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The Christmas Party
A steamy psychological thriller set at Christmas by #1 bestselling author Kathryn Croft, for fans of K L Slater and Sarah A Denzil.
Christmas can be murder.
When Sasha receives a call from her old university friend Gabby inviting her to spend Christmas at Gabby’s remote Scottish lake house, Sasha knows she shouldn’t go.
Twelve years ago, on Christmas Eve, when Sasha and her five closest friends were celebrating the festive season, something truly horrific happened that would change the course of their friendship forever. Something that meant Sasha hasn’t spoken to any of them since that night.
But Gabby is insistent that they all get together this Christmas, to finally help her move on from the events of that night, so Sasha agrees to go.
Arriving at the sprawling house overlooking a stunning loch, Sasha quickly realises that Gabby has other reasons for getting the six friends together this Christmas. And now Sasha is forced to relive a past she’s tried hard to forget.
People had always told them their friendship wasn’t healthy. That the six of them spent far too much time together. No good would come of it, they said. How could relationships with others work when the six of them were so tightly interwoven?
When a snowstorm isolates them from the outside world, old flames are rekindled and tensions run high, and it soon becomes obvious: nothing that big can stay secret forever.
Christmas can be murder.
When Sasha receives a call from her old university friend Gabby inviting her to spend Christmas at Gabby’s remote Scottish lake house, Sasha knows she shouldn’t go.
Twelve years ago, on Christmas Eve, when Sasha and her five closest friends were celebrating the festive season, something truly horrific happened that would change the course of their friendship forever. Something that meant Sasha hasn’t spoken to any of them since that night.
But Gabby is insistent that they all get together this Christmas, to finally help her move on from the events of that night, so Sasha agrees to go.
Arriving at the sprawling house overlooking a stunning loch, Sasha quickly realises that Gabby has other reasons for getting the six friends together this Christmas. And now Sasha is forced to relive a past she’s tried hard to forget.
People had always told them their friendship wasn’t healthy. That the six of them spent far too much time together. No good would come of it, they said. How could relationships with others work when the six of them were so tightly interwoven?
When a snowstorm isolates them from the outside world, old flames are rekindled and tensions run high, and it soon becomes obvious: nothing that big can stay secret forever.
5 pages, Audible Audio
First published October 31, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 756 reviews
November 8, 2024
I didn't expect much going into this one, and that's what I got. It started ok, but the ending was so abrupt that it felt like the author just gave up.
3-stars
3-stars
November 5, 2024
Everything about this book screams my name. Christmas/winter setting, group of folks "locked in", everyone has a secret and you don't know who to trust, including the narrator. This was a fairly quick read and I don't know if that's what cause this book to falter. Everything was going splendidly well till the last two or three minutes. I seriously had to check to see if I had missed something by accident. It almost felt like the author just randomly decided they were done and just stopped. All in all it was still an interesting read for me. Just a tad confused by the very rushed and haphazardly wrapped ending.
December 18, 2024
The narrators Billie Piper and Avita Jay bring this deadly Christmas mystery to life. Six long time friends snowed in and secluded create an atmospheric, chilling tale of the past coming back to destroy the present. The plot kept me interested throughout this holiday whodunit.
December 9, 2024
Story 3.5 stars**
Audio 4 stars**
Narrators Billie Piper
Avita Jay
Audio 4 stars**
Narrators Billie Piper
Avita Jay
December 14, 2024
I feel like I sort of guessed who done it but then I kept second guessing myself but I ended up being right in the end.
This is more like a 3.5 so I rounded up to help the average.
This is more like a 3.5 so I rounded up to help the average.
December 23, 2024
Overall it was okay
December 21, 2024
*https://www.instagram.com/mrsb_book_r...
🥳🎄The Christmas Party by Kathryn Croft is an Audible exclusive title, which was released in October this year. The Christmas Party is a story of dark secrets, a reunion, suspicion, old acquaintances, strained friendships, loss, past love and future plans. This short format audio book was just 4 hours and 42 minutes long and I soon got through this holiday escape read while I was doing some end of year cleaning.
🎉🎄The Christmas Party revolves around a reunion where we see old friends gather for a festive party that is filled with secrets, tension, and unresolved pasts. Croft's narrative contains a thrilling mix of suspicion and shock revelations, along with a set of complicated relationship issues. What starts as a festive get-together quickly turns into something much darker, as old relationships are revisited and the truth about past betrayals, along with details surrounding a shock disappearance of a young girl comes to light.
🥳🎄The highlight of this short Audible exclusive was the crisp Christmas party setting, complete with an incoming snow storm, which was the perfect backdrop for the drama to unfold. The reunion element between characters was filled with tension and unresolved feelings, making me question each cast member's motives. The narrators, Billie Piper and Avita Jay worked in unison to bring the characters to life. Piper’s voice was especially captivating, giving the narrative an extra edge of suspense.
🎉🎄Overall, The Christmas Party was a great holiday read for anyone looking for a swift and twisty yuletide mystery thriller.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4 stars, out now!
🥳🎄The Christmas Party by Kathryn Croft is an Audible exclusive title, which was released in October this year. The Christmas Party is a story of dark secrets, a reunion, suspicion, old acquaintances, strained friendships, loss, past love and future plans. This short format audio book was just 4 hours and 42 minutes long and I soon got through this holiday escape read while I was doing some end of year cleaning.
🎉🎄The Christmas Party revolves around a reunion where we see old friends gather for a festive party that is filled with secrets, tension, and unresolved pasts. Croft's narrative contains a thrilling mix of suspicion and shock revelations, along with a set of complicated relationship issues. What starts as a festive get-together quickly turns into something much darker, as old relationships are revisited and the truth about past betrayals, along with details surrounding a shock disappearance of a young girl comes to light.
🥳🎄The highlight of this short Audible exclusive was the crisp Christmas party setting, complete with an incoming snow storm, which was the perfect backdrop for the drama to unfold. The reunion element between characters was filled with tension and unresolved feelings, making me question each cast member's motives. The narrators, Billie Piper and Avita Jay worked in unison to bring the characters to life. Piper’s voice was especially captivating, giving the narrative an extra edge of suspense.
🎉🎄Overall, The Christmas Party was a great holiday read for anyone looking for a swift and twisty yuletide mystery thriller.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4 stars, out now!
December 10, 2024
A gripping thriller that has you shuffling forward to the edge of your seat as it goes, and grips you there until it lets you go only in the very last minute.
A really good first person and third person POV structure, and superbly narrated by both the performers.
If other reviewers talk about an abrupt ending, it isn't, or I should say it builds to a sudden climax. Perhaps there should be a short epilogue, but that's a matter of opinion. The ending fully justifies the story, for me. This is the best thriller I've read or listened to all year 😊
A really good first person and third person POV structure, and superbly narrated by both the performers.
If other reviewers talk about an abrupt ending, it isn't, or I should say it builds to a sudden climax. Perhaps there should be a short epilogue, but that's a matter of opinion. The ending fully justifies the story, for me. This is the best thriller I've read or listened to all year 😊
November 30, 2024
Just because you can publish doesn’t mean you should
November 6, 2024
Just another cliche version of the reunion of old friends for dire purposes
While the guilty party was not necessarily identifiable at the outset the reader was pretty sure of the purpose of the Christmas Party. The erformance was all right but there was nothing outstanding about the story.
Sorry, just another disappointing Audible Original. Three Stars. ***
While the guilty party was not necessarily identifiable at the outset the reader was pretty sure of the purpose of the Christmas Party. The erformance was all right but there was nothing outstanding about the story.
Sorry, just another disappointing Audible Original. Three Stars. ***
December 6, 2024
This was so bad. When you write a story you should really have a story board and at least make one character likable. It was an audible freebie... clearly for a reason. NO trigger warnings for the R that happens. Save your time.
November 17, 2024
it was finn
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2024
3.5
Zapravo sam impresionirana koliko su zanimljivi ovi Audible originals. Odslušano u cugu
Zapravo sam impresionirana koliko su zanimljivi ovi Audible originals. Odslušano u cugu
November 26, 2024
Everybody in this was INSANE!! 🙁 Every other chapter it was a new secret!!!!
Where is part two ? WTF
Where is part two ? WTF
December 2, 2024
I have no words.
This book is so bad. I audibly laughed at the end, because after all the intertwining it went out with a loud wet fart. There were no shocking twists, it was so predictable and every character was stuck up, middle class and so boring. I didn’t care for anyone in the book. It was repetitive, predictable and wildly flat. It’s quite shocking but hilarious just how dreadful this is. I was fooled by the book cover, so there’s that.
This book is so bad. I audibly laughed at the end, because after all the intertwining it went out with a loud wet fart. There were no shocking twists, it was so predictable and every character was stuck up, middle class and so boring. I didn’t care for anyone in the book. It was repetitive, predictable and wildly flat. It’s quite shocking but hilarious just how dreadful this is. I was fooled by the book cover, so there’s that.
December 27, 2024
I listened to 'The Christmas Party' in a single sitting during a long, slow drive north through mist, fog and darkness. I think it was the only thing that kept me sane.
'The Christmas Party' turned out to be a solid mystery, told mainly in the present day but with crucial flashbacks to the last time everyone had met, on Christmas Eve twelve years earlier. It's a twist on the locked room mystery in that, if there was a murder, then the murderer is one of the six people currently snowed in at an isolated lochside house in Scotland. Add in a twist that one of the six has no memory of most of the party twelve years ago and so considers herself a suspect and this becomes a rubrics cube of possible murder suspects.
At the start of the story, I was concerned that this might be one of those "Haven't I read this already?" stories, as the concept of a reunion that brings past evil-doings to the surface seems to have been done a lot recently. I'm glad to say that the storytelling in "The Christmas Party' soon showed me that my concern was unfounded. Kathryn Croft paced the reveals in the story and the movement from the Now timeline to the Before timeline kept the tension high and the story moving forward. I liked that this wasn't a story that depended on the extended foreshadowing of a single big reveal. It was a series of revelations, each one of which changed my understanding of the situation and the six people locked into it.
This is a story where all six of the players are liars. They all have secrets to protect. Their relationshjps, past and present, are complex and not always honest. Trust is in short supply, Guilt, grief, disappointment and anger are plentiful.
I didn't like any of the six players much but they were all easy to believe in as flawed people trying to forget a terrible mistake. This was a satisfying mystery that held my attention to the end and delivered a resolution that made sense.
'The Christmas Party' turned out to be a solid mystery, told mainly in the present day but with crucial flashbacks to the last time everyone had met, on Christmas Eve twelve years earlier. It's a twist on the locked room mystery in that, if there was a murder, then the murderer is one of the six people currently snowed in at an isolated lochside house in Scotland. Add in a twist that one of the six has no memory of most of the party twelve years ago and so considers herself a suspect and this becomes a rubrics cube of possible murder suspects.
At the start of the story, I was concerned that this might be one of those "Haven't I read this already?" stories, as the concept of a reunion that brings past evil-doings to the surface seems to have been done a lot recently. I'm glad to say that the storytelling in "The Christmas Party' soon showed me that my concern was unfounded. Kathryn Croft paced the reveals in the story and the movement from the Now timeline to the Before timeline kept the tension high and the story moving forward. I liked that this wasn't a story that depended on the extended foreshadowing of a single big reveal. It was a series of revelations, each one of which changed my understanding of the situation and the six people locked into it.
This is a story where all six of the players are liars. They all have secrets to protect. Their relationshjps, past and present, are complex and not always honest. Trust is in short supply, Guilt, grief, disappointment and anger are plentiful.
I didn't like any of the six players much but they were all easy to believe in as flawed people trying to forget a terrible mistake. This was a satisfying mystery that held my attention to the end and delivered a resolution that made sense.
November 27, 2024
I did not connect with this unfortunately, but Billie Piper is great.
November 15, 2024
Don't waste your time.
November 15, 2024
This book make no sense
November 30, 2024
For a short book, this felt like it dragged on forever. I think the narrators would be enjoyable in something else, but they made the characters in this sound snobby, immature, and insufferable. Then again, maybe that’s just how the characters were. Either way, I didn’t like any of them and found myself annoyed for most of this. If my group of friends was this vapid, I’d rather be alone. Thank goodness this was free on Audible. I’d be mad if I had paid for it.
November 29, 2024
Another wee bit of a disappointing audible original, I think I’ll lay off of them for a while. I enjoyed the premise of the story, if it was all a little hap hazard and the ending was bizarre. It really feels like they put more effort into production and getting known names to narrate them. They are fairly short though so it’s worthwhile trying to see if they’re a good guy for you.
Currently included in audible 🎧
Currently included in audible 🎧
November 19, 2024
Ugh! I couldn’t wait for it to be over! The last 1/3 of the book was a struggle for me but I kept going and finished it. It started out ok but then it dragged on. The narrator being dramatic was too much for me too-not believable.
December 6, 2024
A free psychological thriller set around Christmas and narrated by Billie Piper - obviously I had to listen!
I think the narration helped keep my attention, the set up was pretty standard for the genre.
A group of friends are reunited after 12 years and the initial hints and teases to a tragic event 12 years prior that caused a rift was enticing enough.
Our main protagonist Sasha conveniently has no recollection of that night, though the obvious fall out from the past sees her obligated agree to a reunion of old university friend Gabby.
There's a touch of suspending your disbelief as these 30-somethings are willing to spend Christmas Eve in Scotland with people they've not seen in a decade rather than their own families.
One aspect that I liked about this release was the flipping between the present and the past - with the 2012 sections narrated by Avita Jay.
A decent amount of twists and turns, but did drag in some places, worth a listen.
I think the narration helped keep my attention, the set up was pretty standard for the genre.
A group of friends are reunited after 12 years and the initial hints and teases to a tragic event 12 years prior that caused a rift was enticing enough.
Our main protagonist Sasha conveniently has no recollection of that night, though the obvious fall out from the past sees her obligated agree to a reunion of old university friend Gabby.
There's a touch of suspending your disbelief as these 30-somethings are willing to spend Christmas Eve in Scotland with people they've not seen in a decade rather than their own families.
One aspect that I liked about this release was the flipping between the present and the past - with the 2012 sections narrated by Avita Jay.
A decent amount of twists and turns, but did drag in some places, worth a listen.
December 9, 2024
This book was so insane, every chapter you find out something new about the characters. I couldn't stop listening it was so good ❤️
December 21, 2024
Really enjoyed this short audiobook, the characters were interesting and I like how we peeled away the layers bit by bit to reveal the twist
December 20, 2024
Bien sans plus. On sait très vite le dénouement et l'héroïne n'est pas très finaude. Mais bon ça se laisse écouter.
December 22, 2024
An almost five hour audio set in Scotland at Christmas time. Six college friends who are called to be together again at a snowed in castle in Scotland, 12 years after the host's young sister went tragically missing at a party held somewhere in England. The friends have been estranged since that fateful night. But they each agree to reunite, and the kidnapper/potential killer is still among them. And everyone is searching for the truth.
December 25, 2024
3.9*
Novel·la curta de suspens, un thriller psicològic que es desenvolupa al Nadal a Escòcia en una tempesta de neu que deixa aïllats els protagonistes a una casa al mig de la muntanya, uns protagonistes que guarden uns secrets terribles d'una festa de Nadal i que surten a la llum perquè res tan obscur es pot mantenir secret per sempre. Bona lectura per una nit de Nadal de misteri.
Novel·la curta de suspens, un thriller psicològic que es desenvolupa al Nadal a Escòcia en una tempesta de neu que deixa aïllats els protagonistes a una casa al mig de la muntanya, uns protagonistes que guarden uns secrets terribles d'una festa de Nadal i que surten a la llum perquè res tan obscur es pot mantenir secret per sempre. Bona lectura per una nit de Nadal de misteri.
December 17, 2024
⭐️ ⭐️ = C’était ok
C’était pas un chef d’oeuvre mais plaisant à écouter en livre audio (gratuit en plus!)
C’était pas un chef d’oeuvre mais plaisant à écouter en livre audio (gratuit en plus!)
December 13, 2024
2.5 ⭐️
Displaying 1 - 30 of 756 reviews