Happy belated Fourth of July for those of you in the U.S.! I hope your holiday was safe, fun, and relaxing. My family and I celebrated in Utah, where we also attended a 3-day family reunion in honor of the 99th birthday of my husband's late grandmother. Such events can be wonderful opportunities to reminisce, reconnect, and even reconcile. On the flip side, they're notorious for simmering with tension, conflict, and drama. Is it any wonder novelists—especially those writing in the mystery/thriller genre—love a reunion setting? No matter how many times the trope is explored (and it seems especially popular lately), I always find it appealing. Whether it's family members brought together for a reunion, classmates reconvening to mark the passing of years, old friends celebrating a special occasion, or some altogether more sinister reason to gather, I'm here for it. Since today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is a freebie, I decided to focus my list on mysteries and thrillers on my TBR list that use a reunion of some sort as a backdrop. 

Before you scroll on, though, be sure to pop on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our hostess, Jana, some love!

4. The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley—I didn't love Foley's The Guest List, itself a reunion novel, but I'm willing to give this book a try anyway. It concerns a group of college friends coming together for their annual getaway. As they arrive in the Scottish Highlands, a blizzard roars in, trapping them together. Tension grows, resentment simmers, secrets brew, and someone dies. Whodunit? 

5. The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn—Ten years after she graduated from college, Ambrosia Wellington receives an invitation to a class reunion, along with a note that says: "We need to talk about what we did that night." As she receives increasingly ominous notes, it becomes obvious that someone wants to make her pay for her role in a deadly game she participated in a decade ago.

6. The Invite by A.J. McDine—A group of friends are invited to the posh country home of a charismatic woman they knew as teenagers for an exciting weekend reunion. When they arrive, their hostess is not in residence. There is, however, a corpse in the cellar. Where is Elle? Why is there a dead body in her house? What game is their enigmatic old friend playing this time?

7. What Have We Done by Alex Finlay—At Savior House, the group home that was supposed to shelter them, a trio of teenagers endured horrifying abuse, which bonded them forever. They haven't seen each other since then, but now someone is trying to kill all of them. Their forced reunion isn't want any of them want, but it might be the only thing that can save them all...

8. All the Dark Places by Terri Parlato—A birthday party brings together a group of friends for a night of celebration and fun. When it ends in the guest of honor's murder, Detective Rita Myers is called in to investigate. Everybody loved Jay Bradley. Who would want to kill him? And why?

9. The Reunion by Kit Frick—This YA thriller centers around the Merryweather family, an estranged clan who come together at a swanky Mexican beach resort for a wedding. It doesn't take long for tempers to boil, secrets to surface, and patience to snap. When a member of the family ends up dead, all the rest of them become suspects. 

10. Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney—The fragmented Darker family is brought together on a remote island to celebrate their matriarch's 80th birthday. As they're cut off from the rest of the world by the tide and a raging storm, Nana is found dead. An hour later, another family member is killed. Can the survivors figure out who is murdering their kin before all of them are picked off in a brutal game reminiscent of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None?

There you are, ten mystery/thriller novels with reunion settings that I want to read. Have you read any of them? What did you think? What's your favorite reunion novel? What's the craziest thing you've ever witnessed at a reunion? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog. I also reply to comments left here at BBB (although I'm still behind from previous weeks).

The Pine Family of Adair, Nebraska, already knows what it means to be infamous.  Four years ago, 25-year-old Danny Pine was convicted of murdering his girlfriend and sent to prison.  The family refused to accept the verdict, launching an expensive, fevered campaign to free him.  A Netflix documentary about the case cast even more doubt on Danny's guilt, bolstering the Pines but vilifying the community of Adair.  Now, the family is in the news again.  Four of the Pines—Danny's parents and two of his siblings—have been found dead in a Mexican vacation home, victims of an apparent gas leak.

Besides Danny, 21-year-old Matt is the only Pine left.  Devastated by this fresh loss, he leaves NYU and returns to Adair to bury his family.  What he finds is a hostile town and a barrage of painful memories he'd like to forget.  When FBI agent Sarah Keiler comes knocking on Matt's door, Matt realizes there's more to the deaths of his parents and siblings than meets the eye.  What really happened to them?  Why were they targeted?  As it becomes increasingly apparent that their deaths are related to Danny's case, Matt fears the truth about what really happened the night Danny's girlfriend was killed will inevitably come to light.  If it does, everyone will know the horrifying truth that Matt has kept hidden for four years—Danny is guilty.  Can Matt get justice for his family without betraying his brother?

Told from multiple viewpoints, Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay (available March 2, 2021), is more than just an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller.  It's a layered, intimate portrayal of a family in crisis, a story that draws you into the characters' world, paints them in an authentic, sympathetic way, and leaves you dreading the tragedies you know are about to befall them.  Knowing their fates doesn't make the novel less compelling, however.  If anything it makes it even more engrossing.  True, the plot is a bit predictable, with a rather obvious killer, but still, it's a gripping thriller that had me ripping through the pages to see what was going to happen next.  Although Every Last Fear is not a happy tale, it is a hopeful one, which made it even more appealing to me.  In the end, then, I enjoyed this absorbing novel, which kept me riveted from its first page to its last.  

(Readalikes:  Hm, nothing is coming to mind.  You?)

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of Every Last Fear from the generous folks at St. Martin's Press via those at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!