“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…”
Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of The Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards. The Wasp Trap will be published by Penguin Michael Joseph later this week on 31st July 2025 and will be available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow. I chose to read a free eARC of The Wasp Trap but that has in no way influenced my review.
I have always been a huge fan of Mark Edwards‘s books. He’s probably one of my ‘most read’ authors, although I should confess that I’ve fallen a little behind with his more recent novels. As a slow reader, there just aren’t enough hours in the day *sigh*. I do feel that you can really trust a book by this author though. You know you’re going to get a thrilling, twisty tale with believable characters. Good people in bad, often terrifying situations. And that it’s going to be entertaining from start to finish. Which is exactly what The Wasp Trap delivered.
It’s 1999 and a group of strangers are gathered together to work on a new dating website. Sebastian Marlowe, a psychology professor and the project’s lead, is planning something spectacular, something to shake up the world of online dating. The groundwork is a little monotonous, a little mundane, so the graduates start to work on a side project dubbed ‘The Wasp Trap’. An algorithm to discover whether you are a psychopath. Imagine the possibilities. Imagine the potential carnage. They’re so close to having a working model, but before the results can be revealed, tragedy strikes the group. The website never sees the light of day. Now, twenty-five years later, the group have gathered over dinner to mourn Sebastian’s death. But on arrival at Theo and Georgina’s house, Will feels a strange sense of unease. There’s a stranger in their midst who claims to be Sebastian’s research assistant. But he doesn’t seem to know anything about Sebastian or his work. Who is the stranger? And what really happened that fateful summer? Everyone at the dinner has a devastating secret. And someone is ready to kill for the truth…
The Wasp Trap is a cracking locked-room, reunion thriller with bucketloads of suspense. There is a lot happening in this book, along with a fairly large cast of characters. But it was easy to follow the complex, dual timeline plot and keep track of the well-drawn characters. I quite liked Will, our main protagonist. There aren’t many characters to root for in this particular book, so I was a little surprised to find myself warming to him. He felt like a normal, believable chap. Thrown into a terrifying, unpredictable situation. He shows courage at times, cowardice at others. The other characters are all very well drawn, and they all really added something important to the storyline.
Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. The Wasp Trap is a thrilling, gripping tale where things go from zero (lovely evening out, nice dinner with ex-colleagues) to one-hundred (absolutely everything else that happens in this book!) for the characters in a split second. It’s fascinating to see how quickly things escalate for the group. I very much enjoyed the dual timeline aspect, seeing the group as they were back in 1999, against their more modern personas. There are a number of secrets within the group which the reader does get to discover as the plot marches on. Some of the secrets are corkers, others…less shocking. But there is an external pressure on proceedings which really ramps up the tension, adding to the intrigue and ladling in lots of lovely suspense. All in all, The Wasp Trap is a well-written, intriguing thriller that held my attention from start to finish. The psychological aspect of this one is strong, and I was intrigued to see in what direction the author would take the story. A tense, highly readable and engaging suspense novel. I look forward to more from Mark Edwards soon. Recommended.
I chose to read and review a free eARC of The Wasp Trap. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.
The Wasp Trap by Mark Edwards was published in the UK by Penguin Michael Joseph on 31st July 2025 and is available in hardcover, audio and digital formats with the paperback to follow (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |
Mark Edwards writes psychological thrillers about scary things happening to ordinary people. He has sold more than five million copies of his books and topped the bestseller lists numerous times since his first solo novel was published in 2013.
