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The Last Party

The twisty thriller and instant Sunday Times bestseller

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The Last Party

By: Clare Mackintosh
Narrated by: Chloe Angharad Davies
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About this listen

 Don't miss Clare's stunning new Ffion Morgan thriller, Other People's Houses - out now!
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THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES TOP 5 BESTSELLER AND START OF A THRILLING NEW SERIES: AT MIDNIGHT, ONE OF THEM IS DEAD. BY MORNING, ALL OF THEM ARE SUSPECTS . . .
'Superb, with echoes of Agatha Christie' PATRICIA CORNWELL
'A dark delight of a murder mystery' JANICE HALLETT
'Mackintosh is just getting better and better' PETER JAMES
'A wickedly enjoyable reprise of the traditional crime novel' THE TIMES

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.
A Game of Lies, the new thriller featuring DC Ffion Morgan, is available to pre-order now.

***

PRAISE FOR THE LAST PARTY:
'Whipsmart dialogue, great characters . . . Another standout for Mackintosh' LINWOOD BARCLAY

'Detectives Leo and Ffion make a storming debut' BELINDA BAUER

'Clare Mackintosh is a genius' FIONA CUMMINS

'I absolutely inhaled this insanely gripping and atmospheric thriller' ERIN KELLY

'I loved everything about The Last Party. An absolute triumph' CLAIRE DOUGLAS

'I fell in love with courageous, complicated DC Ffion Morgan' RUTH WARE

'This is the new crime series you need in your life' WILL DEAN

'Superb. Enough red herrings to keep even the most seasoned crime reader guessing' C.L. TAYLOR

'Fantastic, drily humorous and layered, a wonderful introduction to Detectives Leo and Ffion' LJ ROSS

'Expertly plotted and relentlessly gripping' LUCY CLARKE

'DC Ffion Morgan is complicated, funny and very sweary' LOUISE CANDLISH

'Twists that blindside you all the way' MARI HANNAH

'A superbly entertaining murder mystery' ALLIE REYNOLDS

'With twists to make you gasp, this is a top-notch read' FABULOUS

'I guarantee you'll never guess whodunnit' MARK EDWARDS

'Murder, mystery, a cellar-full of dark secrets, and a memorable cast of characters' VASEEM KHAN

'Brims with authenticity, perfectly rounded off with a classic Mackintosh twist' KIA ABDULLAH

'Mackintosh has created a brilliant pairing in DC Ffion Morgan and DC Leo Brady' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

'A great story, evocative setting, brilliant characters and shocking twists' CLAIRE MCGOWAN

'Superb . . . Mackintosh consistently entertains' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, STARRED REVIEW

'Mackintosh has a way of taking thrillers to dazzling new heights' BP WALTER

'I loved the team of DC Ffion Morgan and DC Leo Brady' PRIMA

'Mackintosh brings a new depth to her work, without stinting on her customary twisty plotting' EXPRESS


THE LAST PARTY was a No.4 Sunday Times hardback bestseller August 2022©2022 Clare Mackintosh Ltd Crime Fiction Domestic Thrillers Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Village

Critic reviews

PRAISE FOR THE LAST PARTY
The writing is superb. Wicked fun, devilishly clever, with echoes of Agatha Christie. This is a party you won't want to miss (PATRICIA CORNWELL)
Clare Mackintosh is just getting better and better with every book. This is a wonderfully assured and gripping read (PETER JAMES)
Detectives Leo and Ffion make a storming debut in this twisty, cleverly-layered tale of worlds colliding (BELINDA BAUER)
A wickedly enjoyable reprise of the traditional crime novel . . . A great summer read
Whipsmart dialogue, droll observation, great characters and some very nasty business make this another standout for Mackintosh (LINWOOD BARCLAY)
Brilliant, so atmospheric. I fell in love with courageous, complicated DC Ffion Morgan and I think readers will too (RUTH WARE)
I loved everything about The Last Party. Taut, pacey and so atmospheric with brilliantly-executed twists and wonderfully-written characters. DC Ffion Morgan is my new favourite detective and I'm so excited to read more. An absolute triumph (CLAIRE DOUGLAS)
I absolutely inhaled this insanely gripping and atmospheric thriller. DC Ffion Morgan and her English counterpart Leo Brady are up there with the greats (ERIN KELLY)
The Last Party is a dark delight of a murder mystery! More entertaining than any party I've ever thrown. A chilling buffet of brutal murder, laced with grudges, jealousy and revenge. Whatever you do this summer, get yourself an invite! (JANICE HALLETT)
Clare Mackintosh is a genius (FIONA CUMMINS)
DC Ffion Morgan may well be the Rebus of rural Wales. As warm as it is atmospheric and ingenious - this is the new crime series you need in your life (WILL DEAN)
Superb. A compelling murder mystery told with warmth, humour and enough red herrings to keep even the most seasoned crime reader guessing (C.L. TAYLOR)
Expertly plotted and relentlessly gripping, The Last Party is a perfectly executed murder mystery. The whip-sharp and deeply likeable Ffion leads the investigation, introducing us to a cast of brilliantly realised suspects. I loved every page (LUCY CLARKE)
I REALLY loved The Last Party . . . brimming with epic scenery - all mists and mountains and freezing lakes . . . DC Ffion Morgan feels real right from the off: funny and complicated and very sweary (LOUISE CANDLISH)
I loved The Last Party! This was a real page-turner, with compelling characters that drew me into the story. A fantastic, drily humorous and layered read that was a wonderful introduction to Detectives Leo and Ffion (LJ ROSS)
All stars
Most relevant
Buried within its 400+ pages there’s a decent plot.
Plus points: the location was great; the premise was good; there was a nice cast and the central mystery was intriguing.
Negative points: the landscape and houses were strangely indistinct and the characters were unsubtle.
In addition, the first-person present-tense narratives jarred. The constant back and forth in time, reliving the same event through the eyes of different people, was confusing and became irritating quite quickly.
It also slowed down the story, which you don’t want in a page-turner mystery.
After starting as an ebook, I switched to the audiobook to hear the lilting pronunciation of all the Welsh words, but sadly the narrator made heavy weather of the text with harsh distracting accents.

Heavy handed accents

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I'm a fan of Clare Mackintosh's previous work but unfortunately, this book which apparently is about Clare's life in the police force didn't spin my plate. The twists were OK but not the usual 'intake of breath' you usually get from this fine author.

Pray to God there's not a Book 2.

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Really disappointed by this book. No fault of the performance but I found the story incredibly unengaging. I got about halfway through before returning the book. Such a shame as Clare Macintosh's other work is fantastic.

Couldn't finish

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So so so accurate. I was born in North Wales ( Abersoch, which is mentioned in the book) and have a lot of family there, but have lived and worked in London for all my adult life and this is spot on accurate. The relationships between the characters made me chuckle as they are exactly what i experience. So lovely to hear a North Welsh accent which is so different to South Wales and English people trying to sound Welsh. Thank you

loved it, from a North Welsh lass

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Absolutely loved this - the narration was superb & gripping, with special attention to detail with the fact that it’s northern Welsh rather than the ‘sing song’ southern Welsh accent. I felt I was listening to a play being acted out & was transported into that world - so much more riveting than some of the boring “monotone” audios that I have heard. I whole heartedly recommend this audio book

Gripping story & narration

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