The Wasp Trap

A Novel

De: Mark Edwards

Narrado por: John Hopkins, Anna Burnett

“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.

©2025 Mark Edwards (P)2025 Simon & Schuster Audio

I’ve Got A Secret

Very suspenseful but a bit muddled at times with the switch-back. Good narration. A plot that will keep you guessing.

May Be Mark Edwards’s Best

I loved this book. The backstory seamlessly fit with what was happening at the dinner party. It actually was extraordinary how ME was able to set up what was just revealed in the present then flashback to the past for a vivid explanation of what happened and whether or not that was the secret? It can get tedious when one thing is the focus and it’s just not revealed. BUT the epic shocking twists keep this from happening. The intensity gains momentum and curiosity as to who is hiding this truth keeps the book intriguing. I loved listening to this book and highly recommend it.

John Hopkins and Anna Burnett were excellent at portraying these characters by giving them their own voices and navigating the emotional ranges!!

Very intriguing

Oh my, I enjoyed this book very much. I liked both narrators. Psychology is a very fascinating.

Up all night

I couldn’t stop listening to this, it brought me out of a reading slump. I was so into it I barely slept last night! Highly recommend

Great twist!

Loved this book and the narrator— couldn’t quit listening. Great thriller with twists I didn’t see coming!

Frustration

I was as frustrated as the characters who had been ensnared in a diabolical plot that seemed endless.

Great Psychological Thriller

Good story with great twists and it held my interest from start to finish. Who has the secret?

Not My Favorite Mark Edwards

I had high expectations as a fan of Mark Edwards and after reading the positive reviews of this book.
The concept is relatively unique but it’s unnecessarily tedious and drawn out.
The many layers and overlapping plot points become the very thing that dilutes the story and causes it to lose momentum.
It was entertaining, but certainly not his best work-not by a long shot.
The character development is 2D and so many things about the plot are just implausible. The story is also lacking the prose that I’ve come to love in his work.
This was much more of an action/thriller genre book as opposed to a nuanced mystery.
I don’t regret buying it but I won’t be listening to it again.
The narration is exceptional, it carries much of book.

I've found a new writer!

Extremely well written. Clever plot. Wonderfully full characters. I believe I will try another Mark Edwards book.

Couldn’t Stop Listening, Another Mark Edwards Hit! Brilliant!!!

I absolutely loved The Wasp Trap, and the narrators were incredible. Every time I read or listen to a Mark Edwards book, it keeps me right on the edge of my seat. Each story he writes seems to top the last one, and this one was no exception.

The visuals in this book were amazing. I could picture everything, the settings, the emotions, and the tension. I found myself going back and forth with how I felt about certain characters, loving them one minute, feeling bad for them the next, then wondering who I could even trust. That’s how you know it’s a good story, when you can’t stop thinking about the characters long after it’s over.

The way it moves between past and present was one of my favorite parts. Everything starts to connect in such a clever way. There were so many interesting people involved, like Will, Finn, Sophie, Lily, Theo, Georgina, Mia, Dominic, Callum, Amber, and Rowan, and even Olivia, who’s mostly talked about rather than seen, but still plays a big part in the mystery.

Mia really sets everything in motion when she hires a private investigator named Finn, trying to find out what happened to her sister Olivia. That one decision kicks off a chain of events that ties everyone together in ways I didn’t see coming. And just when you think you have everyone figured out, someone does or says something that completely flips the story again.

Some people said there were too many characters or that a few felt secondary, but I didn’t feel that way at all. I thought every single person played an important part in the story. If you really listen all the way through, you’ll see how everything connects. Every character’s secret adds another piece to the puzzle and brings the whole thing full circle. I think that’s what made it so brilliant.

The theme that stood out most to me was how everyone has a secret. It really makes you think about people in your own life, like, what would they never want anyone to know? In the story, some people were willing to confess, some held on until the end, and some realized that their secret wasn’t even what the others wanted to hear. But every truth revealed changed the whole direction of the story and made it that much more powerful.

It also made me think about life in general. When push comes to shove and you’re faced with something that really shakes you, you start to realize what truly matters. What choice do you make in that moment? Like one of the characters said (and I’m just paraphrasing), sometimes it takes a wake-up call to remind you not to live every day on repeat or just slide on by, but to actually get out there and live your life.

It’s one of those thrillers where everyone seems a little suspicious, and every time you think you’ve found the “crazy” one, someone else surprises you even more. The tension builds perfectly, and the ending had me holding my breath.

Mark Edwards just knows how to pull you into a story and keep you there. Five stars all the way for the story, the performance, and the chills!