The Dinner Party by Rebecca Heath
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Forty years ago, three couples on a family-oriented cut-de-sac meet up for a dinner party. They each take turns checking in our their children, who are tucked safely in their beds in nearby - or so they think. Because that night, four-month old Megan Callaghan would go missing, disappearing seemingly into thin air. Now, 40 years after what has become known as "the dinner party from hell," a podcast has put a new spotlight on the case and a woman has shown up at Megan's sister Amanda's home claiming to be the missing girl. Amanda, who never got over the loss of her sister, is thrilled, but her daughter, Billie is skeptical. As evidence mounts, can Billie figure out not only the truth about this new woman in the family's life, but what happened all this years ago?
The book is told in several parts: most chapters are told in the present from Billie's POV, but there are also chapters that chronicle the events of the dinner party in 1979, told from multiple POVs, and episodes of the "Baby Megan" podcast shattered throughout.
This book was jack full of suspense. Like, I was seriously drawn in and fully engulfed by the mystery of what was going on. And by that, I mean both the present-day mystery of what was happening with the is-she or isn't-she Megan, and the mystery of what happened by in 1979 a the dinner party. Both were really well written and made me really want to know how they turned out. There were so many twists and turns.
I liked the format where the transcripts of the episodes of the podcasts were interspersed in between some of the chapters, because it gave good background that filled in some of the blank spaces so we didn't have to guess what was going on. And there were some bombshells in those episodes!
This book also was quite an insight into the complex grief that those left behind can go through. Amanda is so consumed by her grief over her lost sister that she can't seem to focus on anything else in her life. I don't want to give anything away, but it's very sad to see.
Anyway, this book was a great read, with two very good mysteries to enjoy. I highly recommend it!
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