Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox intrigued me from the first time I read the description, long before the book was published. It’s been on my TBR ever since, so when I felt the mood for a good mystery strike, I finally picked it up.
This locked room mystery takes place at an elaborate sweet sixteen party, where someone ends up dead. Back in the 19th century, a wealthy German man built a castle in Texas for his bride. When tragedy struck, the house was left haunted by the spirit of a grieving mother, and it fell into disrepair. Now remodeled to a whole new level of splendor, the house is host to a new family with some tragedies of their own.
Party of Liars has everything: an acrimonious divorce, women questioning their sanity, teenage angst, and, of course, a murder. And maybe a ghost.
This book has a focus on female perspectives, with an expansive cast of characters all surrounding one family and their community. It explores complex family dynamics in a way that feels familiar. Despite how many characters there are, they are easily distinguishable, with clear roles. It doesn’t make the story hard to follow.
The descriptions of this house are delightful, and Party of Liars is certainly aesthetically pleasing. The entire book has an artful tone that paints a vivid picture for the readers.
At the core of this book is upper-class suburban drama, and the messy dynamics and even messier behavior of its wealthy characters. It really is an exploration of the struggles of womanhood, but only wealthy, white womanhood. It’s a theme that has been done to death in murder mysteries. It feels a little shallow and unoriginal, with predictable twists, although it is still gripping and fast-paced.
Since the time of The Yellow Wallpaper, and probably before, we’ve been fascinated with women’s insanity, women losing their minds, and whether or not something sinister is behind it. As someone whose worst fear is losing my sanity, I think I’m just done reading about it. It’s been done well, it’s been done poorly, and now I’m over it.
Obviously, this book was not for me, but that is a subjective analysis. I can see how someone else might really enjoy this book, but I’ve read way too many similar books with similar themes exploring similar characters, and I don’t think Party of Liars did anything special with these tropes.
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