Review by Booklist Review
A tenth-wedding-anniversary weekend turns nightmarish as several siblings, cousins, and their spouses gather in a fancy house on the Scottish coast to celebrate. The squabbling family's whims are catered to by Donna, who's desperate to make the weekend a success and a step forward for her fledgling business. From the start, it's clear that nothing will go right. The family members realize with horror that they have been to this house before, when they were much younger, and there are hints dropped that something awful happened then. Present-day foreboding alternates with chapters set in that long-ago time, when two local, poorer girls joined the clan for a sixteenth birthday party that turned into a drunken, sordid mess. The anniversary get-together is blighted by reminders of that fiasco, with characters and readers unsure of who, or what, is playing macabre tricks related to that time.Though some secondary characters are indistinct, this realistically written, gripping suspense tale is one readers will want to finish in a single long sitting, especially if they crave country-house mysteries. McPherson is also the author of the Dandy Gilver series.--Henrietta Verma Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Donna Weaver, the narrator of this eerie standalone from Agatha-winner McPherson (Scot Free), and her mother have spent a lot of money to turn the Breakers, a beautiful old seaside house in Galloway, Scotland, into a fancy bed and breakfast. The business is off to a promising start when eight cousins, who are all old friends, book the property for a reunion and a 10th wedding anniversary celebration. When the group arrives, they realize that they've all been here before, 25 years earlier, at a 16th birthday party for the person who instigated the reunion, Sasha Mowbray. But it seems that the choice of the Breakers was no coincidence. When strange and awful things begin to happen, the cousins are convinced that it's all because of something that happened at that birthday party, something that they had all promised never to talk about. Lovers of classic manor house mysteries are in for a treat. Agent: Lisa Moylett, CMM Literary Agency (U.K.). (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
A snarky pack of cousins and their spouses have booked classy B&B Breakers on the British coast for an anniversary celebration. Owner Donna Walker has put her heart and soul into renovating the old house and making it deserving of top marks on TripAdvisor. From the moment the group arrives, they begin sniping at one another, drinking too much, and reminiscing with a very dark edge. Turns out they've been here before, as children, and they've made a pact never to discuss what happened. Then some ugly pranks occur, and the group starts to unravel. Donna's at a loss to keep everyone in check and her beloved B&B intact. -VERDICT Agatha Award-winning -McPherson's deliciously gothic country house mystery with a contemporary twist is devious and suspenseful and keeps readers guessing to the shocking end. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, 4/23/18.]-Susan Clifford Braun, -Bainbridge Island, WA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A rousing gothic tale of past and present in a Galloway beach house.With the help of a timely inheritance, Donna Weaver and her mother have just purchased and renovated a posh guesthouse they've christened The Breakers, and now, with her mother exhibiting at a wedding fair in Glasgow, Donna is left to handle their first guests all by herselfa group of eight cousins celebrating the 10th anniversary of Sasha Mowbray and his wife, Kim. The first to arrive are siblings Peach and Buck Plummer, who immediately recognize the place as Knockbreak House, the scene of Sasha's appalling 16th birthday party. The other cousins are Rosalie, brothers Paul and Ramsay, and Jennifer, who turns pale when she realizes where she is. Alternating chapters take place in 1991, when narrator Carmen, a local girl, describes going to Sasha's party with her younger sister, Lynsey. Plied with drink and disgusted by the strange food and filthy state of the house, the two girls are mocked by the sophisticated town dwellers but do their best to fit in. Back in the present, Donna is desperate to give her guests a great experience, but it's soon obvious that Sasha's marriage is on the rocks, and the quibbling cousins are hiding secrets while blaming each other for strange occurrences that include the discovery of a locked box stuck in the chimney and the mysterious appearance of a picture taken at Sasha's 16th birthday partyall of which Sasha blames on Kim, since she made the arrangements. Practical jokes referencing the past become ever more loathsome until the disappearances of Sasha and Jennifer force Donna to call in the police, who come up with an unusual solution.McPherson (House. Tree. Person., 2017, etc.) provides a virtuoso exploration of guilt, remorse, and revenge in a haunting psychological thriller. The ending will leave you astounded. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
