Trigger warning: Rape
Well this is a new series by Clare Mackintosh. I have either loved or just being meh/okayish about her books. I was glad that this one had an interesting main character that we apparently are going to follow through three books. I enjoyed DC Ffion Morgan and loved how her past experience with the man who is murdered comes full circle by the ending of this one. The man who is murdered, Rhys Lloyd, is a villain you are going to want to root against. Honestly, it reminds me a bit of Agatha Christie’s “Appointment with Death.” You just have an awful person who is killed and you honestly hope the murderer gets away with it. The main reason why I gave this four stars is that one of the characters does something so dumb towards the end it just defied description. It just didn’t make any sense. I kept going oh come on. Anyway, moving on from that I thought the book was great and I love the relationships it is setting up.
“The Last Party” follows DC FFion Morgan who is dealing with sneaking out of the bed with the man she spent the night with on New Year’s Eve. When Morgan is told that Rhys Lloyd has come up missing, and now there’s a dead body in Mirror Lake, she quickly deduces it could be Lloyd. And when it is determined to be Lloyd, the question quickly becomes who murdered the man who was apparently weighed down prior to his death in the lake. Morgan is forced to work with a man named Leo Brady since technically the murder could have occurred on the Welsh side and he represents the “English side.” The interactions between those who are Welsh and live around the Shore and the outsiders was fascinating to me. I had no idea there was that much animosity between the two sets (Welsh and English).
I loved both Ffion and Leo. They compliment each other well. There is some stiffness between the two of them (for reasons I left unspoiled) but they both push and pull on each other in good ways I thought.
The writing/set up of the book may drive some readers crazy. We jump back and forth between the investigation and other characters such as Rhys, his wife, his business partner, Ffion’s sister and best friend, etc. showing months earlier and then even the day of the murder. Sometimes you go back to a different person on the same day and read a different perspective. I was able to follow it, but it may drive some more linear readers up the wall.
The setting of Mirror Lake was intriguing. As I said earlier, there is a lot of animosity there for the newcomers who came and “spoiled” the area. But you can see though why some new blood needed to be brought in. The place doesn’t seem to be doing well, and the rich who want this as a place as a second home during only select months could be a fair compromise, until you see how much mess is caused by these new homes/owners.
I figured out who did the deed, but it was fun getting there. And I loved the ending and the big open ended…hey this may not be over part of it.