Set in Northumbria, a weekend retreat is booked for a mismatch of couples. When the wives arrive a day before the husbands, a sinister note is delivered declaring that someone is going to die. Every one has a secret and this dark and twisty tale will keep you guessing right till the end.

What a difference a day makes! Mark and Jayne, Toby and Ruth, Paul and Emily have planned a getaway weekend in a remote converted barn near the Scottish border. All but Emily have been friends since college. Their other close friend Edie, a recent widow, is not joining them. Then, in a strange coincidence, the three men have other appointments on the first night so the women go alone. This is a mistake. The weather is wild, stormy and dark, the farmer who owns the barn may be a problem, and a note awaits from Edie promising that one of their husbands will not be joining them. This begins the wild ride that is The Long Weekend. In just a few hours, relationships are destroyed, lives fall apart and lives are lost.

This is a fast paced, dark thriller that is hard to put down. Gilly Macmillian is a master of domestic suspense. Rather than organizing the book by time or narrators into chapters, MacMillan uses a free association technique which at first is confusing but adds to the tension once you adapt to the quick pace. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and Gilly Macmillan for this ARC.

The Long Weekend was an average thriller for me.
It was an enjoyable read, and there were several twists, most of which I didn't see coming. I also liked how each character was very untrustworthy and unreliable, and it was difficult to choose who to trust and to figure out what each character was hiding.
However, the book felt way too long for me. It took me a while to get interested in the story, and there were some parts which dragged. Also, the storyline regarding the Elliotts wasn't relevant to the story and it bored me. All in all, for me the book could have ended way sooner than it did.

Wow what a stonking good read! Three women go away for a weekend to a remote barn, their husbands were due to be with them but will now arrive in morning, and in a separate plot, one of the owners of the barn is suffering with dementia. Too much plot? That’s just the start of it!
A brilliantly clever read that leads you down so many false paths, I actually found myself thinking “ hang on a minute” on quite a few occasions. The book is chapterless, which initially I found a bit odd but soon got to grips with as we moved from character to character and location to location
A read that you genuinely won’t want to put down.

Mark, Rod and Toby were inseparable at public school, where they played rugby and became friends with Paul, their coach. Edie was the daughter of another teacher and the only girl at the school. These five formed a clique which continued post school. All the boys had been in love with Edie but she married Rod, and shortly after had a daughter, Imogen. Mark, an ex-army intelligence officer married Jayne who had had the same rank and specialism. However, both now have PTSD. Toby, a lecturer in Art History, married Ruth, a GP with post-natal depression and an alcohol addiction. Comparatively recently Paul, now a successful Restauranteur, married Emily a young former waitress with feelings of inadequacy. Every year the clique and partners booked a remote cottage for a long weekend but this year is different because Rod has recently drowned and Edie has decided not to go. At the last minute the men all have personal reasons for not going on the first day, so the three wives, each with their own hang-ups, go alone to a converted barn at the top of a peak in Northumbria operated by a local farming couple, who have their own problems in that the husband is suffering from hallucinations and dementia. In the barn they find a letter designed to induce panic and worry about the absence of the men. Predictably, there is no phone reception, the barn cannot be accessed by car, night is not far away, and they have arrived just before the onset of massive thunderstorm. A recipe for disaster. But what sort of disaster? Who will crack first? How will the others cope? And why did the men all, coincidentally, have a reason for not coming?
Frankly, I found this a bit over contrived and that’s before a whole understory appears, driving the events. In other hands this plot could get completely lost and become too melodramatic but, fortunately, the author has the experience and skill to keep it together. In some ways the style is rather like a TV film, because most scenes are quite short and intercut; events occurring at the same time but in different places to different people are reeled out in contiguous paragraphs. I settled to it quite quickly, but some might find it annoying as it is not always immediately clear that a jump-cut has occurred. The scenes are mostly written at pace, particularly those around the barn, so the reader is carried along with flow. The end of the plot is neat and satisfying.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

Three women travel to remote Dark Fell Barn for a weekend away. Their husbands are due to be joining them the following morning. On arrival at the barn the ladies receive a letter containing an ominous message saying "By the time you've read this, I'll have killed one of your husbands".
Lots of drama follows including a tremendous storm, during which the women's relationship crumbles.
In many ways this is a classic whodunnit but I felt the story was a little muddled and it took great concentration to recall each character - there are many

4 Stars from me

So many twists and turns and subtle (and literal) wrong paths!

What starts off sounding like the perfect break - a chance for couples and old friends to relax and recharge away from all the stresses and distractions - rapidly turns into a nightmare.

Amid the tension and unpredictability, there lies a very insightful glimpse into the world of long term friendships and the historical fractures that lie within years of tiny slights and unresolved issues. All of which are heightened when one 'old friend' suddenly has a new, much younger partner who wasn't around for the good old days.

When things, inevitably, started to go wrong the story really took off and I loved how many subtle wrong paths there were. I followed all of them like a fool!

The sub plot featuring the farmer and his family was a lovely little aside.

Overall, this is a fast and gripping read that I highly recommend you finish over a long weekend as the title suggests.

@GillyMacmillan @CenturyBooksUK #TheLongWeekend

#TheLongWeekend #NetGalley
I raced through it.
Three couples, Jayne and Mark, Ruth and Toby, Emily and Paul decide to spend a weekend in the remote place of England, Northumbria, at a barn by the name of Dark Fell Barn. But due to some issues their husbands didn't make it with them and they decided to come the next day. As soon as the three women reach at the barn, they found a note "By the time you read this, I'll have killed one of your husbands". It's signed by E.
Their common friend, Edie didn't come with them because her husband, Rib is dead. Soon cracks start to form between friends as each woman tries to find who wrote that note and which husband is killed.
Who wrote that note? Which husband is dead? Read this gripping novel to know more.
I loved the characters of Jayne, Mark and Emily. Other characters are good.
Narration of the story is simple and intresting.
Overall, it's a gripping novel which I completed in a single sitting. It's a good read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Cornerstone for giving me an advanced copy.

I tell you what, it was a blooming long weekend! What starts as a retreat to a cottage in Northumbria in the middle of nowhere ends up being a story about a group of friends who all have tensions which have, eventually bubbled to the surface.

The structure of the novel is fast paced due to the lack of chapters and the flip between characters. For me, this kept me reading, there were so many cliff hangers you just had to go on. Some readers might find the lack of structure confusing though as it doesn't tell you who the narrator is when it flips.

I found the characters unlikeable, but that's no bad thing. They all had their weaknesses and I felt myself shouting at the screen quite often when they were making bad choices, but it all added to the tension.

A good premise that fails to deliver.

What this book could’ve done with in the first instance is proper chapters and some indication of which character with focusing on within them. The chapters are practically non-existent. What feels like hundreds of pages must be sectioned into chapters? I just can’t recall seeing very many of them! Within these so-called chapters we jump from various characters narratives and inner monologues. Again, this is totally fine, but it needs to be clearer within those chapters which character we are now switching to.

This lack of navigation made the story feel very stop and start. When the dialogue was running freely and was focusing on one particular character. The story was excellent! And I was hooked and I enjoyed reading it.

However there was so much wrong with the formatting on the styling of the chapters that it made it a real struggle to maintain that flow throughout the book.

I have to admit this is another book but I was unable to finish. Firstly for the reasons mentioned above, but most importantly because I just felt this book lacked substance. In short, this book can be described as: an exhilarating start with a ‘killer’ hook. Then the rest of the book is the characters speculating who could be dead and going into detail about their own problems. Followed at last by (I’m guessing) the big reveal. In essence this book could have been a third of the size.

Whilst the synopsis was engaging and exciting the reality was, for me, a lot of waiting around. And I just became a bit bored and the book lost my attention.

Thanks to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review. I’m hoping that I will remain in the minority of my opinion on this read as I’ve read others by Gilly and have thoroughly enjoyed them. This however, was not for me.

What a breathless and edge of the seat story . This has to be one my top 5 books. It was a thrilling roller coaster of a read from the first to last page. Twists and turns with a brilliant unexpected end.
It was tense, creepy and enthralling.
When three wives arrive at a retreat for a weekend they are expecting their husbands to join them the following day but when the night brings bad weather and no internet connection the weekend goes from bad to worse.
This is a really gritty thriller, brilliantly written and delivered that brings a psychological nightmare to the reader.

Unfortunately for me, I had to DNF this one. The book started out with some promise. The spooky atmosphere was really intriguing and I enjoyed the characters. However, there were some triggering elements in this which made it difficult to read. The formatting was also difficult to understand - the characters seemed to suddenly change POV with no warning, meaning I struggled to follow along with who was who.

Hopefully one day I’ll be able to return to this book and give it another go, the premise sounds so good and it’s received a lot of good reviews so far, but unfortunately, this wasn’t for me right now.

The Long Weekend is a suspenseful and atmospheric thriller with complex characters, big twists, and an intriguing plot full of secrets, mistakes, regrets, and obsession.

I really enjoyed the setting of this book. I could easily picture the moors and the cabin and loved the supernatural feel of something lurking in the mist. With the characters braving the outside for signal, the vastness of the isolated setting and the feel of the storm add so much tension, too, feeding my intrigue as to what will happen next.

My only major problem with this book was the lack of chapters. The story is only sectioned into two parts – Friday and Saturday – but constantly switches between narratives throughout that. It’s told in third-person as it switches between all of the characters, and then there is also a first-person unnamed narrative. So because there aren’t chapters to separate the narrations, it all felt very hectic to me and I had to keep skipping back to check who I was reading about. This won’t distract all readers and some will find that the chaos adds to the tension. But for me, it stunted my pace so I did find it difficult to follow at times.

The thriller plot is one of those where there are a lot of coincidences, far-fetched events, or slightly unbelievable turns to make the story go in the direction that it needs to. For example, I’m not sure that the purpose of the note is properly explained at the end, but it did make for a gripping opening. However, they are all easily forgivable, and the more dramatic twists allowed for the story to go in a very different direction from what I was expecting. So while the person behind the murders was the last character I imagined it would be, I like how it made me hate the characters that I liked and like the characters that I originally hated.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this book. It was my first read by Gilly Macmillan, and I’m definitely excited to read more by her.

This book started off reasonably well but then morphed into the realms of unbelievable. There were too many far fetched events and plot lines, surely you would recognise your best friend of numerous years car, especially when you met up regularly? What would turn an ordinary person into a multiple murderer at the drop of a hat? Unfortunately realism wasn’t missing here but I suppose then there would be no story line.

The book is boldly structured with multiple characters and time periods moving abruptly about, sometimes between paragraphs, but the effect is such that the suspense is kept at a constant high. The twists are unexpected and surprising, revealed with a practised, almost casual air.

The book synopsis describes a disturbing mystery, an un-nerving story of murder amongst apparent friends. Will Dean, Tess Gerritsen, Shari Lapena and Tim Weaver recommending The Long Weekend definitely piqued my interest.

The story starts with three friends, travelling to a rural escape, looking forward to a good weekend, awaiting the arrival of their husbands the following day. Even at this early stage, you can feel that the friendships are potentially a little strained.
Running alongside the main story of the three friends, is the paralell story of the barn owners, John and Maggie. John has been diagnosed with a form of dementia, we see their life shown from both of their alternating perspectives. I’m sure that their situation, and how they are coming to terms with their evolving relationship, under the pressure of John’s progressively deteriorating health, will resonate with many readers.

The book is crammed full of twists and turns, with the story being told by all the characters at different times. The changing narrative and perspective keeps the reader on their toes, altering how we see the unfolding events. Forming, and reforming views and ideas of what the story will bring.

I was happily reading, enjoying where I thought the story was taking me, certain of particular facts. Then suddenly, everything changed. I took a moment to re-examine what I knew so far, and realised it was all assumptions on my part. I had been cleverly played by the author, really well played. So I had to regroup my thoughts, and try to fathom out what was happening, why, and to whom.
I also had another realisation part way through the book, there are no chapters. As odd as it sounds, I was so drawn into the book, reading very eagerly, that I truly didn’t register the lack of chapters.

Gilly Macmillan has given us a very dark and chilling tale, showing us that the people we think we know, aren’t always as we think. The characters are all flawed in their own individual ways, each struggling with their personal circumstances, expectations and pressures. I’m certainly very pleased I don’t have friends like this, 4 ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ from me.

a mysterious and intriguing plot line, told from many different points of views. its full of twists and turns, but i did find it abit difficult to keep up with the plot at times. Although the characters are well written I found it hard to like any o9f them and i don't know if that ruin part of the story for me. All in all a solid psychological thriller

This was such an awesome read and just kept on getting better and better. The more I read, the faster those pages were turning. I was hooked almost from the beginning. A psychological thriller, mystery and suspense, The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan has it all.

The novel begins in the remoteness of Northumbria as the ladies begin what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend away. However, it turns out to be anything but this. As a storm rages in, the cragginess of the fells of Northumbria becomes treacherous, malevolent and downright scary.

A story with many characters, each one playing their own part and each adding to the timeline as events occur. They are all damaged, in their own way, and this just adds to the suspense as I tried to get to grips with what was going on. I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next and everything, literally every tiny thing, was a surprise. The author got this dead right, and I didn’t know the identities of bad guys and victims right up until it was revealed.

If you want to read something to keep you on your toes, then read The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan, full of ‘what the hell’ moments, I guarantee it’ll keep you guessing until the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan.

Three couples are due to spend a weekend at a remote holiday retreat called Dark Fell Barn owned by the Elliotts. The women arrive first with their husbands due to arrive the following day. The farmhouse is isolated and incredibly remote with little to no telephone signal or internet connection. A parcel has been delivered - a bottle of champagne and a sinister note informing them that one of their husbands will be killed. A storm has developed cutting the 3 women off from help or rescue.

I thoroughly enjoyed this twisted tale of broken friendships and misguided loyalties. Whilst the main plot line revolves around the women trying to find out if their husbands are safe and who would wish to murder them there are other sub-stories running parallel which are equally as important to bring the story to its conclusion.

My only criticism is the book has no chapters and switches between characters and timelines without any notice for the reader which caused abit of confusion Howe er, it still is a good read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I found this an intriguing, dark read with oodles of suspense and a very clever plot. I was gripped throughout. Recommended.