The Search Party
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3.8 • 10 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
A remote glamping retreat.
A storm that cuts off all escape.
And one guest who vanishes without a trace.
Max and Annie Kingsley thought they were starting over.
After leaving London behind, they move to the rugged Cornish coast with their twelve-year-old son to launch a luxury glamping retreat. Before opening to the public, they invite three old university friends and their families for a weekend getaway.
It should have been a celebration.
Instead, old rivalries resurface, tensions between the children spiral out of control, and long-buried secrets begin to emerge. Then a violent storm traps everyone on the isolated site.
By morning, one of them is missing.
As the weather worsens and suspicion spreads through the group, friendships begin to fracture and shocking truths come to light. With no way in and no way out, everyone becomes a suspect.
Told through a gripping blend of police investigation, hospital interviews, and the disastrous weekend itself, The Search Party is a twist-filled locked-room mystery packed with family secrets, psychological suspense, unreliable friendships, and shocking revelations.
Perfect for fans of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware, and The Guest List, this addictive destination thriller will keep you guessing until the final page.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The appealing latest from Richell (The River Home) injects new life into a familiar narrative scaffolding. In a prologue, a girl jumps off the edge of a cliff after an unidentified man urges her to do so. The action then shifts to an interview between the Cornish police and Dominic Davies, a Simon Cowell–like judge on the fictional reality TV show Star Search, about an unspecified tragedy. Davies says that he and his family were invited to visit his university friend, Max Kingsley, at a new glamping resort he'd set up with his wife, Annie, in rural England. After Davies concedes that he thinks everyone at that gathering did things they regret, Richell rewinds the narrative back two days to flesh out what led to the police interrogation, alternating perspectives and highlighting what each character eventually shares with Cornish authorities. She cleverly doles out key details in increments: Annie asks for news from the local hospital during her interrogation; several characters refer to the findings of a search party before Richell reveals what they are. While the book's Rashomon structure is hardly original, Richell utilizes it well, providing her large cast with distinct voices and insights. It's a diverting puzzle.
