A gripping and engaging thriller full of unexpected twists.

Janyne, Ruth and Emily had planned a long weekend away with their husbands, however for various reasons, they arrive a day earlier than the men. They've rented a barn from John and Maggie. It transpires that the fouth member of the group, Edie, won't be joining them as she's still struggling with the loss of her husband Rob. A courier delivers a parcel from Edie with a sinister question, which unravels the women, each struggling with their own issues- alcoholism, PTSD, insecurity.

Meanwhile, Imogen (Edie's daughter) thinks her mum's away on a spa retreat and plans to party with her friend, Jemma but things don't go as she planned.

The structure of this book was unusual. There are no chapters and since it is written from many different perspectives, it felt like there was a lot of 'head-hopping.'. Just as drama and tension are built up in once scenario, we move to another and I felt this lost the momentum a little. I can see why the author has done this as the reader falsely assumes who the narrator is , until she drip feeds information that it's actually someone else. I feel it would have helped to even have a line break between characters/locations, to help the reader keep up with who's talking and where they are.

Although I found this a bit confusing, I still have to give it 5 stars. The premise was great and well executed, it was very well plotted and paced and the characters were interesting. There's some really good writing, especially the vivid descriptions throughout.

Thanks indeed to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Random House UK, Cornerstone, for the ARC.

Well, this is quite something! The Long Weekend is a gripping, tense and atmospheric psychological thriller, with lots of red-herrings, twists and surprising reveals. It's cleverly written although there are no chapters and you have to concentrate to realise when one character's point of view ends and another begins, I actually think that format enhanced the book.

Set in Northumbria where John & Maggie Elliott rent out Dark Fell Barn to guests wanting open spaces and peace and quiet. Unfortunately John is suffering from advanced dementia and Maggie is afraid that he may be responsible for driving previous guests away. But they need the money. En route to prepare the Barn a courier stops them and hands them a present and envelope to be left prominently in the Barn for the expected guests.

Jayne, Ruth and Emily are driving there without their husbands as each of them had given some reason not to be there that Friday night. It was an annual getaway for the "gang". Edie is missing this year as husband Rob had died in a swimming accident five months previously.
Jayne is married to Mark - both have an army background and both are scarred by their experiences; Ruth is married to Toby, she's a GP and recent mother to Alfie but her life is spiralling out of control; Emily is married to Paul - she's ten years younger then Paul as well as Jayne and Ruth and doesn't feel she fits in. The men and Edie are close friends from their school-days. On the drive each of the women get lost in their own thoughts and you begin to get a feel for their characters.

When they reach the Barn and open the envelope they're shocked to read a note from "E" stating that by the time they had read this "I'll have killed one of your husbands". They each begin examining their thoughts on each other and on their husbands and lots of suspicions arise - Edie is known for malicious pranks - is this a hoax or is it real?

They have no transport, no phone nor internet and a storm is brewing, all conspiring against their individual desperations to contact their husbands, as they each sink into darker thoughts of what all this "friendship" means.

Intermittently the narrative allows the reader into the mind of the person controlling all this activity - but who is it, and why?

As said, there are lots of red-herrings and misdirection along with shocks and surprises. There are secrets to be revealed and mental health issues explored in this gripping thriller.

Thoroughly recommended.

This had an interesting premise to it and it started off well when the three women end up heading to their weekend away in a barn without their husbands when they find a note that holds a serious threat but it all gets a bit too dramatic and unrealistic from there. The women all have their own problems and trust issues and I didn't really like any of them much. It also took me a while to get used to who married who as none of the men made an appearance for a while and it was hard to distinguish them.
There were a few unexpected plot twists which were surprising and made me want to carry on but there was so much information packed into the last 25% that was hard to keep up with.
An enjoyable, fast paced read with plenty of twists but boring characters.

Enjoyably preposterous but started to unravel a bit as the premise was stretched thin. Still, an easily consumed thriller and a few twists and turns along the way keep you hooked.

I really enjoyed this light thriller story. I thought the premise for the story; a weekend away with close friends in a remote area, beautiful scenery with all the peace and quiet you could want, was an excellent basis for the story. This is well written but, for me, the layout of the book was confusing as there were no chapters and often the characters POV changed quite rapidly within the paragraphs, which I found difficult to keep up with who was talking at times. Also, the pace of the story was a little slower than I would have liked..

I did enjoy the chemistry and the conflict between the women in this story, how they start off polite and friendly; they are friends after all. However, when they get to the cottage where they are staying and find a note stating that one of their husbands will die, then we see all their faults and insecurities start to emerge and things start to slowly fall apart. Knowing the husbands are following up the next day, each wife tries relentlessly to contact their husbands with no success leading to frustrations and worries that eventually come to boiling point.

The setting is eerie and worked well, the twist at the end of the book was a good one and I completely didn't guess that, so it was a surprise as well. All in all, this was an enjoyable suspense book.

I love Gilly Macmillan's novels but admittedly this is not my favourite.

It is still a very good read, atmospheric and a little disturbing as a group of friends on an isolated holiday receive a strange message...one of their husbands is dead...

It is a tale full of twists and turns, a difficult to predict mystery and a really edge of the seat finale, in most respects the type of page turner you want in a psychological thriller.

A couple of small, subjective issues lessened the impact for me personally- the characters are occasionally undefined and blended so you have to unravel who's who and one protagonist is the clichéd alcoholic whose addiction prevents sensible action.

Despite these small things The Long Weekend is a classic example of its genre and I read it avidly.

The blurb on The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan intrigued me and I was looking forward to reading this novel never having read any of her previous books. Commencing this novel the writing was modern, pacy with red herrings right, left and centre. With regards to the storyline, I did question some things but kept reading. The book is 352 pages of twists and turns. The first thing that caught my attention, was, where do I bookmark when I want to stop reading. There were no chapter numbers, only paragraphs and I became confused as to which character I was reading about but it didn't take long me to settle into this reading pattern.

There has been lots of books with a similar storyline as The Long Weekend and details can be gleaned from the summary/blurb. This novel did hold my attention but I had to work at who was who. Still, a little brain work is good, right? No spoilers in this review.

This novel is about bereavement, jealousy, illness, secrets, lies and a lot more!

I give a 4 star rating.

I WANT TO THANK NETGALLEY AND THE AUTHOR, GILLY MACMILLAN FOR THE OPPORTUNITY OF READING AN ADVANCED COPY OF THIS BOOK FOR AN HONEST REVIEW. MY VIEWS ARE MY OWN.

I really enjoyed this book. 3 women arrive at a remote Northumbrian farm for a long weekend break. Their husbands will be joining them the following day. When they arrive they find a note from another friend saying she has killed one of their husbands. What follows is a roller coaster of a ride. A stormy night and a return home before the weekend is over. and that's when things turn really nasty..... Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

3 couples are supposed to enjoy a weekend retreat. The men are delayed, but the 3 women arrive at the cottage to find a note. The note declare one of the husbands will be murdered. With no phone signal the woman are concerned for their safety. Events escalate dramatically and soon there is another body.
An enjoyable book with lots of twists, but found the monologue quite confusing at times with who was talking as switched location and person frequently.

Enjoyed this one. Couple of unexpected twists kept me on my toes!
Story of a group of long term friends and their planned weekend away. Let’s just say things don’t go to plan from the start.
Recommended.

This fascinating murder mystery is written from multi first-person viewpoints, mostly in the present tense and in linear order. A brave choice, but somehow it works!

Three women - ex-army Jayne, alcoholic doctor Ruth and young insecure trophy wife Emily are forced together in an isolated holiday barn-conversion in remote Northumbria. Their husbands have each inexplicably delayed their arrival until the following day, by text, on the journey up and aren't responding to queries. On arrival, the ladies find a creepy note saying that one of the three men is dead. With no transport, working phones or internet, and a violent storm raging outside they have no way of contacting anyone as darkness falls. Friendships are put to the test as events and emotions spiral out of control. Each of them has secrets and things are said under the stress of the situation.

There is a big reveal at around 30% that really took me by surprise. The author handled it so well that I didn't spot it coming. Of course, the identity of the real culprit remains a mystery for some time after that, and there are mis-directions galore as we are led up blind alleys by wavering suspicions.

The dramatic scenery, characters, traumatic events and twisted plot all combine into a powerful tale. This book could make an excellent mini-series for tv.

Wow what a rollercoaster of a book! I’m now sitting at 3am after finishing this in one sitting. It has been well written with fantastic twists and turns that keep you guessing to the very end.
Highly recommended read