The Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 19th August 2025
Published: 16th September 2025
★★★ 3 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Summer 1999. Will joins five other idealistic graduates working for an eccentric psychology professor. They’re going to launch a website to change online dating forever.
No-one expects it to end in tragedy.
Twenty-five years later, Will gets an invitation: a dinner party. A chance to see the old gang again.
But as soon as he arrives, something doesn’t seem right.
There’s an unexpected guest. The hosts are clearly keeping a secret. And on the way in, Will is sure he heard crying.
Everyone has something to hide about what really happened that summer.
But only one of them is willing to kill to find the truth…
MY THOUGHTS:
Six friends...a reunion dinner...and a secret to die for...
I always get excited when I see a new Mark Edwards thriller as he has the ability to pull you in and shock you all at once! Along with some of his dark humour, I'm usually not disappointed. However, this time I was. I was all hyped up for a reunion of six and a secret that had the propensity to destroy them. But for me, it fell a little flat. I felt it was quite drawn out and none of the characters were at all endearing. I did, however, read it one sitting...but mainly because I wanted to escape the dinner party from hell!
Will is our narrator and one of six people - Sophie, Lily, Rohan, Theo and Georgina - attending the dinner party in the exclusive Notting Hill with friends he has not clapped eyes on for twenty five years. He comes along still carrying a torch for Sophie with whom he worked alongside back then under the watchful eye of the late Professor Sebastian Marlowe, whom they are honouring with this dinner tonight.
In the summer of 1999, the professor had recruited the six unknowns to be part of a groundbreaking new venture. A dating website based on psychological testing which would then match particpants. Will was tasked with coming up with the name - Butterfly Net. But the psychological questionnaires had another purpose - to identify psychopathy - and that test became known as The Wasp Trap.
Now twenty five years later the group have gathered to honour the late Professor until just before the mains are served, they discover being held at gunpoint and are then informed they must share their darkest secrets to uncover the one secret they are after. Locked in the dining room, their phones confiscated, no one can leave the room until the secret is revealed. But who holds the secret? And will they leave alive?
The concept was interesting and I was intrigued as to how it would all play out. It had those definite locked room vibes that was claustrophobic in that it was every man for himself when it came down to it, as each tried to survive. But I felt it took too long to pick up pace and then it was too drawn out and I kept thinking "is this it?" The scene was set perfectly and there was a definite sense of claustrophobia and fear, but I know what Edwards is capable of so was expecting something more.
It's not a bad book and it did keep me turning the pages until the end but was that because I wanted to find out the secret or just wanted it to end? I guess it was a little of both. I guess I just know what Edwards is capable of delivering that I found this one to be a bit of a disappointment in comparison to some of his others that I have loved. But then, you can't love every book, can you?
Still, I will be waiting with baited breath for his next book because I know he can deliver!
I would like to thank #MarkEdwards, #Netgalley and #Penguin for an ARC of #TheWaspTrap in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
He has sold more than three million copies of his books and topped the bestseller lists numerous times since his first solo novel, The Magpies, was published in 2013.
His other novels are What You Wish For, Because She Loves Me, Follow You Home, The Devil’s Work, The Lucky Ones, The Retreat, In Her Shadow, Here To Stay and The House Guest. He has also published two short sequels to The Magpies, A Murder of Magpies and Last of The Magpies, and six books co-authored with Louise Voss.
Many of his books have been translated into foreign languages including French, German, Italian, Spanish, Estonian, Thai, Lithuanian, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish and Russian.
In 2019 Mark won The Cat and Mouse Award for Most Elusive Villain at the Dead Good Reader Awards for Last of the Magpies.
Mark loves hearing from his readers and encourages them to contact him. He regularly interacts with readers on his Facebook page, where he hosts book release launch parties and lots of giveaways.
You can follow Mark on Twitter, like his Facebook page or take a peek at his pics on Instagram.
Mark lives in the West Midlands, England, with his wife, their three children, three cats and a golden retriever.
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