The Christmas Party by Mikayla Davids

Book Summary

A family reunion. A shocking secret. A night to die for.

On a snowy Christmas Eve, the Bailey family are gathered at an isolated hotel in the English countryside. They’re reuniting for the first time since the accident that shattered their lives ten years ago. 

It’s a time for love and forgiveness. But someone has an ulterior motive…

The perfect daughter

The success story

The single mother

The alcoholic 

The husband

The jealous sister

The murderer

As the clock strikes midnight, one member of the party is found dead at the foot of the grand marble staircase.

Everyone is a suspect. But which one of them is a killer?

I enjoyed Mikayla Davids' previous book The Couple on Holiday (see my review here) so I jumped at the chance to join the blog tour for her new audiobook.

There's an immediate mystery, even before any mention of the murder. What could have happened to break this family apart? There are flashbacks and clues throughout the book and for me this was the biggest puzzle. Despite reading about the murder early on, the victim is not revealed till much nearer the end.

The story is told by different characters so you get all sides of the story and also realise how unreliable any of them could be. The different narrators were very good, keeping the personalities separate.

I loved how the secrets just kept coming. There are sooooo many and they were gradually doled out like sweets, which kept me hooked.

I must say I found it hard to trust Erin from quite early on, though I won't say whether I was right not to! I soon started to suspect she might have more motivations for organising the reunion, as well as reconciliation.

The conclusion is left quite open ended which I was slightly disappointed with, but it makes you wonder what could happen next and definitely sets up for more books.

Serve a Christmas Daiquiri at your next party, your guests will love it. Add 50ml rum, 15ml lime juice, 15ml Velvet Falernum and 15ml cranberry juice to a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a star anise.