I recently had the opportunity to read and review Amy Sheppard's first fiction book, The Beach party, it can be purchased here on Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes and noble.
The synopsis reads as follows:
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?
My review:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Katie and Sophie have an unsolved murder podcast so this story is told in a conversational way which I thought was a very unique way of telling the story. It was a slower start to build on the history and recapping of a murder 5 years ago. Another totally unique thing, Katie was at the party the night of the murder! Katie is struggling to fully recall all the events of the night and even wonders if she did it. As she's recording the podcast and interviewing other witnesses her memories of the night start returning in bits and pieces, and the puzzle pieces so to speak are falling into place. I never saw the twisty reveal coming until seconds before the killer was made known and it was very unexpected. As I said the first half was on the slow side, but once the story really got going I could not put the book down and I devoured it. The descriptions of Pengelly are incredible and very visual and it sounds incredibly idyllic, I love a small town vibe. This was a very well written debut fiction novel, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's next from this author. Thank you @netgalley and @bookouture for the arc copy in exchange for my honest opinions
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?
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Katie and Sophie have an unsolved murder podcast so this story is told in a conversational way which I thought was a very unique way of telling the story. It was a slower start to build on the history and recapping of a murder 5 years ago. Another totally unique thing, Katie was at the party the night of the murder! Katie is struggling to fully recall all the events of the night and even wonders if she did it. As she's recording the podcast and interviewing other witnesses her memories of the night start returning in bits and pieces, and the puzzle pieces so to speak are falling into place. I never saw the twisty reveal coming until seconds before the killer was made known and it was very unexpected. As I said the first half was on the slow side, but once the story really got going I could not put the book down and I devoured it. The descriptions of Pengelly are incredible and very visual and it sounds incredibly idyllic, I love a small town vibe. This was a very well written debut fiction novel, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's next from this author. Thank you @netgalley and @bookouture for the arc copy in exchange for my honest opinions
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