She is either the vivacious, outgoing twin who Kate adores, or makes the atmosphere feel heavy with the loss of her; a spark of light that was extinguished far too soon. Over dinner at the farmhouse one Hallowe’en, the ‘pluck’ gets pulled on the fibres of this Irish family and it slowly unravels.

The Dinner Party Cookbook: 200 Fabulous Main Dish Ideas The Dinner Party Cookbook: 200 Fabulous Main Dish Ideas

The adults have known each other for years, and socialize by hosting a monthly dinner party on a rotating basis. For me, another strength of the book is how each of its characters could have had their own distinct novel, with the same backbone story. It is a snapshot into the life of a family between Passover and Rosh Hashanah, and how they deal with love, expectations, disappointments, and more.I started this book at 1 AM on Thanksgiving morning, couldn't put it down, and read until around 4 when my Kindle finally died. By the end of the evening, with a single peak broken, Kate destroys and tosses her Baked Alaska, unserved, into the trash. At this monthly gathering of food and friendship, they meet Ralph, a retired doctor and recent widower who forms a bond with Dan and shares his story and life wisdom. To begin with, the couples (and sadly the individuals who comprise them) are a bit bland and nearly indistinguishable. The secret plans they made for their future, the inside jokes, and the way they could look at each other and speak without words bound them together more than any of their many differences could separate them.

Dinner Party: A Tragedy by Sarah Gilmartin | Goodreads Dinner Party: A Tragedy by Sarah Gilmartin | Goodreads

I wanted to love this book and as I pushed through the slow and uninteresting plot I’d hoped for a sudden brilliance of twists a d reveals. Another concept that I think is so well done in this book is seeing through Kate's eyes what it's like to see her twin become a completely different person from her. Spoiled rich boy who can't manage as an adult; social climbing mother who spurns the loving partner of one daughter solely b/c he's not of the tribe; handsome older doctor who only loves the nurse who's too busy for him; and on. A number of the Netgalley reviewers lament the early reveals of family secrets, and/or criticise the slow pace.I really wasn’t sure at first, but as soon as they played a little dinner party game (a game that no couple should ever, ever play! I started this book expecting a thriller and instead found myself reading an Irish family saga that follows a dysfunctional family from the nineties to the present day. I understand that the author wanted to throw the readers off by who the killer was by adding more characters, but for me it didn’t work.