This book is full of twists and diversions. You never quite know what you believe. Its a fun ride. The writing is excellent and the author seems to really understand the complicated dynamics of friendship groups. particularly changes within groups when friends start to find partners. You get a glimpse inside a twisted mind, which is also done well.

I enjoyed reading this book but I found it difficult to keep track of who was married to whom and what had happened before.

I enjoyed this book it kept me gripped and maintained my attention throughout howrver I wouldn’t say that it is my favourite book by this author.

Great read, really sucks you in from the start, I couldn’t put it down. I found the mini chapters within meant I kept saying ‘I’ll just read to the next bit’ and before I knew it, I’d finished it!

I really wanted to enjoy this, the build up at the beginning is interesting but I felt like there were too many secrets amongst too many people, I actually forgot who had done what in their past!!
I liked the setting and the point at which the women receive the letter to say one of their husbands will die, however, I felt after this, there were too many red herrings and it frustrated me!
Overall, an enjoyable read but I wouldn't read again!

The Long Weekend is a complex thriller that follows three women as they spend an evening together in a remote part of Northumbria while awaiting the arrival of their husbands the following day. A letter and gift have been left for them revealing a sinister message that causes extreme panic and with no phone signal and poor weather conditions, they are unable to get in touch with their loved ones.
The book is written without paragraphs which I found quite difficult to get along with. I also felt it was slightly far fetched and hysterical resulting in a lot of eye rolling on my part.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an eArc in exchange of an honest review.

There are 3 couples who are supposed to go on a weekend getaway. The 3 wives end up going and their husbands all promise to come the next day as they all had something come up. However when the wives arrive, they receive a letter that says Edie who would be the wife in a fourth couple but whose husband died a year ago, killed one of their husbands.

Honestly maybe I was not in the mood for this because I can objectively say the writing in this is actually pretty amazing and does keep you on your toes at all time. There were times I did think it dragged on a bit, however. There are multiple perspectives and also for the sake of anonymity, it changes from 3rd person narration to 1st person, and while I did appreciate that later on, it did make for a confusing ride in the beginning. Also, I absolutely hated that there were no chapter numbers nor titles!

As the 3 wives keep waiting on their husbands, with no service and a storm outside you see them spiral and it does make a fun and an interesting read. Secrets and insecurities are revealed and friends turn on each other. I did not see any of the twists coming!

Overall, I did enjoy this but mostly I think I wasn't in the mood for it. Again, this is one of the most well written thrillers I've read in terms of the language!

A stonking mystery of a book. Twists and turns on every page, but laid out in a fair measured way so you don't feel cheated when the truth is reveled. So cleverly written - I'm desperate to read another mystery from Macmillan. It had the twist and turns of a good Agatha Christie, with some mind blowing misdirection, that played completely fair (key for a good whodunit). I raced through it in record time, and was hesitant to pick up another book immediately after incase it wasn't as good.

Often with well plotted mysteries, something else has to give; the characters, the place, the line by line writing. But none of that does. The characters have distinct voices, and the places are well drawn, atmospheric and easy to picture, without wordy descriptions being forced your way.

A must read for fans of murder mysteries with twists and turns.

It’s one that’s difficult to review without spoilers. I found the actual weekend away part to drag, not a lot happened aside from people unwisely stomping off out of the house in search of phone signal. When the story started to be revealed, the twists and turns kept me interested, but having finished it there were parts that I felt didn’t add up. Overall it was a decent read for a long car journey, but not one that I would rave about to others.

I enjoyed this book, it was easy to read and held my attention. I will be reading more from this author :)

A psychological thriller that keeps your interest with all the twists and turns of a really good thriller.. Based in Northumbria it follows 3 couples who have rented a barn for a long weekend. Story was great with a fab twist will definitely read more from this author..

Although this is a stereotypical thriller, full of suspense and excitement, this is my least favourite by this author. Her earlier work was better, and I was left entertained but deflated. I was expecting more.

Mystery that had you hooked from the off. The book was very well written. Great plot. Very exciting. Fast paced to get your heart racing. Loved this book

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. The setup is amazing, with three women trapped by the weather in a remote farmhouse. We don't know very much about them and it's exciting to unravel their secrets and the links between them. There's a great atmosphere of menace with the storm outside making it impossible for them to leave. So, five stars for this part of the book.

But then we get to the second half. This is where the story started to unravel for me. I mean, I expected one of the characters (amongst the three women trapped, and the three men and another woman who did not make it on the trip) to be a depraved killer, but <spoiler>several of them?? </spoiler> That really got too much for me and it tipped the story into the unbelievable.

For this reason, I didn't like the second half nor the ending and it gave me an overall dissatisfied feeling, which is why I gave it three stars overall. It was a shame the story went this way, because the writing was really good.

Separated into sections - days of the weekend making chapters/parts a bit lengthy at times! Overall a very good read but not my favourite by this author. Would recommend :)

Imagine you’re going on a weekend away with your husbands best friends and their wives, but all the husbands suddenly have excuses for not coming the first night and you arrive to a gift with a card saying:
“By the time you read this, I’ll have killed one of your husbands.”
This was a dramatic way to get the book going, got me intrigued and immediately guessing with the wives as to who’s husband it could be.
The women were not very likeable to be honest, I actually don’t think I liked any of the characters which is probably why I found it hard to persist and finish the book quicker as I didn’t have motivation to read on to hope for my ‘favoured’ character but I did indeed persevere as I was determined to find out who the hell had been killed and what had the other husbands been up to?
I am glad I continued as it was quite a blooming journey we went on! Plenty of unexpected twists as to who’s actually telling you the story, constantly leaving you second guessing who the killer is.
This story was a rollercoaster of mystery, I think it was worth it in the end but I personally found it had to stay motivated and took a very long time dipping in and out of this book. But I’d still recommend as a good mystery.

Gilly Macmillan can always be relied on to deliver a great thriller, The Long Weekend does nothing to ruin that record. Three women alone in a secluded country cottage receive a note telling them one of their husbands will die. Jayne, ex military and ever the pragmatist is sure it's a sick joke. Ruth, a supposed high flying doctor and new mother takes solace in vodka. Emily, younger and newer to the group is convinced it's true and panics enough to make rash decisions. They're stranded by nasty weather and with no way to contact the outside world things begin to fall apart.

So if you want gritty realism walk on by. The author throws every type of secret and drama into this she could possibly thought of and runs with it. And whilst occasionally a bit mental it's highly enjoyable. It's a bit like a Christmas soap opera episode...everything happens! I read this during a bout of illness which stopped me from reading much and oh my god it was frustrating. Under normal circumstances this would have been a one sit read.

This was a creepy tension building novel set in a vast desolate landscape with no phone service....what could possibly go wrong?

I didn't like the characters, but I think that's the way the author meant it to be. There was a lot of extra detail that prevented the book from being as page turning as it could be.

That said, there were twists and turns that left you wanting to know more. I would have liked the POV switching to have been more cleat though...

*Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.*

Right. Where to begin?

The initial plot behind this was solid. Three women go to a remote barn for a weekend away, expecting their husbands to come and join them the day after. These wives don't know each other all that well so expect some arguments and fallings out.

The farmer and his wife who own the barn seem like a lovely couple, but the farmer has a degenerative brain disease and his wife is struggling to deal with it and his mood swings.

There is a fourth wife who doesn't attend; her husband died a while back and she isn't really a part of these gatherings due to that (all four husbands were best friends). This wife has apparently sent a bottle of fancy champagne to the farmhouse for the wives to receive on arrival, along with a note saying that she'd killed one of their husbands (but not which one).

Cue madness.

It felt like every possible secret a person could have was crammed into this book. One wife is a secret alcoholic, one has PTSD, and the other is quite sensible but is painted as the silly naïve younger wife. One of the husbands *could* be a paedophile, one is perfectly "normal" and one is older than the others and is therefore suspicious because he could be having an affair with a wife who is closer to his age. The farmer kills himself to end his suffering (this came so quickly and out of nowhere that I read back a few pages, convinced I had missed something). There are also red herrings all over the shop, including a historic burial sit that you *think* is going to have more significance. Oh and the farmer's son is a policeman who happens to be able to travel over and solve the mystery ... Sure thing.

Reading through the end of this book, where all the explanations are tied up, was confusing as all hell. I definitely lost the plot a bit as to who was who, and was hoping against hope that nothing would happen to Izzy, the 17 year old daughter of one of the wives who is definitely treated younger. She was completely innocent in the whole thing and the scenes between here and Mark (one of the husbands) made me feel sick.

Overall, it wasn't a bad book, just super unbelievable. Some plot lines could have been taken out, it was a bit messy, but I did enjoy it.

First read of this author and won't be my last.
Read it at a pace as I was keen to get yo end. Would definitely recommend.