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Sadly, the victim of that murder, Lacey, was at that party that was attended by several teens who were soon to go off to college. Most of them were friends since childhood, yet one of them was very likely was responsible for Lacey’s murder. This is especially the case because not all of this group of young people were friends. Side note #1~ I could have went for the blurb to hint at this really being about the podcast. I thought I was going to be at the party in real time. Everyone who is close to Lacey sits by the smoky fire. Her adoring boyfriend, who holds onto her, perhaps a little too tightly. Her little sister, always in Lacey’s shadow, sifting fine soft sand through her fingers, never taking her eyes off Lacey. And me. Sad and full of rage, after an argument forced the man I love to leave the party early. The narrator has such a beautiful voice, I loved listening to her. She is a pro and I hope to hear a lot more from her in the future.
I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Bookouture and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased. How lovely it is to discover a new favourite author and such a treat to find a tip top mystery thriller just when I needed one most. Instead this is a superbly written multi layered murder mystery where all the characters are carefully constructed with real depth and so much interest. Kate and Sophie were writing and producing episodes for the podcast quite happily together…until Tom came on the scene. She knows him from Cornwall, they grew up together, and he was also at the party that preluded Lacey being found dead. There is a lot of tension between Katie and Tom, and they allude to something happening between them at one point. As they settle in, Katie realizes that life has gone on without her since she left and all is not the same in this world. Will she be able to break down the walls and get people to talk or will this case be cold forever?I love thrillers that keep me guessing until the end and then deliver that last punch that leaves me breathless, but unfortunately, this one was not one of them. I saw the twist coming, and it left me a bit disappointed. Sophie is excited about the Podcast but Katie is skeptical from the start despite agreeing to do it. It made me question her reliability as a character more than once. This started off very strong and stayed that way until the twist at the end. I’ve seen it done a lot recently and I don’t like it because it’s just so outrageous and unbelievable. I also don’t love the “sympathy for the bully because they’re troubled too” arc, it just doesn’t appeal to me. Two things can be true at once: she can be a disgusting bully AND dead. Otherwise, it had a nice format, was easy to read and follow. It gave enough details to keep you consistently interested. I love small town mysteries and true crime narratives so this is definitely up my alley and I try not to judge books by their endings if I really enjoyed the journey. Eventually, Katie finds out who killed Lacey and why and is utterly gutted over it. Fortunately, she isn't like everyone else and does the right thing. I'd also like to add that I had some trouble with the writing style. It was far too choppy at times, which made it difficult for me to follow and understand. I get the appeal and power of using short sentences and chapters in this particular genre, but I don't think it was executed that well here.
Sophie and Katie are best friends who start a podcast documenting the details of a murder of one of their acquaintances that took place surrounding a beach party when they were around age 19 in their small British town(along with their mutual friend Tom as podcast editor). To be honest, the story was so strong it would have been a great listen even without the whodunnit, especially with the theme of the unsolved murder Podcast giving extra interest plus the glamorous social influencer bestie and the friendship dynamic now she is dating a childhood friend of the protagonist, which is another intriguing, strong story in itself.
I love the concept of this book where the podcast was a cold case where two of the people on the podcast team knew the victim and were present at the time of her murder. As someone who has never actually listened to a podcast, it was interesting to see some of the process involved. I also liked the extenuating circumstances that made it very difficult to figure out who the killer was. More than that, the twists closer to the end of the book really caught me off guard, thus making this debut novel a truly riveting read. The reason Katie is reluctant is because the crime they’re covering happened in her small town. 5 years ago, Lacey was murdered at an annual beach party. Everyone was there but no one saw a thing! It’s a resort town so the locals aren’t clamoring to discuss it because murder isn’t good for business.
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