The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh

Today it’s back to Mandie who is sharing her thoughts on The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh, book on in the Ffion Morgan series. I loved this book when I read it last year, and having heard the author speak at Bute Noir, Mandie was keen to catch up with her latest read. You can read my thoughts here. Here’s what it’s all about:

About the Book

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.

Mandie’s Thoughts

The Last Party is the first book by Claire Mackintosh that I have read even though I have quite a few of her previous titles but when I heard her talk about it at Bute Noir there was something about this one that made me want to read it. When the body of local celebrity and resort owner Rhys Lloyd is found floating in Mirror Lake on New Years Day DC Ffion Morgan and DC Leo Brady are both called in to investigate. The problem they have is that they work for different police authorities thanks to the boundary lines of the area.

The story is told in dual timelines showing the current investigation and the events in the lead up to Rhys Lloyds death giving the reader the chance to get an insight to the characters that may not always be evident in the investigations. What is clear is that more than one of the residents of the resort are hiding something and may not be as nice as they appear on the surface. Whilst the location of the resort may seem idyllic there are plenty of people who never wanted it to be built but was it enough to want Rhys Lloyd dead?

Ffion Morgan is someone who works by her own rules and doesn’t seem to like authority, but it doesn’t stop her from trying to do the best she can. The only thing she hates is the fact that her beat is the village that she grew up in so everyone knows her and knows what she used to be like as a child. This often makes her feel like she has something to prove, to show the doubters that she is better than her past. She is one of those feisty characters that you can’t help but like and root for. 

In contrast, Luke Brady never seems like he wants to make waves taking all the “banter” his boss throws at him. As the book progresses you get to understand his character it still didn’t stop me wishing he would fight back and stand up for himself a bit more. The dynamic between Morgan and Brady is perfect. The chalk and cheese of their personalities somehow brings out the best in both of them and even though they may not always appear to want to work together, their determination to solve the case ultimately just works.

Claire Mackintosh manages to take her readers through quite a few twists and turns in this book as one by one each of the residents become suspects, but the ultimate truth is one that is more than a little bit unexpected. From the descriptiveness of location to the well developed and intriguing characters The Last Party is a book I loved from start to finish. Knowing that this is only Book 1 in the DC Morgan series means that will have more to look forward to in the future.

About the Author

Clare Mackintosh is the multi-award-winning author of five Sunday Times bestselling novels. 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 lives in North Wales with her husband and their three children.