When it comes to tension and suspense, weather often has the power to make things seem ominous and immersive. Nobody knows that more than Watson. She has expertly harnessed the weather to enhance the reader’s sense of imminent danger. In fact, she’s used the weather as a plot device, as an indicator of emotional pulse and as a character! Her characters have come through and/or will go through their own storms as guests in this hotel. It was inspiring to sit back and see what Watson was able to weave into her narrative. The end result is atmospheric and brooding and without you realizing it, she’ll have you shivering despite the heat wave !

“The heat throughout the hotel is even more intense. You can’t escape it. Like a stalker it follows us, creeps around and settles wherever we are, making us tired, tense and argumentative.”

“In this hot, claustrophobic setting, friends are questioning friends, wives are looking differently at husbands, no one trusts anyone.”

“Everything’s quiet. Even the waves are calmer, like their hunger has been sated now.”

In addition to her expert use of weather, Watson is deft at utilizing the setting to add depth and richness to her writing. Fitzgerald’s is a luxury hotel set on an island. Resort guests are lured by the glitz and glamour and dress to impress. It’s a calling card for deception; people pretend to be someone they’re not and their actions parallel their pretense. People were pretending they’d nothing to hide! Interestingly, the hotel’s old world charm with the crystal chandeliers and opulent colour palettes lose their glitz and become shabby and dim as evil grows and starts to take over the island. Once the guests realize they can’t leave due to the police investigation, their outlook dims, and what was once considered a luxury vacation “feels more like a prison sentence.”

“There are so many good fakes around these days you just can’t tell at a distance”

“There's lying and there’s hiding the truth. Are the two things different?”

“People hide their true selves, they present an image to the world and too often the world buys.”

Finally, Watson explores some issues that I’ve never seen addressed in novels before; that of how revealing a diagnosed illness changes how friends interact with each other and how the death of ‘one of us’ gives license to intimate comments about close relationships that never existed prior to death. How ironic that people often feel uncomfortable and shy away from forming meaningful friendships when they hear someone is ill - that’s when sympathy and kindness are most needed. On the flip side, how ironic that people pretend to have friendships, closer ones, with the recently deceased when in reality they were passing acquaintances. Human nature is quirky! Watson’s work showcases it well.

Beware! While Fitzgerald’s is beguiling and enchanting, it’s also hiding some dark secrets of lust and revenge. Just ask newlyweds, Sam and David Harrison, twentieth anniversary celebrants, Becky and Josh Andrews or busy executives on a couples-focused getaway, Daisy and Tom Brown.

I may not have identified with any of the characters this time, but I was absorbed in a compelling read and in awe of the author’s talent. I can’t wait to see what she writes about next!

I was gifted this advance copy by Sue Watson, Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

What should have been a relaxing getaway becomes a nightmare in this book by Sue Watson. When a woman is murdered, the question is raised of who is to blame and who can be trusted? Is the narrator reliable? Recommended for mystery/suspense lovers. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!