#BlogTour: THE GUILTY PARTY by Mel McGrath @mcgrathmj @HQstories @joe_thomas25 #AreYouGuilty

Publication: 7th March 2019 – HQ

You did nothing. That doesn’t mean you’re innocent.

On a night out, four friends witness a stranger in trouble. They decide to do nothing to help.

Later, a body washes up on the banks of the Thames – and the group realises that ignoring the woman has left blood on their hands.

But why did each of them refuse to step in? Why did none of them want to be noticed that night? Who is really responsible?

And is it possible that the victim was not really a stranger at all?

Happy publication day to Mel McGrath!!! THE GUILTY PARTY is her new gripping novel and it’s out today, so go out to a bookstore (or online) and grab a copy because this is a very suspenseful and dark novel that will keep you completely engrossed from the first to the very last page.

Meet the Group. Cassie, Anna, Bo, and Dex have been best friends for fifteen years, since their days at Oxford. They are friends, they are ex-lovers, they are family. They come before their husbands, children, boyfriends, and girlfriends. No matter what, they are there for each other. But how well do you really know your best friends?

During a late night out to celebrate Cassie’s birthday, the four of them witness something bad happening to a woman, but, each for their own reasons, they do nothing to stop it and they try to pretend that it never happened. One month later, during a month away to celebrate Bo’s birthday, the four friends have to face what really happened that night, the secrets that they are keeping from each other, and the true nature of their friendship.

You know that a story is really really good when you don’t like any of the characters and, yet, you can’t put it down. Cassie, Bo, Dex, and Anna are despicable characters. They are all selfish, self-centered, narcisistic, and they all have a dark side. Their friendship is toxic and not at all healthy, and, even though I wasn’t a fan of any of them, I was completely absorbed in their stories, curious to see how far they would go to protect themselves and how it would end up.

Different points of views and timelines and a claustrophic atmosphere keep the tension always high together with twists that I didn’t really see coming. This is my first novel by this author, but I really like her writing style, how she manages to always surprise the reader, and I am definitely going to read more of her books.

THE GUILTY PARTY is a twisty and compelling novel that will keep you on edge page after page and that makes you also question yourself as, at the end of the novel, the author asks you: “If you had been there what would you have done?”

I’d like to thank Joe Thomas and HQ for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and for providing me with a copy of this fantastic novel.

Mel McGrath is an Essex girl, co-founder of Killer Women, and an award-winning writer of fiction and non-fiction. As MJ McGrath she writes the acclaimed Edie Kiglatuk series of Arctic mysteries, which were twice longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger and Times and Financial Times thrillers of the year. As Melanie McGrath she wrote the critically acclaimed, bestselling memoir Silvertown. As Mel McGrath she is the author of the bestselling psychological thriller Give Me The Child.

The Guilty Party is her latest novel.