Seven strangers show up at a mysterious dinner party, and after an incredibly fancy meal, and unhinged conversation, each stranger is presented with an envelope. Inside the envelope it is revealed when this guest will die. Of course, none of them believe it, but a few weeks later one of them dies, just like the envelope said. And so our story really kicks off, with some guests investigating, and some denying, and chaos.

Publishing on September 9th is the debut novel from KJ Whittle; Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests.

This is a fast paced read that you can plow through in one afternoon, trying to unravel the mystery as you go. We follow different character narratives throughout years as the fallout from the dinner party expands. Our most common narrator is Vivienne, who really takes the lead in the story. She also takes the lead in investigating who could really be behind the mysterious dinner party.

I will say, this was a bit of a tough read in parts because a lot of the characters are very unlikable. And that is the point; the dinner party guests are all really terrible people, and throughout the book some grow and change, and some don’t. But it is hard to read their perspectives, and root for them, because it takes quite a long time for some of the characters to turn their lives around. And as the characters start to die one by one, you’re kind of rooting for them to die, and just waiting for that to happen. So, for me, a lot of this book was a bit unenjoyable on the character level.

The ultimate twist was quite good. Although it is one of those stories where there’s not a lot of hints dropped throughout the story, so it’s pretty hard to guess who it could’ve been until right before the reveal.

Overall, Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests by KJ Whittle is a great debut thriller with a fun twist. Massive thank you to Sourcebooks for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. Pick up a copy for yourself when it hits shelves on September 9th.