The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan
| The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan | |
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| Category: Thrillers | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: It looks like a vicious threat from someone who has suffered dreadfully. We know exactly what's happening, don't we? Tense, atmospheric and utterly compelling. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 400 | Date: February 2022 |
| Publisher: Century | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1529135367 | |
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It was a long drive to the weekend retreat in Northumbria, right up near the Scottish borders and to make it worse the three husbands had all - for one reason or another - had to delay making the trip until the Saturday morning. Jane and Ruth had known each other for a long time but Emily was a bit of an outsider. She and Paul had married only relatively recently and she was ten years younger than the other two women. The friendship of the group went back to school days. Paul had coached rugby at the school where Mark, Toby and Rob were pupils. Mark had married Jane, and Toby is Ruth's husband. And Rob? Well, Rob's dead.
Rob had died in a swimming accident last year but he'd been married to Edie. Edie had been at school with the men and they'd all secretly (or less secretly in one case) lusted after her. Now she's on her own with her daughter, Imogen, and despite her usually outgoing personality, she's wishing that the group had skipped this year's trip, given Rob's death. She's going on a spa weekend instead and Imogen's going to music camp.
In Northumbria, John and Maggie Elliott are getting Darkfell Barn ready for their visitors. It's on the 3000-acre Elliott farm which has been in John's family for generations. Maggie doesn't know how much longer it can continue, though. John has Lewy Bodies dementia and his behaviour is unpredictable. I felt for John: he's a kind man who is struggling. Visitors upset him but Maggie knows that they need the money: the herd of 800 head of sheep is not bringing in enough income.
Emily thinks that the weekend is looking up when they arrive at Darkfell Barn: on the kitchen counter is a gift-wrapped package (Emily's sure it's from Paul - he's thoughtful like that) and a card. It says By the time you read this, I'll have killed one of your husbands. It's obviously from Edie. There's a storm coming in, there's no mobile signal and the women are trapped in hostile countryside.
I was at a slight disadvantage with The Long Weekend. We're in a house which is being renovated and I managed to pack away my review copy of the book. There was an easy way around the problem, though - I bought myself an audio download, narrated by Olivia Poulet. She does an excellent job of conveying the tense atmosphere but there are regular sections where a third party gives us a different side of the story. Olivia's voice is very female and I occasionally found it difficult to work out which character was speaking and sometimes it was difficult to work out whether the character speaking was male or female. I enjoyed the narration but it would have been easier not to make assumptions with a hard copy of the book.
I'm being picky, though. This was a superb read which I really couldn't tear myself away from: actually, I didn't make much of an attempt! Gilly Macmillan does an excellent job with the characterisation and the plot is superb. I couldn't fault it. I've read other books by Macmillan - I listened to an audiobook of The Nanny, with multiple narrators and loved it but read a hard copy of To Tell You the Truth, which I thought was even better. I can't wait to read the next book!
If you like the look of this book, we think you'll also enjoy The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley.
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