The Wasp Trap: A Novel by Mark EdwardsPublication Date: September 16, 2025
Pages: 336
Add on: Goodreads
Rating: ★★★½
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological
Publisher: Atria Books / Simon & Schuster
“So clever and fresh with a wild and incredibly satisfying twist at the end.” —Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author
A dinner party in a beautiful Notting Hill townhouse turns into a sinister game as six old friends are forced to spill their darkest secrets…or else.
Six friends reunite in London to celebrate the life of their recently deceased ex-employer, a professor that brought them together in 1999 to help build a dating website based on psychological testing.
But what is meant to be a night of bittersweet nostalgia soon becomes a twisted and deadly game. The old friends are given an ultimatum: reveal their darkest secrets to the group or pick each other off one-by-one.
It soon becomes clear that their current predicament is related to their shared past. The love questionnaire they helped develop in 1999 for the dating site was also turned into a tool for weeding out psychopaths: The Wasp Trap. This experiment and the other tragic events of that summer long ago may help reveal the truth behind a killer hiding in plain sight.
Alternating between the past and present with a colorful ensemble of characters, The Wasp Trap is a fast-paced and twisty thrill ride that is perfect for fans of Lucy Foley and Alice Feeney.
REVIEW
REVIEW
Mark Edwards’ The Wasp Trap drops you straight into a London dinner party where nostalgia curdles into paranoia. Six old friends come together to honour their late former boss, a psychology professor who once united them to launch a revolutionary dating website. What should be a bittersweet reunion quickly turns sinister, as buried secrets claw their way to the surface and the night slips into a game no one can win.
Edwards knows exactly how to dial up the tension. The story jumps between the present and the late ‘90s, peeling back layers with each chapter. The characters, each carrying their own scars and regrets, feel so real that they can flinch from them. As the dinner party unravels, so does their trust in each other, and Edwards keeps the suspense razor-sharp all the way through.
In The Wasp Trap, Edwards gives readers brisk pacing, alternating perspectives, sufficient psychological insight to sting, and a twist you won’t see coming. Fans of Lucy Foley and Alice Feeney will feel right at home. The locked-room vibe works, trapping readers in a claustrophobic tangle of suspicion and betrayal. If there’s a flaw, it’s that the crowded cast can sometimes blur together, especially early on. But once the story hits its stride, it’s nearly impossible to put down.
The Wasp Trap is clever, wild, and genuinely fresh. Edwards delivers a thriller with teeth—a story where every page buzzes with tension and every character might be hiding something. If you love your thrillers smart, tight, and full of surprises, this one’s worth your time.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
