“WE WERE ALL THERE THAT NIGHT BUT ONLY ONE OF US IS A KILLER”
- Book: The Girl At The Party
- Location: Massachusetts, New England
- Author: Danielle Stewart
Okay, so I am back in the space of my favourite genre – the psychological thriller, although in all honesty, I would probably describe this story as more of a slow-burning murder/mystery than anything else, but right up my street nonetheless. New to me author Danielle Stewart, has brought this storyline bang up to date with the inclusion of a podcast production as a means to help solve this cold-case murder. I am awarding a solid 4 star rating, rather than a more abstract 5 stars, as there were one or two loose ends which didn’t sit too well with me, although they in no way detracted from my edge-of-the-seat experience, or the fact that I still managed to incorrectly identify the perpetrator(s) – Intrigued?
…
In Massachusetts, New England, back in 2013, eight friends are coming to the end of their final year at college and as most of them live together, off campus in shared rented accommodation, a farewell party is planned at their house. As the most well brought up and sheltered of the group, Stephanie is the only student to still live in halls, although she spends as much time as possible, unbeknown to her devoutly religious mother, hanging out with her friends. That is until recently, when the others have noticed a complete change in her personality, her ability to concentrate on getting the good grades she is predicted, and that she is consciously trying to place more distance between herself and the housemates, of which Laura is her closest confidante. Having refused an invitation to the party, but not wanting her to miss out on the group’s final gathering together, Laura thinks of a plan to entice Stephanie to the house, although she is totally unprepared for the ferocity of Stephanie’s reaction when she realises she has been duped. After acrimonious words have been exchanged between Stephanie and a number of the group, including Laura, she insists on leaving alone to walk back to the campus – and that is the last time anyone except her killer will see her alive – maybe!
Rather than bringing the others closer together, the murder appears to have instantly and irrevocably fractured their friendship and driven them apart, to the point where they no longer keep in touch. So, some five years later, when Chris reaches out to Laura, with the idea of producing a podcast in an attempt to re-open the investigation which had long ago been consigned to the police cold-case files, she is initially horrified. Chris however, is very persuasive and to his credit, has achieved a good measure of success using the same approach on a number of other abandoned police cases. So, eventually Laura, who had always been close to Chris and had been perceived by their friends to be the couple who never quite were, capitulates and they agree to work together on the project. They quickly discover the frightening and horrifying reason for Stephanie’s change of demeanour and personality leading up to her death and are shocked about the potential implications for the re-opening of the murder investigation itself, once their evidence is turned over to the police. Friends and family of Stephanie are tracked down to make statements and then comes the difficult task of contacting and speaking to the remaining five housemates.
One of them, Jake, is Laura’s brother, who still shares a place with his sister and has huge emotional and mental health issues. Kent and Mary Anne, sweethearts back in the day, have now married and are basking in the success of Jake’s political career and bright future ahead. Lucas is CEO of his own successful tech company, despite his ongoing difficulty in communicating with anyone on a personal level, although he always noticed Stephanie more than any of the others. Corrine is happily married with two small children, having readily abandoned all her personal aspirations for a career in favour of motherhood.
It appears that not all the potential witnesses are happy with Chris and Laura resurrecting events from so long ago and would prefer it if sleeping dogs had been allowed to lie. Small wanton acts designed to instil enough fear in the couple to make them give up on their investigation, soon escalate into something much more organised, malicious and potentially deadly. The two friends are busy investigating all Stephanie’s acquaintances and family, but who has checked out the two of them? and, more importantly, how much do they actually know about one another? Eventually, Laura takes her eye off the ball, as her own demons and guilty truths seem about to explode in her face and she fears the consequences if Chris is allowed to continue with his quest. However, the whole truth is much more unexpected and Chris needs to decide where his loyalties really lie and who should shoulder the bulk of the blame for Stephanie’s death.
…
In this well constructed, multi-layered, intriguing storyline, nothing was ever quite as it seemed and there were more twists and turns than you could shake a stick at, which kept me on my toes from beginning to end, complicating the tangled web of lies and secrets which overlaid everything. And yes, whilst I might have worked out a couple of the denouements for myself and one was revealed during the course of the story, the aura of apprehension and tension was still unbearable throughout.
The chapters were concise and well-signposted, written mostly across the dual timelines of 2013 and 2018, with one short reference back to 1999; and narrated by the voices of Laura and Chris, with a single interspersion by the killer and a second short poignant chapter by Stephanie herself.
Author Danielle Stewart, was also not afraid to shine a spotlight onto some of the more pressing societal issues of the time, which she had clearly researched well and treated with great empathy and sensitivity: The all too commonplace event of the police being too stretched to carry out comprehensive investigations when a crime has been committed and their seemingly undue haste in consigning cases which are not solved almost immediately, to the ‘cold case’ files: The manipulative, coercive and ‘gaslighting’ behaviour which plagued Laura and Jake’s family, from the abuse their mother endured at the hands of their father, to the anger and frustration which their mother then took out on her children, but mostly Laura, whom she resented with a vengeance: The mental health issues which then controlled Jake’s life so completely, coupled with the PTSD which had dogged him since his childhood near brush with death: Whilst Laura herself, who had thought she had made good her future and hoped to become a nurse in Boston after graduating college, resorted to self-harm when she realised that she was never going to escape the clutches of her demanding mother and out of control brother, with Stephanie’s murder being the final straw for her, sealing her future without realising her nursing dream.
Thankfully the cast of characters was quite small and easily managed, as just about everyone was a suspect, each with either their own motivation for killing Stephanie, or for helping to conceal the identity of someone who they believed to have been the guilty party. In truth, Stephanie was probably the most innocent of people, who only wanted to strike the right balance between the standard of life her mother wanted for her, and that which she wished for herself, although in all fairness, the two were never that far apart. My own named perpetrator varied from chapter to chapter, as each new revelation came to light. However, the suspense was kept up right to the very last and I was to be proved completely wrong by the time the final gut punch twist was delivered right near the end. Just don’t assume anything is over, until it’s over!
Surprisingly and quite unusually, despite their being well defined and fleshed out, I couldn’t name any single character with whom I felt any empathy or connection, except for Stephanie. I found them simply too manipulative, untrustworthy and malevolent to be in any way compelling or with any depth I could invest in or engage with. It was always the thought of which of them was least unlikable, but even that was a bit too much of a stretch for my imagination, although Corrine was probably top candidate for that title. For many, there are no happy outcomes from this story, however for Chris and Laura, the future is theirs for the taking, even though it may not be together and any sense of ‘normal’ isn’t going to happen overnight.
As an avid ‘armchair traveller’, this storyline probably didn’t quite tick all the boxes in the location stakes, which was a mix of real and fictional places. But, I’m good with that, as the location was never really that important in the scheme of things. This was a story of people, events and outcomes, rather than places.
Author Danielle Stewart writes across multiple genres, so whilst I wouldn’t be looking to read all her books, there are definitely more items in her catalogue which are heading for my wish list.
Please wait...
