I read it in a day. I have come to understand that a clear schedule is the best situation to be in when starting a new Gillian McAllister book. After the publisher granted my wish for an advanced copy, I got up, put makeup on (if you can’t dress up for a new Gillian McAllister book when can you…?) and I started.

I was nervous. Gillian’s 2020 publication How To Disappear was absolutely incredible. The sort of book that you cannot imagine being bettered by another. So That Night already had a high bar set and my expectations had rocketed. I’ve been talking to other fans and I know that some of you feel the same as I did. All I can say is, be reassured. It’s fine. It’s more than fine. Gillian McAllister has done it again.

I was drawn to the family dynamics immediately. Frannie, Joe and Cathy. Linked together forever not just through blood but through tragedy. Their close relationship, at times, was annoying. But I got it. This book directly challenges you to think, ‘What would I do? If I got that call, in the middle of the night, what would my response be?’ It’s the impossible dilemma, something of which Gillian is quickly becoming the master of writing about.

The other aspect of this book (apart from basically everything) that I loved the most was the emotion it invoked in me. That sense of dread and guilt that came out of the pages and travelled through my own mind as I tried to unpick the story. That feeling in the pit of your stomach…it’s right there. And I’ve never killed anyone. So that’s a true Writer for you – bringing it right out of the pages and into the room!

Gillian has an incredible talent for characterisation and emotion. Her books are full of facts as well as feelings. The research, time and effort that goes into her characters in That Night is matched by the immense amount of knowledge she has and knowledge she obtains to ensure that she writes about subjects accurately. And to do all of that in the midst of a global pandemic…when you can’t travel to the heat of Verona, or closely capture the tension of Vets performing surgeries in their practices…is applaudable.

Many of us have had to continue our jobs during twelve months of the most unbelieveable, unfathomable, petrifying times of our lives. Gillian is one of those people, and yet her writing hasn’t slipped, her style hasn’t faltered, she has excelled herself and this book is a testament to her unflappable style and stunning prose.