Thank you Atria Books, #partner for the advanced copy of The Wasp Trap in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: September 16, 2025
Summary:
A dinner party in a beautiful Notting Hill townhouse turns into a sinister game, as six old friends are forced to spill their darkest secrets…or else.
Six friends reunite in London to celebrate the life of their recently deceased ex-employer, a professor that brought them together in 1999 to help build a dating website based on psychological testing.
But what is meant to be a night of bittersweet nostalgia soon becomes a twisted and deadly game when the old friends find themselves held at gunpoint. They are given an ultimatum: reveal their darkest secrets to the group or pick each other off one-by-one.
It soon becomes clear that their current predicament is related to their shared past. The love questionnaire they helped develop in 1999 for the dating site was also turned into a tool for weeding out The Wasp Trap. This and the other tragic events of that summer long ago may help reveal the truth behind a killer hiding in plain sight.
Alternating between the past and present with a colorful ensemble of characters, The Wasp Trap is a fast-paced and twisty thrill ride that is perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Alice Feeney.
My thoughts:
As soon as this was pitched to me, I know I had to read it and I absolutely loved it. Once I started this one, I had such a hard time putting it down – it was such a clever and addicting read! How have I not read this author before now?!?
There is nothing I love more than a locked-room mystery and this one had me completely in the dark as to where it was headed…but boy did I have many theories! I loved how the tension started almost right away as soon as the gathering began and it just kept building. Secrets were there just below the surface, and I loved that there was that ‘who do I trust?’ vibe going on. The messy group dynamics kept me flipping the pages and while I didn’t necessarily find any of the characters likeable, I needed to find out all their secrets!
The writing is incredibly addictive with short chapters and plenty of reveals that keep you turning the pages. And I also found myself shifting suspicions between characters as to who was telling the truth and who was still hiding something.
This just might be a book I reread to see how it was mapped out because I am in awe of how it all ended – I’m still thinking about it after all this time. So brilliant, so clever!
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