The Beach Party by Amy Sheppard – book tour | AD
I do like a whodunnit thriller so when I read the blurb on The Beach Party by Amy Sheppard, I knew it would be a good summer read and I wasn’t disappointed.
THE BLURB
We were all at the party. Which of us wanted her dead?
As the smoke from the bonfire spirals into the night sky and the cool drinks slip down our throats, none of us can take our eyes off Lacey. She dances in the dunes, her long golden hair damp from her late-night swim, her smile dazzling, her blue eyes closed.
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.
When the fire burns out, we stumble away from the beach, along the cliff path – faces burned by the wind, hearts full of secrets. But Lacey never makes it home. The next morning, her body is found in the sand dunes, a heart-shaped locket missing from around her neck.
Who would have thought our beach party could end the way it did? Close friends gathered on the last night of a long hot summer – which one of us could have killed the girl everybody loved?
WHAT I THOUGHT
The Beach Party follows Katie and Sophie as they return to Katie’s home town to investigate Lacey’s murder, 5 years before. Their true crime podcast is met with mixed emotions from the local people who want to move on from that awful night. It’s clear though that coming back and revisiting that night when she was also on the beach, is taking its toll on Katie.
What I really liked is that Katie doesn’t shy away from her dislike of Lacey. After being subjected to years of bullying at her hands, it is clear that Katie is not sorry that Lacey is gone. However, it’s also clear that she knows more than she remembers about that night and as the secrets start to unravel, The Beach Party keeps you guessing as to who actually killed Lacey.
I will say that although Lacey is the victim, she’s never really treated as such. Perhaps that’s on purpose to keep the reader disconnected from her story and focused on Katie instead, but I do think it’s a bit of shame as her behaviour was no doubt a product of her treatment by others. It would be really interesting to hear The Beach Party from Lacey’s perspective and almost wish there was an epilogue which took you back to the beginning from her POV.
Overall though, The Beach Party is a great whodunnit summer read which will keep you gripped until the very last page. With so many twists and turns, this was the first book in which I didn’t guess correct until the very end!
The Beach Party is available to buy now on Amazon.
FIND OUT MORE
Want to read more? Then why not check out some of the other blogs on this tour who are all sharing their opinions too.
DISCLOSURE – I was provided with an electronic version of this book so that I was able to take part in this book tour. As always though, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
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