? Yes, there are some suspenseful parts, but it is way more psychological.
Thriller? Close to the end, it does get thrilling to where you don’t want to put the book down but not until then.
The book is very well-written, but I kept waiting and expecting someone to get killed, and no one did until close to the end. That was a bit of a disappointment. By then, I knew who was going to meet their maker and who committed the crime. So I was not thrilled at all with this book, but there are plenty of readers who were. Like I said, it is very well-written, or I wouldn’t have kept reading it. This review is, of course, just my opinion.
If you would like to read this book (and you may end up loving it), I’ve provided an Amazon link for you below. This book won’t be released until July 1, but you can preorder it now and will receive it on the day it is pubished.
Amazon Link: Party of Liars
Favorite Sentences
They are trapped inside a house they were warned never to come into.
A dead bird is a sign of change to come.
The house—all white and bright, wall open to the sky—somehow still harbors darkness in its corners.
I’m jolted from my humiliation by a stomach-turning scream, raw and filled with fear.
That’s when I found the letter that made my whole world a lie.
New Words Learned
bigtooth maple – Acer grandidentatum, bigtooth maple, is a fast-growing small deciduous tree. It is relatively drought tolerant and has medium or low water needs. It has a spreading, rounded canopy with colorful fall foliage color.
https://arboretum.ucdavis.edu/tree-database/bigtooth-maple-acer-grandidentatum
earwigging – a scolding or harangue
About the Author
Kelsey Cox received her MFA in fiction from Purdue University and works from home in the Texas Hill Country. You can often find her writing at Mammen Family Public Library, chasing around her two young daughters, or watching British mysteries with her mom and aunts. On nights when bedtime goes as planned, she enjoys curling up on the sofa, glass of wine in hand, and a book with complicated characters and a killer twist in her lap. Party of Liars is her debut novel.
