Kelsey Cox received her MFA in fiction from Purdue University and works from home in the Texas Hill Country. You can often find her writing at Mammen Family Public Library, chasing around her two young daughters, or watching British mysteries with her mom and aunts. On nights when bedtime goes as planned, she enjoys curling up on the sofa, glass of wine in hand, and a book with complicated characters and a killer twist in her lap. Party of Liars is her debut novel.
Tell us about your book.
In Party of Liars, a murder interrupts a lavish Sweet Sixteen at a haunted cliffside mansion. Think a gothic game of Clue set in the Texas Hill Country—only instead of Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum, it’s a cast of complicated women, each with secrets and motives to kill.
What drew you to the thriller genre?
I’m fascinated by human nature, and thrillers raise the stakes to life-or-death proportions. The question isn’t just “Why do people do what they do?” but “Why would someone commit murder?” I’m drawn to what people are capable of when pushed to the edge—both their weaknesses and their strengths. People can be incredibly depraved, but also incredibly resilient. So I’m always asking: In our darkest moments, who are we? And why?
What’s a recent thriller you loved?
Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra. The premise itself is chilling, particularly because it feels so horrifyingly possible—A mother, alone with her young children in the middle of the night during a blizzard, hears an intruder break into her home. What I loved most was how vulnerable the main character is. She feels helpless, weak, incapable of defending herself or her children—in such a raw and honest way. And yet, we see how strong she truly is, and we get to ask what strength really means. That’s what good thrillers do.
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Who is a fellow author you’d want with you if you were in a slasher movie?
Oh, thriller writers would be the best companions in a slasher movie! Don’t check our Google search histories, because we’ve been planning perfect crimes for our villains and narrow escapes for our heroes. I want a team of thriller writers with me, because we’d be ten steps ahead. There’s no cell service? A storm has made the roads impassable? A sick-minded killer is on the loose? We’re forced to face our deepest phobias that stem from our own tragic backstories? No problem. We’ve already been here in our minds. We’ve already played out how this will end. I’d have to pick one of my fellow Texans: Katie Gutierrez, May Cobb, Amanda Eyre Ward.
What’s the thing that scares you the most?
Three answers: My deep, true fear is losing someone I love. My petty, but very real phobia is cockroaches. I am absolutely paralyzed in their presence. If I ever have to write a scene with a roach, it will be the end of me. And my slasher movie fear is being disemboweled. I watch those scenes through my fingers.
What’s your favorite slasher movie of all time?
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the original Scream. The opening scene is probably the reason for my disemboweling fear. I was in middle school when I watched it with my cousin late one night while the rest of the family slept upstairs. She said it was dumb and went to sleep. I stayed awake all night. For years, I felt sick to my stomach if I even saw an image of Ghostface. I still get a whiff of that feeling to this day. But I think that’s why it has to be my favorite. I love when a story extracts the exact intended feeling from the audience, and that movie intended to terrify and sicken me. So I have to give credit where credit is due. I also have an affinity for smart meta-horror—Shaun of the Dead, Cabin in the Woods, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. I love a film (or a novel) that plays with well-worn tropes but does it with an obvious love and admiration for the genre, and, in doing so, creates a strong example of the genre as well. Scream fits that category too. It’s a pretty brilliant film. Or, at least, I think that would be my assessment now, if I could ever gather the courage to watch it again.
Which of your characters would you be most afraid to meet in real life?
Órlaith, my elderly Irish nanny spends most of the book cornering people at the party to talk their ear off about all things morbid. And, really, is there anything scarier than being trapped in a conversation you can’t escape?
Have you ever scared yourself writing a scene?
Of course! I’m a big believer in that Robert Frost quote: “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.” In Party of Liars, one of the main characters, Dani, struggles with postpartum anxiety and intrusive thoughts. When I first started writing this book, I had an infant and a toddler during the pandemic. My own intrusive thoughts kept me up at night, and writing them down was both terrifying and therapeutic.
What’s creepier to you: an anonymous note, a neighbor who knows too much, or a familiar voice on the other end of the phone?
All great options, but I am a sucker for the anonymous note. A letter on the doormat. A cryptic comment on social media. Lipstick on a mirror. They all show up in Party of Liars. I love the promise of an unfolding mystery—the threat of more to come, the slow burn of dread.
What’s your favorite “thriller trope” to write or read?
Secrets and lies. I love (in fiction) when I don’t know who to trust—and when the truth feels just out of reach.
Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox
It’s Sophie Matthews’s sixteenth birthday party, a lavish affair nestled in a Texas Hill Country mansion rumored to be haunted. Among the guests are Sophie’s misunderstood best friend, her new stepmother, a superstitious Irish nanny, and a vindictive ex-wife. Before Sophie can even make a birthday wish, a body crashes onto the dance floor. Suspicions mount as the guests realize that getting out alive is no longer guaranteed.
Buy the book now: Bookshop.org | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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