A Death at the Party

4.5 stars

In the first chapter, we learn that the hostess of our party has killed someone (but we don’t know who!) in the basement as the party happens upstairs. We then back up to the start of the day and progress until we find out what happened and who died and why. Nadine is our hostess, married, with two teenage kids. Nadine’s mother (Marilyn) is a famous author and it’s her 60th birthday.

Nadine insists on hosting a party for her, although Marilyn isn’t that excited about parties, and not only that, Nadine’s aunt/Marilyn’s younger sister (Colleen) was found dead at her mother’s 30th birthday party (Colleen was only 15 at the time – there was a 15 year difference between the sisters and Nadine was closer in age to show more Colleen than Marilyn was). Throughout the story, we not only lead up to the birthday party, we flashback in time to learn about Nadine and Colleen’s relationship and what happened 30 years ago.

I really liked this! I was pulled in right away and wanted to keep reading (and mostly did – I finished the bulk of the story in one (weekend) day!). It was hard to know if Nadine herself was reliable, though. She had had an accident previously, and though primarily it was her hip that was injured, she had head injuries, as well, that she was still recovering from. There was one twist that I feel like I should have seen coming, but I just didn’t. (But it’s always more fun NOT to figure it out first, anyway!) show less

Secrets Lead to Murder
Review of the Simon and Schuster Kindle eBook (March 7, 2023) released simultaneously with the Simon & Schuster paperback.

She always had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day. - from Virginia Woolf's 'Mrs. Dalloway', used as the epigraph for 'A Death at the Party.'

This was a new Canadian author for me and I may check out Amy Stuart's Still (2015-2020) trilogy in the future as well, as this current book was definitely a compelling read. In fact I think I finished it in one day, and am only writing this review now as I am always several days behind in completing books and actually reviewing them.

I'll admit that what drew my attention to this book was the advertising blurb "Virginia Woolf show more meets Agatha Christie." Learning from the synopsis that the book involved the preparations for a same-day evening party led to its association with Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway (1925), but any other parallels with the earlier book & author are few. It was too much to hope for that I would find another example to add to my meagre list of ASMR* in Fiction.

A Death at the Party is one of those inverted chronology books where the supposed climactic death is actually presented to us in the very first chapter. The whodunnit? is pretty evident up front, but it is the whydunnit? and the whomwasitdunto? questions which make for the drama and suspense of the rest of the book.

Nadine is making party preparations for her mother Marilyn's 60th birthday. Marilyn is a popular mystery author who shies away from birthday celebrations in general, but has acquiesced in this instance. There is a dark association with birthdays of the past, as Marilyn's younger sister Colleen died under mysterious circumstances 30 years ago, the same day as Marilyn's 30th birthday.

You can pretty much guess that there will be revelations which uncover the secrets behind Colleen's earlier death during the course of Nadine's current day. These will lead to suspicions about numerous suspects as various present day friends and acquaintances are discovered to have known Marilyn and Colleen in the past. It all leads to the inevitable confrontation.

Trivia and Link
* ASMR = Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. For further background on ASMR and Virginia Woolf's description of it, you can read my Mrs. Dalloway review Are You Experienced (with ASMR)?. show less

A Death at the Party is Amy Stewart's latest release. This is a standalone book.

I was hooked in the first few pages. The prologue gives us a body in the basement and lots of questions. Curious cat that I am - I needed to know who, why and how.

The book takes place over 24 hours. Nadine is hosting a 60th birthday party for her mother, a bestselling author. Nadine is a meticulous planner and she wants this party to be perfect, so nothing can go wrong. But… you just know it’s not going to go smoothly. There are simmering undertones between each and every character, from the immediate family, to the neighbours, work colleagues, acquaintances, clerks and more. These connections are all intricately woven together as the book progresses. show more

The tension ratchets up and up with every hour that passes. The compressed timeline heightens everything - actions, emotions and more. We're with with Nadine as she tries desperately to keep all of her balls in the air. But they start to drop one by one. The fall out is not what I expected at all. I had some inklings that things might be headed in a certain direction, but was happily surprised by the direction Stuart took the tale.

I thought the mystery of the book was well done. But, just as much of standout for me was the depiction and exploration of Nadine. An easy five stars. show less

A highly entertaining read that gripped me right from the start. Nadine, who is hosting a huge party for her mother's 60th birthday is in her basement bathroom with a man about to die. The mystery revolves around who he is and why Nadine killed him.

The story takes place over one day as Nadine and her family prepare for the gala birthday celebration. The short timeline adds to the suspense as I waited to find out more and tried to figure out who the victim was. The characters are well developed, especially Nadine herself and the story is very well told.

It all stats at a garden party where everyone is enjoying themselves when Nadine Walsh, the hostess, finds herself standing over a dead body in her basement. What happened?

Set over the course of a single day, the story rewinds to that morning with Nadine deep into last-minute preparations and as we follow her through the afternoon and evening Nadine is haunted with memories and secrets of a past birthday party 30 years ago.

This is an engaging read. Smoothly said and tightly plotted with charismatic characters, I liked them all. The story had me on the edge of my seat and I enjoyed the plot twists thrown in just at the right moment. The 3 parts split (morning, afternoon and evening) was a clever tactic to build anticipation and keep us show more engage. Tidbits of reveals (secrets) come our way to keep us guessing and engaged. I found this a wonderful mystery that is not taxing at all.

The best part was how Nadine’s character progresses from a loving wife and mother preparing a special event to gradually morphing into a suspicious, judgemental and deceiving individual. In my mind I pictured the gradual transformation in her character and I told myself mid-way Nadine is not what she appears to be. Ms. Stuart kept me riveted by using a first person narrative and pulling me into the mind of a killer.

“A Death at the party” is a solid story I zipped through in no time. Well said and well-done.

My thanks to Simon& Schuster and Netgalley for this ARC show less

A fiendishly twisty tale of secrets kept and hidden, families intersecting and the strength of maternal love- all perfect for this Mother’s Day weekend.
Nadine is recovering from a terrible fall. This makes her ability to keep the tragedies of her past life from entering her head as she plans a birthday party for her famous writer mother.
The day is also the anniversary of the suspicious death of her aunt Colleen, 30 years ago. Nadine is still grieving her death, perhaps because she has secrets of her own about that night.
Soon, more traumas will be revealed as the story goes back and forth in time. Will she keep it together?
There’s a delightful claustrophobia throughout the story- everyone knows everyone, perhaps too well, and show more relationships crisscross and double back.
The reveals come along and unfortunately I saw them well back, which is unusual for me as I generally never figure out mysteries for some reason.
Still, a great read, with heart and enough excitement to pull the reader through. A big hand on the heart to the author for writing characters that can matter. show less

Good story, but it started to drag. There was so much backstory to tell that it felt like the character was just sitting and thinking about the past all day instead of getting ready for the party. Perhaps it would have worked better to spread the back story over several present day rememberings? Interesting ending though.