The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
**4.5-stars rounded up**
On New Year’s Day, the remote Welsh village of Cwm Coed has an annual tradition of taking a community swim in the pristine waters of Llyn Drych, or Mirror Lake.
A bit of a polar plunge, if you will. It makes sense as the lake is so much a part of life for the village.
It gets the blood flowing, the community spirit popping and overall, is a solid way to start the first day of a new year.
When a dead body is found floating in the lake in the early moments of this tradition however, it’s clear, this will be a very memorable year indeed.
On the opposite side of the lake, a new, luxury living community, The Shores, has been built. The instigator of this travesty, according to the locals, is Rhys Lloyd, an opera singer, who also happens to be a local boy himself. In fact, he inherited the land from his father.
The previous evening, on New Year’s Eve, Rhys, along with the other owners at The Shores had thrown a lavish party, to which all were invited. It appears this body may have floated over from that side, but is he, or she the victim of foul play, or just a terrible accident?
When it’s discovered the body is actually Rhys himself, this draws attention from both sides of the lake. Jurisdiction could get tricky, so a partnership is proposed.
DC Ffion Morgan, from Cwn Coed, will team up with a DC from the English-side of the lake, Leo Brady. A match made in heaven, IMO. The snark and chemistry between these two characters gripped me from the very start, which made for a super fun investigatory aspect.
This story is told through the use of many different perspectives, both from The Shores and from the village. It’s clear the stars are Ffion and Leo, but in order to get the full scope of this mystery, additional insights were required.
The residents of The Shores were all terrible people. It was captivating getting to know them and all of their various dramas. If you’re a fan of the ‘rich people behaving badly’ set-up, you will most likely end up enjoying this one as well.
We also learn a bit about both Ffion and Leo’s personal lives. I liked that. It helped to build them out and I felt like by the end, I was quite attached to the two of them. They were both sympathetic characters, who it was easy to root for.
The mystery of this was very well plotted. There were some huge reveals and twists. One in particular had my literal jaw drop to the floor. I was gobsmacked. I did not see it coming.
Overall, I would say this was fabulously fun, packed with unlikable characters, twists and OMG-moments. I had a blast trying to figure out whodunit. With a victim as despicable as Rhys, it could have been anyone!
I loved Ffion so much. She definitely stole my heart. She’s such a complex, yet likable character. I am really looking forward to more books in this series.
Of course, I am keeping my fingers crossed that the rumors are true and this actually is this first book in a series. I would definitely be down for going on more investigations with Ffion and Leo.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Sourcebooks Landmark, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
I’ve enjoyed Mackintosh books before, but this one is definitely a new fave!