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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…

Adult/minor relationship, alcoholism.

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.

Don't just take our word for it...

“Party of Liars is 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. With this debut, Kelsey Cox joins my auto-buy list forever!”
– Rachel Hawkins, New York Times bestselling author

“Party of Liars with its stunning prose and simmering tension is a mesmerizing story that’s part gothic horror, part psychological thriller, part contemporary glitz—the narrative is masterfully woven with plenty of twists, and deftly handles heavier subjects like postpartum depression, manipulation, and abuse. Kelsey Cox’s debut is exquisite and dripping with dread—I absolutely adored it.”
– Ashley Tate, international bestselling author of Twenty-Seven Minutes

“Party of Liars explodes from page one: a stunning debut, a riveting page-turner, a brilliant exploration of motherhood and female desire. Every character is rich and complex, and I was stunned by the jaw-dropping twist at the end. This is the novel I’m always wanting to read: dazzling, terrifying, achingly beautiful. Cox is a major new voice, and I can’t wait to read what she writes next.”
– Amanda Eyre Ward, bestselling author of Lovers and Liars and The Jetsetters

Taste the very first page

The house has always belonged to The Mother.

Perched atop the highest cliff in Comal County, Texas, the Queen Anne–style Victorian was built in the late nineteenth century by Wilhelm Vogel. Wilhelm had fallen in love with young Ada Müller, a debutante, notorious for declining suitors, turning away their trinkets, poems, and various attempts to charm her. What she wanted was a castle. So Wilhelm, a notable businessman and stone carver, set his sails for the Texas Hill Country, like so many German immigrants before him. There he purchased the land. He brought an architect by train from New York City to draw the grand plans, and construction began. Limestone was quarried locally. Stained-glass windows and handcrafted woodwork were shipped from Europe. Finally, with calloused hands, Wilhelm planted tulips—Ada’s favorite flower—in the gardens along the lattice- work. Then he sent for her. Some months later, upon her arrival, she saw it from her carriage, so high up—asymmetrical facade, turrets and dormers, two-story wraparound porch—imposing against the back- drop of an endless Texas sky. Ada was pleased.

The ranchers who lived in the house’s shadow saw Mrs. Vogel often, tall and slender, with pale skin and pale hair—combing out her curls in the upstairs window, tending to delicate blooms of yellow, cream, and pink that stood sentry around the estate. Later, they watched her pushing the baby’s pram through the grounds, and at sunset, standing on the balcony, face to the wind.

Then came Ada’s death. So very soon after the magnificent house was completed. A story in and of itself. A fall, people repeated. An accident? they questioned. And some wondered and might have even whispered…

July 2025