The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan

 

Jayne, Ruth and Emily are heading to a remote barn in Northumberland for a weekend away. They should have their husbands with them but at the last moment each of them was called away and promised to make the trip to the barn the following day. Once the women arrive at the farm responsible for running the barn they realise how isolated the place is. There's no direct road to the barn, the farmer has to drive them there in a four wheel drive. Phone reception is non-existent and there's no landline. Combined with this a storm is on the horizon.

When the women arrive at the barn they find a letter and gift addressed to them all.

The content of the letter causes a host of reactions from the women in their need to find out if it's content is real or a hoax and if their husbands are safe.

This is an extremely well written thriller which has you jumping to conclusions which then come crashing down as the story progresses. None of the three women are particularly likeable and as the story develops we discover that they all have secrets. Initially we are lead to believe that the women are friends, slowly we come to understand that they are friends simply because of their husbands life-long friendship.

The bleakness of the landscape, the remoteness of the barn and the encroaching storm, combined with some local folklore really add to the sense of menace. You can really feel the terror the women must feel, along with a complete sense of hopelessness.

My thanks to NetGalley and Century Books UK for a review copy. The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan will be published on 3rd February 2022 in hardback, ebook and audio.