Review: The Search Party by Hanna Richell

Author: Hannah Richell
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication date: January 2024

 A spellbinding locked-room mystery about a glamping trip gone horribly wrong when a powerful storm leaves the participants stranded and forced to confront long-held secrets and a shocking disappearance.

Max and Annie Kingsley have left the London rat race with their twelve-year-old son to set up a glamping site in the wilds of Cornwall. Eager for a dry run ahead of their opening, they invite three old university friends and their families for a long-needed reunion. But the festivities soon go awry as tensions arise between the children (and subsequently their parents), explosive secrets come to light, and a sudden storm moves in, cutting them off from help as one in the group disappears.

Moving between the police investigation, a hospital room, and the catastrophic weekend, The Search Party is a propulsive and twisty destination thriller about the tenuous bonds of friendship and the lengths parents will go to protect their children—perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley.

In The Search Party,  a group of old college  friends set out to a new "glamping" site to have a mini reunion and support their mutual friends in their new business. Over the weekend, secrets will be revealed and someone goes missing.   

I guess my good luck with thrillers is once again on hiatus. I definitely wouldn't say this was a locked room mystery.   There were a couple of surprise and a few red herrings.  So I did like that part.  However, I really couldn't find a single person to root for in this one. Every character was a horrible person.  Maybe the 6YO was OK, but then again she was a little annoying too.  The pacing was also off here.  The story goes between the events of the weekend and present day.  We spend most of the present time not knowing who is missing. It dragged in places.  The ending was also kind of underwhelming. It's OK and kept me mildly entertained.  It was just not the thrilling ride I was hoping for.