A new detective series from the much acclaimed Clare Mackintosh. A new line of novels always manages to garner interest for the sheer excitement and expectation from a new set of recurring characters. Likewise, The Last Party has already succeeded in creating a buzz about itself, introducing the promising character of DC Ffion Morgan.
The book starts with an enchanting setting at the Welsh-English border, at the center of which is Llyn Drych – the serpent shaped mirror lake – the focal point of all the happenings that follow. The discovery of a body in this lake on New Year’s Day sets things rolling. The search for the murderer, many sub plots and intertwined stories leading to it. With it’s mystic setting accentuated by a lonely, witchy cottage in the woods, a boathouse, some mysterious lodge owners on the far end – it makes for an intriguing whodunnit plot.
A quick look into the main characters would be worthwhile, as we might see a lot more of them in the coming sequels. DC Ffion Morgan lives in North Wales in the Cwm Coed village. She is divorced, works under DI Malik and drives a brown Triumph Stag. In her family is her mom Elen Morgan and the teenaged Seren Williams. DC Leo Brady from Cheshire Major Crime Unit (England) is jointly assigned this case. Divorced for 3 years, has a son named Harris whose custody he desperately is trying to win. He works under DI Simon Crouch, a pain in the neck and never missing an opportunity of bullying Brady.
To start with, the situation of the case was quite funny! While the deceased lived in Leo’s territory, the body was found in Ffion’s. Quite understandably, either of them wanted to pass the buck when the pathologist asks whom to bill! But when it comes to investigation, neither of them wants to be far behind – attempting to win credit for their respective departments. The bickering about Wales vs England is also enjoyable and interesting.
There are a few things which work for this book. As the story progresses, an air of mystery builds about Ffion attributed to her questionable actions and decisions. It sets you thinking about what she is hiding and how she is involved in the case. Secondly, some situations with Leo are quite interesting. Like when she drives her Triumph Stag in that most outrageous manner and Leo following in his car. Next, if we move on to the suspense itself, it is interesting how suspicion shifts amongst various characters, each with their own motive to kill.
There had come a point in the story when I felt like the revelation was made, and it was like a yawn moment for me. But I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that was not it. And there still were a couple of rounds of musical chairs remaining until we finally got our culprit revealed. So, for me the last 5% of the book lifts it from what could have been a very average read.
Conclusion:
The Last Party is quite what you would expect a suspense novel to be. But, this is strictly a whodunnit plot rather than a chilling thriller which gives you some nerve racking scenes. Consider for instance a book like The Maidens or The Judge’s List or more recently, Nine Lives. What you find in these books is, the killer is out there, working on his next target. And you get thrown some scintillating, edge-of-your-seat sequences with nail biting suspense. The Last Party lacks that. It kind of feels a lethargic progression towards decoding the mystery.
Secondly, I didn’t quite enjoy the case as such, which to me seemed somewhat perverted, somewhat filthy and somewhat boring to an extent. Also, I didn’t quite fancy Morgan’s involvement in it either.
I probably went in expecting something more out of the book. Something like a William Warwick novel or a Finlay Donovan novel which sketch out such wonderfully crafted characteristics and peculiarities of the main lead. You feel you know the character so well that you can even preempt how they would act in a given situation. Nothing like that with DC Ffion Morgan. Except for her Triumph Stag, I don’t think I can list any peculiar traits that I can look forward to in the next edition. It was more like her personal life entwined in the case itself and just moving through.
Well yes, I definitely look forward to the sequel (which incidentally is already available for preorder here). But I just hope DC Morgan gets to work on a better case next time. And a case she is not personally involved with.
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