A tenth-wedding-anniversary weekend turns nightmarish as several siblings, cousins, and their spouses gather in a fancy house on the Scottish coast to celebrate ... The family members realize with horror that they have been to this house before, when they were much younger, and there are hints dropped that something awful happened then ... Though some secondary characters are indistinct, this realistically written, gripping suspense tale is one readers will want to finish in a single long sitting, especially if they crave country-house mysteries. McPherson is also the author of the Dandy Gilver series.
Catriona McPherson successfully channels the mystery chops of Agatha Christie and the dialogue skills of Noël Coward in her standalone psychological thriller Go to My Grave ... Eight guests are all family members, by blood or by marriage. But there is bad blood—and bad marriage—on display here, and another something awful is poised to take place. I’m not giving anything away to say that even a newbie reader of suspense fiction will feel a Stephen King-esque prickle of menace as things start to get out of hand, and even the most jaded of suspense aficionados should be gobsmacked by the twist at the end.
With the help of a timely inheritance, Donna Weaver and her mother have just purchased and renovated a posh guesthouse they’ve christened The Breakers, and now, with her mother exhibiting at a wedding fair in Glasgow, Donna is left to handle their first guests all by herself—a group of eight cousins celebrating the 10th anniversary of Sasha Mowbray and his wife, Kim ... Donna is desperate to give her guests a great experience, but it’s soon obvious that Sasha’s marriage is on the rocks, and the quibbling cousins are hiding secrets while blaming each other for strange occurrences that include the discovery of a locked box stuck in the chimney and the mysterious appearance of a picture taken at Sasha’s 16th birthday party—all of which Sasha blames on Kim, since she made the arrangements ... McPherson provides a virtuoso exploration of guilt, remorse, and revenge in a haunting psychological thriller. The ending will leave you astounded.
