Published by Penguin RandomHouse, Cornerstone, Century
Publication Date: 3rd February 2022
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Crime
Book Description:
By the time you read this, I'll have killed one of your husbands.
In an isolated retreat, deep in the Northumbria moors, three women arrive for a weekend getaway.
Their husbands will be joining them in the morning. Or so they think.
But when they get to Dark Fell Barn, the women find a devastating note that claims one of their husbands has been murdered. Their phones are out of range. There's no internet. They're stranded. And a storm's coming in.
Friendships fracture and the situation spins out of control as each wife tries to find out what's going on, who is responsible and which husband has been targeted.
This was a tight-knit group. They've survived a lot. But they won't weather this. Because someone has decided that enough is enough.
That it's time for a reckoning.
My Thoughts:
Right from the start of this book you get the feeling that the women involved in the planned weekend away are not close friends; the husbands have been friends since their schooldays, together with Edie - who all of a sudden can't join them - however the wives have become acquainted purely via their partners over the years.
The message that Edie won't be joining them this weekend comes via a mysterious motorcycle courier along with a bottle of bubbly. Edie is known for playing dubious pranks on her friends and the women can't decide whether it is genuine or some kind of sick prank which they all agree would be a step too far.
The weekend is off-kilter before they even start as it's the first weekend away they've arranged since the loss of Edie's husband who sadly drowned in tragic circumstances. The usual fun vibe just isn't there from the start then each of the women's partners reports that they will be delayed and won't be able to join them until the following day. The barn they are staying at is in a very remote spot and with a nasty storm threatening to isolate them even further the weekend isn't looking too promising at all. It all seems very sinister that they should receive such a threatening note when none of the men are there and certainly has the desired effect of causing concern amongst an already unsettled group.
The style of writing in this book is quite challenging. The story is told from each of the women's perspectives along the way and also from the anonymous writer of the note's point of view. Unfortunately you're never quite sure whose voice you are reading in so the action can be quite difficult to follow at times. Whether this is intentional to give you an even more unsettled feel to the atmosphere I'm not sure but it worked. All of women at Dark Fell Barn have issues of one kind or another which makes none of them a reliable narrator either.
My favourite characters were the owners of the barn, Maggie and John Elliot and their son William, a local police officer. There are some moments which will tug on your heart strings as John is suffering with the onset of dementia which both he and his wife are struggling to cope with. Their fears for the future of their home and business are portrayed well, along with the thoughts of John as he tries to make sense of an ever more confusing world around him.
Gilly Macmillan has once again triumphed with keeping her plot tightly wrapped until late on in the book and ekes out the essential details as to who is responsible for the mysterious note and the reasons behind it. I hate to admit that this isn't my favourite of her written works, but it will take a lot to topple Burnt Paper Sky from the top of that particular podium.
My thanks to Isabelle Ralphs at Penguin Random House UK for the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication as part of the blog tour. All opinions are my own and an honest appraisal of the book.About the Author:
Gilly Macmillan is the Sunday Times & New York Times bestselling author of THE NANNY (out 2019). Also WHAT SHE KNEW (previously published as BURNT PAPER SKY in some territories), THE PERFECT GIRL, ODD CHILD OUT & I KNOW YOU KNOW.
Gilly is Edgar Award nominated and an ITW award finalist. Her books have been translated into over 20 languages.
She grew up in Swindon, Wiltshire and also lived in Northern California. She studied History of Art at Bristol University and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.
Gilly lives in Bristol, UK with her family and writes full time.
No comments:
Post a Comment