What Happened That Night by Nicci French

 

It's the dinner party that no one wants to come to but all accepted the invitation.  The last time this group was together was at the end of university when their group all went to a house party.  At the end of that party, Leo, the group bully, was dead and Tyler Green, the group leader, was led away in the back of a police car.  He has been in prison for that murder for thirty years although he denied doing it.  Now he is out and he wants to get the group back together.

Beatrice hosts.  She is married to a man high up in the government and she is a barrister.  They have a large house and tons of money.  Rudi had been her secret lover back then and tonight will be the first time they have seen each other since.  Will was Tyler's best friend and everyone's buddy but that didn't stop him from marrying Ali, who had been madly in love with Tyler.  Marco had been the musician.  His career never took off and he comes dressed scruffily and bringing an uninvited guest, his girlfriend who is decades younger.  Clara and Jay were a couple but soon afterwards Clara came out as gay and Jay had a breakdown.  They are both there.  Finally, Ellen was a lovely blonde earth mother who slept with all the men.  She is married now with five children and a couples counselor.  

At the end of the night, another body lies still, stabbed and killed in the same way Leo was.  Who did it? DI Maud O'Connor and her assistant Carrie Kessler are a great team and they are under additional pressure due to the notoriety of the first crime and the positions in society of the old friends.  

Nicci French is the pen name of a wildly successful husband and wife writing team.  I've read many of their novels and every one is good but this one was even better than I had anticipated.  The tension slowly mounts as the dinner progresses.  It becomes clear that Tyler has a reason to blame everyone there for his false imprisonment while everyone else went on with their lives.  This is the third Maud O'Connor mystery and my favorite so far.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.