The Girl at the Party by Danielle Stewart is a decent psych thriller that mostly delivers in a unique way.
The reader knows something bad occurred that fractured a group of college friends. Some of them appear to have dealt with it better than others. But none of them are thrilled when one of them wants to revisit the case.
Apparently, a lot happened on the last night of college, and these so-called friends have been hiding many secrets from each other…for years.
I liked the concept of a podcast being the impetus for revisiting the cold case murder. However, I wish there had been more of it instead of just talking about it. I think the story could have benefitted from being broken up by podcast episodes.
It would have also made some of the reveals more dynamic. As it was, it often seemed like a lot of exposition as the two main characters, Laura and Chris, interviewed people and then discussed the podcast.
There were also a few characters who I thought would have figured more prominently – but they appeared briefly for an interview, a few brief mentions of their past involvement, and then essentially disappeared.
Even the victim in the whole situation gets pretty short shrift in the story. We never really get to know her…mostly through recollections.
While I think it all could have been told more dynamically, the author did a good job of keeping the reader guessing. And the resolution is not as straightforward as you may think.
I enjoyed The Girl at the Party and look forward to reading the next psych thriller from Danielle Stewart.
