Oh I do love Brookmyre!! This one has slightly less cynicism and humour than some of his other novels but I enjoyed it all the same.

It is a mad-cap, suspend disbelief (often required in this genre), twists galore, adventure into a hen weekend on a remote island full of women with secrets (what could go wrong??!).

As always, he kept me guessing and I was eager to binge this book. I adored all the familiar references to Glasgow, Lanarkshire where I grew up, my home town and my University. There's something doubly appealing and comforting about a book where you have been to the places. Thankfully, I have never been to Clachan Geal and would never intend on doing do if it was real!!

The Cliff House by Chris Brookmyre is a relatively similar story to many other books which are doing the rounds lately…a group of friends on an island, their lives unraveled to reveal their pasts and many tangled secrets.
In short, it’s a hen weekend on a remote Scottish island which soon becomes a dangerous place to be, each hen wondering who to trust.
This is the first book I’ve read by Chris and I was very much looking forward to reading it, however, for me it didn’t wow me as much as I thought it would after having read rave reviews from this author. There were the expected twists and turns but the format was sadly too familiar. It was well written but a bit too far fetched it some places!
Big thanks to Chris Brookmyre, Little, Brown Book Club and NetGalley for this eARC which I chose to read in return for my honest review.

This book will make your head spin. So many twists and turns are awaiting you until the last page.

Jen is getting married. It is her second marriage and the first one was not a very good one. Her husband disappeared and she has trusting issues. She is afraid that her fiancé is too good to be true. But nevertheless she is gathering some old and new friends for a hen party on a remote island in Scotland in a lavishing luxury mansion. The appeal is that they will be totally on their own. But soon one of them goes missing and they learn that they are actually not all alone on the island. Somebody wants one of them to admit what they have done. The problem is that every one of the women thinks this is about her because all of them have secrets. Real secrets that none of them wants to be exposed.

The start is a bit slow and it took me a while to tell who is who and how they are connected to Jen. But after a while you get to know them und their secrets. Towards the end the twists escalate and on each page awaits you a new reveal. But this was fun and I enjoyed the ride.

This is a somewhat different book from Brookmyre's normal style however the usual tension and suspense are there throughout. What could possibly go wrong when seven "friends" get together on a remote island in a luxury accommodation for a hen weekend? Quite a lot a it turns out! Especially when each person is harbouring a secret which is putting everyone else in critical danger. Who's secret is the one that The Reaper is trying to expose and why?
After a slow and steady start this book builds to a dramatic finale. The author really knows how to create the tension and does it so well here.
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book which I've reviewed honestly and voluntarily

A hen night on a remote island. Ex-sister in law, sister in law to be, old school friends who’ve fallen out, a tennis coach. Everyone has a secret and when one gets kidnapped, someone needs to spill. Lots of twists and turns! Possibly one too many for five stars!

The Cliff House by Chris Brookmyre is a fascinating read about a hen party at a luxury retreat on a private island, the helicopter won’t be back for seventy two hours. One weekend, seven secrets what could possibly go wrong?
Insights into all of the women reveal secrets that wanted to keep but not everyone is who they really think they are. Murder, kidnap and lots of revealing secrets.
Highly recommended

A gripping read with lots of twists and turns along the way.
Who can be trusted? `I changed my mind several times during the reading of this book. All of the characters are keeping something from the others and so all are suspect.
A book that keeps the reader fully engaged.

I have never read this author before & I honestly don’t know why. What a cracker of a psychological thriller. I was a bit dubious of the blurb as ‘remote setting, bodies turning up’ has been a bit of a theme lately, but I was so pleased that I chose to read it.

Jen has hired an exclusive Scottish island for her hen do. She does not know all her guests well; one is her fiancé’s sister, others her childhood friends & another someone she has only known for a few months. After a drunken night on cocktails, a murder is discovered & another woman taken. Someone is demanding that truths are told &, of course, the entire group have something to hide.

A very entertaining & taut thriller. Shocks aplenty & highly recommended.

The Power of the Blurb

What attracts me initially when selecting a book to read is the cover. This is quickly followed by the blurb. No matter how pretty or eye-catching the cover is, the blurb is what 'sells' a book to me.

When the book falls short of the expectation that the blurb seems to promise, this reader for one, feels cheated.

I read for pleasure primarily so when I'm reaching the halfway point and I'm struggling to connect with the characters and engage with the story, something is not quite right for me.

I will say that it did get better and turned out to be an ok read. For me though, the first half was a major stumbling block.

Wow. What a novel. Kept me hooked throughout. Really enjoyed the way that everyone’s secrets were revealed. Thanks for the opportunity to read

Oh I love a good island set Murder mystery with some friendship and blackmail thrown in.

Imagine being invited to a hen do, not just a den do but one in a private island with a rock star, her thrown over guitar player and assorted others who had wronged each other or others in the past.

This is a no holes barred thriller with good pace and interesting characters who become more real as the story progresses.

Good twists along the way and well worth a read.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am a big fan of this author - both his series featuring the wonderful Jack Parlabane, and his stand alones such as this one. And the Ambrose Parry ones he co-writes with his wife. But, although I did really enjoy this book, most of the time it didn't feel like a typical Brookmyre. There was scant Scottish vernacular, just the odd word or phrase to remind you of the setting and characters' backgrounds. It all felt a bit watered down compared to what he usually produces. Not that the story lacked anything, just didn't quite have his mark stamped as hard. So... if you have wavered before about this author, maybe it's time to try again...
So... Jen is getting wed. It's her second marriage, her first ended in the disappearance of her husband. But that hasn't stopped her from going big with the hen weekend. A luxury remote island has been booked. The helicopter not due to return for 72 hours. An eclectic group of friends invited. What could possibly go wrong...?
And so begins a twisty turny tale that, once it was set up - which did take a wee while - that had me on the edge of my seat throughout. Well, OK, I did guess something quite key very early on which meant that that reveal was a bit flat, but there was plenty more to surprise me. And, to be honest, I've been spectacularly wrong before so...
The characters were well described and all played their parts well. Spoilers prevent me from singling them out and giving examples so you'll have to just trust my word. Suffice to say I did change my mind about several of them along the way - as it should be in a book of this genre.
The plot was well crafted and executed and contained all the usual secrets, lies and duplicitous behaviour you'd expect and want. Yes the first quarter or so is concerned with character introductions, background and scene setting but it's necessary and worth it for what follows. Pacing follows the narrative well all the way through, ramping up to the final showdown and fallout. Which left me wholly satisfied, and a wee bit smug too.
All in all, although not what I would categorise as a typical Brookmyre, a thoroughly decent read nonetheless. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I thought the premise for this was really good, a locked room mystery on an island where everyone has secrets and where everyone will do anything to keep them that way.

It wasn’t Christopher Brookmyre’s usual style but it was still enjoyable.

I was really looking forward tocthis book after reading the premise but unfortunately the characters were not very likeable which made it very difficult to get interested in their stories.
Add in that it was a very slow burn, I found it a real struggle to get through.

One thing I really love to see in a novel is a writer taking a well-known situation, turning it inside out, and making it fresh again.

Which is just what Brookmyre does in The Cliff House. Seven women, are stranded on a Scottish island, with no communications - and a killer at large. You can see where this is coming from, and a better take on the And Then There Were None setup I've yet to read - an especially difficult task for an author, I think, in our modern world of mobiles, wifi and messaging. But Brookmyre makes that into a plus: all those secrets that might be vulnerable online, all the possibilities for deception and social engineering...

Add to that the extent that seven are all interesting, well developed and distinct characters. Lauren, the wealthy property-developer and owner of the venue for entrepreneur Jen's luxurious hen-do. Michelle, pop diva and once bandmate of resentful Helena. Beattie, sister of Jen's missing-presumed-dead ex, Jason. (Awkward...) Samira, sister of Jen's soon-to-be husband, Zaki. Kennedy, Jen's tennis coach and general woman of mystery. And Nicolette, whose place here is unclear. Brookmyre sets up secrets, resentments, long-smouldering grudges and hatreds which are implied, but not explained, in the early chapters, then lets rip with a catastrophe and a sudden, unanticipated, life-or-death struggle.

It's soon clear that everybody here has something they want to keep hidden, and that for most of them, that's not just from fear of exposure and ridicule: the stakes are higher than that - life, liberty, wealth and status, and regard - all those are on the line (and other, subtler factors such as the tug of guilt and threats to a carefully built and tended self-image, or to a long nurtured and indulged grudge). Not everyone is trying to work an angle, we are told, but the evidence presented rather disproves that and indeed some seem to have so many angles that they could easily have stepped from a Lovecraftian story.

With so much going on, it would be easy for the reader to be confused. However, Brookmyre's brilliant characterisation means that is never an issue. Also he uses to a clever trick of pairing everyone off for most of the book, so that the focus is on interactions between three pairs of women, allowing for a progressively deeper and more complex exploration of their fears and histories - and for some dicey moments - before everyone is brought together again as truths, and accusations, emerge.

There's also a really wicked vein of humour and many pithy observations of life - part of the backstory includes abusive and manipulative partners, couples who've simply fallen out of love with each other, obsession, and opportunism. Plus an experience common to many of the women of absence - whether that be a partner, a parent, or a child, and of the attempts made to overcome that (or ignore it). It makes for a book that's emotionally complex as well as a devilish crime mystery, indeed, a book that sparkles on every page, seizing the reader and carrying them along through the process of revealing red herrings, forcing everyone to fess up (will they do it before The Reaper does it for them, or just does for them?) and - which is the part I enjoyed most - creating little realignments, moments of realisation that, just perhaps, those long-held grudges and hatred might shift.

With the emphasis on "might". Everyone here is under intense pressure, backs to the wall, with no help or support. Old fears and guilts become powerful, and maybe it's best just to shut up and keep your head down? Or come out fighting? Or is there a better way to try and survive? In the end, at the heart of this story, is a very moral, very human dimension. Yes, it may all be a game of Prisoner's Dilemma writ large, but the complexities of relations between the seven make it hard for anyone to settle on a winning strategy. And there isn't time to ponder things...

Sheer absorbing writing, simply begging to be read.

This was the sort of book which sounds great but, the characters were not very likeable or that interesting. The book was very slow and just seemed to,plod,it’s way through . Nit as good as I hoped. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I was quite keen to start the book as the blurb sounded quite intriguing. However as the story progressed I was a bit disappointed. The story line was getting a little too imaginative and even though it is fiction, there has to be a limit to how much I can extend my imagination. I did think that the story could have been amazing had it been kept a little simpler. Too many twists are not always a good thing.

thank you @netgalley and @littlebrowngroup for access to the eARC of this book. Cant believe i left it so long to read it!

this book had me shocked!

Okay so lets be real, and im going to be open and transparent with you all. The first 50% of this book, i was messaging Paige saying how bored I was and how it was dragging and asking her when it gets good. Im so glad she told me to keep going.

As with any mystery/thriller books, there are reveals, and the reveals in this book were perfection! Noone can tell me any different. I won’t hear it. I audibly gasped when the major reveal happened.

Characters were written well, and you can really feel how messy they are. Lies and deceits woven into their very fabric. Loved it.

Plot, as above, was a bit mis-timed for me.

“But Charlotte, why did you give it 5 stars then?”

Listen, any book which makes me gasp outloud because it was so shocking and surprising, HAS to get a 5 star review. Because i FELT it!

I haven’t read anything by this author before. I liked the whole behind it but I found it quite hard work at the beginning as there were so many characters introduced. It had a unique storyline and the ending was good

A group of women are all heading to a remote Scottish Island to celebrate the upcoming Wedding of one of them. Each of them have secrets unknown to the others.
When they get there, they are greeted by Lauren, the woman who owns the beautiful house they are staying in and are joined by another friend who has come from another island where she has been on a retreat.
This is the time that Jen has met her future sister-in-law, Samira, who is the recent mother of twins.
Several of the woman know each other from way back, but not are a friends. When something happens that could rip the group apart, they have to work together to try and survive or each fight for their own survival.
I really liked this tale and struggled to put it down.