Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox
Author Interview + Book & Author Info + Author Pet Corner!
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Party of Liars
A lavish, Texas-sized Sweet Sixteen turns deadly in this twisty, pulse-pounding new novel ― serving up a fresh take on a classic locked-room whodunnit. Let the festivities begin…
Today is Sophie Matthews’s sixteenth birthday party, an exclusive black-tie bash in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, where secrets are as deep-rooted as the sprawling live oaks. Sophie’s dad has spared no expense, and his renovated cliffside mansion―once thought haunted and shuttered for years from outsiders―is now hosting the event of the season. Then, just before the candles on the three-tiered red velvet cake are blown out, a body falls from the balcony onto the starlit dance floor below.
It’s a killer guest list . . .
DANI: Sophie’s new stepmother who’s been plagued by self-doubt ever since the birth of her own baby girl
ÓRLAITH: the superstitious Irish nanny who senses a looming danger in this cavernous house
MIKAYLA: the birthday girl’s best friend who is not nearly as meek as the popular kids assume
KIM: the cunning ex-wife who has a grudge she can’t let go of . . .
Everyone is invited in. Not everyone will get out alive.
“My favorite kind of thriller – fun, twisty, fast-paced, and populated by characters who feel so real you’ll want to invite them (well, some of them) to your next party.” – New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins
“I couldn’t put it down!” – New York Times bestselling author Nina Simon
“Explodes from page one.” – Bestselling author Amanda Eyre Ward
“This is the thriller of the summer.” – Bestselling author Katie Gutierrez
Find all of the purchase links for Party of Liars here.
Interview with Party of Liars Author Kelsey Cox
Party of Liars is set in the Texas Hill Country. Tell us about that environment and the role it plays in the novel.
Yes, Party of Liars is set in Bulverde, which is the small town outside San Antonio, where I live and a place that is very close to my heart.
The landscape of the Texas Hill Country is beautiful, hills rising in the distance, dotted with giant homes that spark the imagination (what would it be like to live so high up there?). Roads cut dramatically through solid limestone, forming these sharp cliffsides. But there is also a hint of the wild and the dark that feels very Gothic to me, the twisting live oaks, the scrubby cedars, the wild deer and armadillos, who look almost pre-historic, the sounds of chirping insects and frogs, and the scorpions no one can seem to fully keep out of their homes.
For me, it was the perfect setting for a locked-room whodunnit: the balance of the beautiful with an undercurrent of dread.
Party of Liars centers on a sweet sixteen birthday party, where things go very awry. What made you choose that life event to launch this story?
Party of Liars is told from the perspective of four women in different stages of life: a lovesick teenage girl, a new mother with postpartum anxieties, a bitter ex-wife, and an elderly superstitious nanny.
They came to me first. I knew who they were, what their secrets and grudges and fears and desires were, and I knew how their lives intertwined. I also knew I wanted to write the book at a single event, a single party. So, really, the Sweet Sixteen was a practical choice. It made the most sense as the event necessary to get these particular characters in the same room.
But there is also something so fun and over-the-top about a lavish Sweet Sixteen that I knew would be fun to write (and hopefully just as fun to read).
Party of Liars incorporates wealthy characters and murder, what let you to write about that socio-economic stratum for your debut novel?
Who doesn’t love to read about rich people behaving badly? It’s why we devour Real Housewives-type reality shows, why tabloids are in every grocery store check-out stand, why White Lotus is so popular.
I think part of it is voyeurism and escape. We want to peek behind the curtain (or use our binoculars to peer up through the windows of that mansion on the cliffside), and we want to feel what it is like to have all that wealth. It’s fun and it’s sparkly.
But also, behind any closed door, I believe people are human. They deal with the same problems, and there is something satisfying in that equaling. Also, not all of the characters in Party of Liars are wealthy. There’s a bit of Upstairs, Downstairs to it, and that dynamic creates tension.
Lastly, the more a person has to lose, the higher the stakes are, and the more dangerous they can become.
You have an MFA in fiction from Purdue University. How did that program assist in writing your first novel and navigating the publishing industry? (or not!)
Party of Liars is my publishing debut, but it isn’t the first book I’ve written. I wrote my first full novel back in high school (a million years ago).
The novel I wrote for my MFA thesis was the first one I queried, but it wasn’t the book that landed the agent. So, I don’t think my MFA helped me to get published, at least not in a direct sense, and I don’t think an MFA is in any way a pre-requisite for publication.
In fact, I needed to un-learn a bit of what I had learned in my MFA program, which focused so much on the literary genre and the short story form. I needed to learn about the thriller genre by reading, and learn how to write novels by writing them.
But I will always be grateful to my MFA program because it widened and elevated my taste. I was exposed to writers and novels that I wouldn’t have otherwise been, and I learned from professors who are brilliant writers themselves, and it taught me a lot about character-driven writing and sharp prose. The authors that I love to read blend genre fiction with literary prose, and I hope to follow in their footsteps. I believe my time at Purdue helped to put me on that path.
What are you reading right now?
I’m always reading two things (a physical book and an audiobook). Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier. I’m a huge Rebecca fan, and I’m trying to get through her entire catalogue.
And Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent, because I read one Liz Nugent book last year, and now I need to devour them all.
What are you working on now?
Book Two! And I’m under deadline, which is a whole new experience.
I recently turned in my first draft and am now in the middle of re-writes. I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say, but I will say that it is another glamorous locked-room thriller set in the Texas Hill Country with plenty of sequins, secrets, and complicated women.
Words of Wisdom for Aspiring Writers:
Write the book you absolutely want to read, the one that would keep you turning pages at night, that would make you laugh or cry or shatter into a million pieces.
Then be honest with yourself in revision. If you picked up this book, what would you think? Would you find the pacing slow? Would you think the prose was lacking? Would you care about the characters? Then work on those things until it would be your five-star book. And most importantly, make time for it every day (or nearly).
Show up, even when the words feel like pulling teeth. Show up, even when you produce nothing. Just keep showing up.
Great Advice!
Author Pet Corner!
Kirby is named after Jack Kirby, the influential comic book artist, and he loves lying in different spots around the house and going on long meandering walks around the neighborhood while I solve plot holes in my head.
Party of Liars Author Kelsey Cox
Kelsey Cox received her MFA in fiction from Purdue University and works from home in the Texas Hill Country.
You can often find her writing at the Mammen Family Public Library, chasing around her two young daughters, or watching British mysteries with her mom and aunts.
On nights when bedtime goes as planned, she enjoys curling up on the sofa, glass of wine in one hand and a book with complicated characters and a killer twist in her lap.
Follow Kelsey’s author journey: Facebook and Instagram.
Elena Hartwell/Elena Taylor
