The Party House cover art

The Party House

An Atmospheric and Twisty Thriller Set in the Scottish Highlands, Perfect For Fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware

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The Party House

By: Lin Anderson
Narrated by: Greg Miller Burns, Susie Riddell
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About this listen

'A real page-turner' – Ian Rankin

A deeply atmospheric psychological thriller set in the Scottish Highlands, The Party House by Lin Anderson is a standalone novel perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware. From the author of the pulse-pounding Rhona MacLeod series.


Devastated by a recent pandemic brought in by outsiders, the villagers of Blackrig in the Scottish Highlands are outraged when they find that the nearby estate plans to reopen its luxury ‘party house’ to tourists.

As animosity sparks in the community, a group of locals take action. By the end of the night, the house hot tub has been smashed to pieces. In the ensuing chaos, the body of a young woman is found in the foundations.

Seventeen-year-old Ailsa Cummings went missing five years ago, never to be seen again. Until now.

The excavation of Ailsa’s remains reignites old suspicions towards the men of this small community, including Greg, the estate’s gamekeeper. He is loath to discuss old wounds, but Greg's new lover, Joanne, is frightened by his reaction to the missing girl’s discovery. Joanne begins to doubt how well she knows this new man in her life. Then again, he’s not the only one with secrets in their volatile relationship . . .

'Psychological thrills with a perplexing mystery simmering in a small community. It has all the ingredients of a hit' – Douglas Skelton, author of The Blood is Still

Crime Thrillers Domestic Thrillers Psychological Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Crime Highlander Fiction Village

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Critic reviews

A real page-turner (Ian Rankin, author of the John Rebus series, including Midnight and Blue)
Lin Anderson is one of Scotland’s national treasures (Stuart MacBride, author of Cold Granite)
A cleverly crafted nail-biter with spectacular suspense. An all-consuming, one-sit read that I absolutely loved. Brilliant book (Helen Fields, author of One for Sorrow)
An engrossing Highland tale, with layer upon layer of intrigue, skilfully drip-fed by a classy writer (Mari Hannah, author of The Murder Wall)
As dark, mysterious and intriguing as the Highland landscape the book is set in, Lin has created a taut, twisting tale where secrets refuse to stay buried and the past haunts every page (Morgan Cry, author of Thirty-One Bones)
Lin's first standalone sees her expertly mix psychological thrills with a perplexing mystery simmering in a small community. It has all the ingredients of a hit to stand alongside her Rhona MacLeod series (Douglas Skelton, author of The Blood is Still)
All stars
Most relevant
Hard to sympathise with either protagonist, slow bit solid plot, good narration. One dimensional character development. Author seems not to trust reader to draw accurate conclusions without exhaustive explanation. Could have easily edited 1/3 without losing plotline.

A slow plod

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I usually enjoy this author’s work but I wouldn’t recommend this book. The narration was pretty poor (the Gaelic pronunciation made my toes curl). If you’re going to try it go for the book rather than the audio version.

Not a winner

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I had this on pre-order having thoroughly enjoyed all of this author's previous books.

This standalone novel did not disappoint. The fictional setting was very credible. The reference to recent events made it feel very much in the present. The characters were well drawn, and the narrators did a good job of bringing them to life.

I did work out "whodunit" quite early on, but there was sufficient peril and intrigue as to how everything would conclude that meant my interest was held to the end.

I would recommend this book, as I would all of this author's books.

A very enjoyable standalone

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Not nearly as good as the Rhona McLeod-series! And the narration was really well below par!

Not that great....

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I’ve only listened to a bit but that’s more than enough. It’s pandemic depression. It’s random thoughts and random people then some very unnecessary sex. Nothing enjoyable or engaging. Recommended to me but really not for me. Best avoided. Highly indulgent and juvenile.

Really awful and bad

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