High Season: A Novel by Katie BishopPublication Date: August 12, 2025
Pages: 384
Add on: Goodreads
Buy the Book: Amazon
Rating: ★★★
Source: From the Publisher
Genre: Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
Publisher: St. Martin's Press / Macmillan
After the death of a troubled young socialite, the victim’s twin brother is determined to hold the family together, at any cost—for fans of Listen for the Lie and None of This is True.
Never speak of that summer.On a beautiful summer’s night twenty years ago, troubled seventeen-year-old Tamara Drayton was found floating face-down in the pool of her family’s idyllic mansion in the south of France, leaving her twin brother, golden-boy Blake, to pick up the pieces of their shattered family.
Also left behind was their sister Nina who, at six years old, became the youngest person ever to testify in a French murder trial. Because she’s the only one who saw what happened—who watched as her babysitter, Josie Jackson, pushed Tamara under the water, and held her there until she stopped breathing.
Didn’t she? Twenty years later, Nina's memories have faded, leaving her with no idea of what really transpired that night. When a new true crime documentary about her sister’s murder is announced, Nina thinks this might be her chance to finally find out.
But the truth always comes at a cost. Who will pay the price?
Set over two unforgettable summers two decades apart, High Season is a dark, tense exploration of the nature of memory, the enduring power of truth, and all the gray areas in between.
REVIEW
Katie Bishop’s latest thriller sinks its hooks in deep and doesn’t let go. Set in a sun-drenched French Riviera town where darkness lurks beneath the glitter, High Season tells the story of Nina, whose childhood testimony put family friend Josie Jackson behind bars for her sister’s murder. Twenty years later, those long-buried memories start to crack.
The genius of Bishop’s writing lies in how she turns up the heat, literally and figuratively. As the Mediterranean summer blazes, Nina’s certainty about what really happened that night melts away. The dual timeline pulls us between past and present, each revelation making us question everything we thought we knew.
Nina herself is a masterclass in character writing, messy, uncertain, and achingly real. She’s surrounded by equally complex figures, from the imprisoned Josie to Nina’s murdered sister Tamara, each one carrying their own shadows and secrets.
But what sets this book apart isn’t just its twisty plot or vivid characters. Bishop aims our true-crime obsession while diving deep into how trauma warps memory, how class shapes justice, and how childhood scars never truly fade. Sure, the pacing hits a few slow patches, but they’re speed bumps on an otherwise thrilling ride.
High Season isn’t just another psychological thriller; it’s a haunting exploration of truth’s slippery nature, wrapped in a mystery that will keep you guessing until the final page.
