A Death at the Party by Amy Stuart

A Death at the Party by Amy Stuart
Buy A Death at the Party by Amy Stuart at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Crime
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: Not so much a whodunnit as a whydunnit - and who was the victim? Gripping.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 384	Date: August 2023
Publisher: Penguin
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1405957175
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From the first page, we know that Nadine Walsh's party will not end well. The victim - a man - is dying when we first meet him and Nadine consciously makes no effort to call the ambulance he so desperately needs. What we don't know is who the man is or why Nadine prefers to have him die. I'd better give you a little more background so that you can understand what's happening.

It's not that long since Nadine had a bad fall - despite being only forty, she smashed her hip - and she's still not fully recovered. She's determined to put the last year behind her (it includes her affair with Lionel Robinson - something her husband, Paul, still doesn't know about) and she's determined to throw a party for her mother's sixtieth birthday. Mother is Marylin Millay - the famous and successful novelist and a woman with quite a family history which Nadine does all in her power to protect.

We come into the story on the day of the party and Nadine feels as though she needs to be in several places at once. Paul's being no help: he's not the practical kind and her two children, seventeen-year-old Isabelle and fifteen-year-old Damian have their own concerns. In fairness to Isabelle, she's been spending all the time she can at the hospital bedside of her best friend, River Dunphy. River took an overdose and it was Isabelle who found her friend. River's mother, Sherry, hasn't left her daughter's bedside. Sherry's separated from River's father, Seymour, who's also Paul's partner in their law firm. Seymour pops in to see River when he can.

Complicated, isn't it? At the beginning, it feels as though there's a cast of thousands all piling in at once but you're in safe hands with Amy Stuart: she handles the characters with aplomb and they all come over as individuals. It wasn't long before I had them all sorted in my mind. Frankly, there's quite a list of people you can imagine Nadine might want to have out of her life. The bravest move by Stuart is that Nadine herself isn't that likeable and some of her actions (even before the day of the party) are, shall we say, morally questionable.

It is a cracking read though - I couldn't put it down. My one reservation is that I would have preferred a different ending but that's me being very picky and more than a little bit moralistic. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy of the book to the Bookbag. As well as reading the book, I listened to an audio download (which I bought myself) and which was narrated by Kate Handford. It was a good and very satisfying listen and I'd like to hear (literally) more from Handford.

If this book appeals to you, we think you'll also enjoy Liane Moriarty. For another story of a death at a party, try The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell.

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