Book Review: The Dinner Party

By Sara Steven

To celebrate their wedding anniversary, Lily Leonard books a table at the exclusive restaurant of Hector Bolson-Woods renowned celebrity chef. It should be the perfect evening for Lily and husband, Stig, but not even a perfect menu can heal the cracks in their marriage.

So when Hector invites them to dine with him privately, Lily is thrilled. Surely this will please Stig? Hector is charming and attentive – everything Stig is not – and she finds herself more and more drawn to the enigmatic Hector.

A nightmare invitation...

After the dinner, Stig makes it clear the entire evening was a mistake, something he never wants to repeat again. Hurt and confused, Lily’s certain Stig is hiding something from her. Something linked to Hector…she just doesn’t know what.

And then another dinner invitation from Hector arrives. This time with a proposal neither Lily or Stig can refuse… (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)

Throughout The Dinner Party, I knew something sinister was brewing. The atmosphere of the book felt dark, despite its innocent start. Who wouldn’t enjoy a dinner out to a fancy restaurant, particularly when celebrity chef Hector Bolson-Woods is personally preparing your meal for you? I pictured a Gordon Ramsey type in the role of Hector, only adding to the appeal, yet it wasn’t enough for Stig. He’s not happy. 

There are some definite issues between Lily and Stig. From Lily’s viewpoint, she married a man who keeps to himself and never really opens up to her, despite how much she pleads with him to do so. And Stig has a lot of backstory that points to a lot of deep seated baggage, and he doesn’t want to share it with Lily. When Hector gives Lily attention, it’s hard for her to resist it, and it’s more than enough to give her the courage to engage with Hector in ways she ordinarily wouldn’t. Given her feelings on Stig and his behavior, it’s hard not to initially side with her.

But then we gain more insight into why Stig is the way he is, and more importantly, who Hector really is. From one dinner invitation to the next, and all with those dark, thriller-like undertones that made me question what would happen at a given moment. The story really picks up after Stig’s point of view is thrown in for good measure, questioning his own motives, Hector’s, and Lily’s too.

After the explosive climax at the end of the book, the epilogue felt a little anticlimactic and rushed to me. But the rest of it was paced out well, and the author did an excellent job of explaining the inner workings of the food industry, which made it so easy to picture Hector as the next Gordon Ramsey. It was a good, creepy thriller! 

Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Purchase The Dinner Party here.

Nina Manning studied psychology and was a restaurant-owner and private chef (including to members of the royal family). She is the founder and host of Sniffing The Pages, a book review podcast. The Daughter in Law is her debut psychological thriller and since then Nina has gone on to write 9 more books including: The Guilty Wife published in March 2020, The House Mate published in October 2020.The Bridesmaid published May 2021 and Queen Bee in January 2022. She has also written two 'mum-lit' fiction books: The 3 am shattered mums' club and the 6 pm frazzled mums' club. Her tenth book, Her Last Summer, another thriller, was published in May 2024.

In 2024 Nina signed with Hodder and Stoughton and her first destination thriller will be released in June 2025

Nina currently lives in The Highlands in Scotland with her family. When she is not writing she can be found romping in the forest with her dog and three children.

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