The Last Guest by Tess Little

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Last Guest
Author: Tess Little
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: 10.5.21


Publisher’s Summary
When Elspeth Bell attends the fiftieth birthday party of her ex-husband, Richard Bryant, the Hollywood director who launched her acting career, all she wants is to pass unnoticed through the glamorous crowd in his sprawling Los Angeles mansion. Instead, there are only seven other guests—and Richard's pet octopus, Persephone, watching over them from her tank as the intimate party grows more surreal (and rowdy) by the hour. Come morning, Richard is dead—and all of the guests are suspects.

In the weeks that follow, each guest comes under suspicion: the school friend, the studio producer, the actress, the actor, the new partner, the manager, the cinematographer, and even Elspeth herself. What starts out as a locked-room mystery soon reveals itself to be much more complicated, as dark stories from Richard's past surface, colliding with memories of their marriage that Elspeth vowed never to revisit. She begins to wonder not just who killed Richard, but why these eight guests were invited—and what sort of man would desire to possess a creature as mysterious and unsettling as Persephone.


My Review
Um. This was quite the let down. I loved the idea of locked room whodunit with 8 suspects...and an octopus! Unfortunately, I could not keep some of the characters straight and I have no patience for the "are they or aren't they" hoops of deciding if a character is an unreliable narrator. My advice is to give this one a hard pass.