Jo is still very much bereaved after the death of her husband. She is invited to a grand anniversary party in a chateau in south-west France where his group of Cambridge contemporaries, now all highly successful public figures will be together. When she arrives, there is an unexpected guest, a strikingly beautiful young woman half the rest of the group's age, the new girlfriend of one of the /Cambridge four. Old secrets are about to emerge and a Storm is about to break. Stephanie Merritt writes top class historical fiction, and this is a top class complex modern thriller.

This wasn't really what I was expecting. I guess from the description I was expecting a closed room murder mystery but it was more a revenge plot with the murder one of the least significant parts. I found the pace a bit slow especially to start and the characters difficult to understand. For example, by the end I still wasn't sure whether main character Jo loved or loathed her husband. The writing was also a bit hard going with long chapters and dense text (but maybe that was just the formatting on my e-reader) which didn't help. In short it was difficult to get into but enjoyable enough once I did.

A group of old friends meets up for a few days away and a mysterious guest turns up and joins them.

This was an enjoyable read. A solid 4 stars out of 5. It was well written and I was intrigued by the mystery around the character, Storm, who was she and why had she turned up out of the blue?

As the story reached conclusion it turned quite unbelievable and far-fetched really but it was still a memorable read. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for my own honest opinion. I have also posted review in Goodreads.

I thought this was a well written book. The characters were interesting and well drawn and the story compelling. The book is about relationships in the past and in the present. A good read

Thirty-something Jo is still grieving the loss of her husband, so when their friend group (always more Oliver's friends than Jo's) invite her to a long weekend away at a French chateau, she decides to go as being close to his friends is one way Jo can still feel connected to Oliver after his death. When she arrives, hosts Cressida & Arlo are there with their two children, a teenage son & two year old daughter. Also present are Nina & Leo, with their young twins, & Cressida's nanny, Becca, who will be looking after the children for the weekend. The final couple, Max & his new girlfriend are due later.

There's already a strange atmosphere & Jo feels a little out of place, so when Max's new girlfriend, Storm, a beautiful young woman in her early twenties arrives sans Max (unavoidably detained in London), things spiral. Jo is faintly amused to see how the wives are put on edge by Storm's arrival due to their husbands' obvious attraction to her but she realises she may not have been so sanguine had Oliver been there. Still, she spends time with Storm over the weekend & starts to realise that not everything is at it seems - then a murder takes place.

The first part of the story is great: the characters are introduced & the scene is set as Jo tries to find her place in the friend group without Oliver. Interspersed with this are excerpts which suggest things weren't as happy in her own marriage as Jo lets on in public. A storm is the 'violent disturbance of the atmosphere' & that's just what happens here - Storm takes wicked glee in stirring things. When events move into the murder investigation & the friends' past, it becomes rather more pedestrian. I worked out what had happened from very early on, & I was a little disappointed. The first section was so good, I wanted a bit more of a surprise twist as the pay off.

Overall I rate this 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 on sites without half star ratings). It was good but I don't think the second half lived up to the promise of the first half.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, HarperCollins UK, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollinsUK for the opportunity to read and review this book. Initially I thought it was just another book about a group of friends on holiday with long hidden secrets unfolding. But there were far more twists and turns in this book with lots of characters having their own agenda. Good writing and characters, though many of them were awful people! An engrossing and enjoyable read.

What can I say I loved this I could not put it down every spare moment I had I was reading 5 stars love the cover and the storyline. Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review it and to Stephanie Merritt for writing it.

A storm is coming and the guests at an isolated French chateau have no idea of the trouble brewing in their midst.
Cressida and Arlo Connaught have invited their closest friends to celebrate their wedding anniversary with them in France. Their teenage son Lucas, toddler Clio are accompanying the couple (along with requisite nanny Beccy). Arlon is the owner of a globally successful technology company and the very definition of a high-flyer.
Also present are their good friends Nina and Leo, a gallery owner a d producer respectively, with their young twins. And finally, Jo, widow of Oliver, a former member of the group. In comparison to the rest of the group, Jo appears to be the modest and most down to earth character. Certainly, she has a greater sense of awareness of the world around her and for me was a far more likeable character.
From the opening pages, we are given the impression that Jo has not been entirely truthful about Oliver's death a year earlier. And when an unexpected guest arrives, some home truths are revealed.
There are plenty of twists and turns in the novel. I did manage to guess a few of these but still enjoyed the novel due to the pacing and well-drawn characters. Worth a read and the atmosphere is nicely chilling at various points throughout the story.

This was an action packed and exciting book. It held my attention throughout and I did not want to put it down. Nor did I want it to end. But when it did, I said to myself ‘Well, I did not expect that!’.
I loved the writing style, the plot was exhilarating and the main characters were fascinating. I loved the location and the web of lies. What an amazing read! I will be giving this book 5 stars but I’d give it 6 if I could!
This is the first book I’ve read by the author but I cannot wait to read more in the future. I’m very grateful to have been approved to read this book on Netgalley and to review it. I cannot recommend this book enough.

A dark and twisted thriller set in France. The narrative was too slow for my liking and most of the characters unlikeable. However, fans of Lucy Foley will enjoy the well written story but it was not for me.

Gripping thriller.

Great setting with well written characters that kept me hooked.

Easy to read.

The book follows Jo as she goes to stay with a group of her husband's friends for the first time since his death. When Storm, a girlfriend of one of the friends turns up the story twists into a new direction. We find out more about the group and Storm and the story builds to a tense finale. Excellent story and very much enjoyed reading it.

An excellent read about a widow who is invited by her late husband's friends to a house part in France. An unexpected guest, Storm, arrives alone - she is the much younger is girlfriend of one of the friends who is due to arrive the following day. Lots of tension during which a murder takes place. A great psychological thriller which I would thoroughly recommend.

I really enjoyed this book.

There are lots of characters in this book, none of whom i particularly liked but they certainly kept me turning the page. They were really well written and i loved to hate them all!

This book starts off slow but the tension builds and then the story twists leaving you promising yourself you will just read one more chapter.

Great book and i will be looking out for more from this author.

This was so good ! It starts slowly and builds up the tension till the end. I intended to read a little and then put the book down till the next day but just had to keep reading. Storm certainly lives up to her name. I will be looking out for more books from this exciting author.

4.5 stars
What can I say about this book apart from the fact I loved it!
I was gripped from start to finish and didn't want to put it down. Going into this and noticing that it was 400 pages long I wondered if I would find it overlong and that it would drag. I didn't find this at all, in fact I flew through it.
Sometimes I find in books that have multiple characters it can be hard to keep track of who is who and they all blend into one. Not in this book. All the characters are well defined and well written.
This has twists and turns galore and the drama/tension just builds and builds until a great climax.
I was 100% invested in this story and was completely transported into their world.
The writing and pacing is also excellent.
A brilliant tense, mystery thriller!

Just deserts? Hard to say.

Cressida and Arlo invite their closest friends to their French Chateau to celebrate their twenty-first wedding anniversary. Jo was uncertain about attending the party as she was sure that the invite is only offered out of pity. (Her husband Oliver had died in a car accident). However, the Chateau holds wonderful memories of visits she and her husband had made to the place often alone, over the years, so she accepts the invitation.

Also attending the party are the other best friends of “the gang” who had met while at university. Leo and his wife Nina and their twins, Oscar, and Grace. Max is due to arrive but is delayed and they are all shocked when his girlfriend, Storm turns up without him.

I read the book with irritation. I disliked all the characters and their superficial lives. The only saving grace was seeing justice finally served.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

The Storm is an unpredictable fast paced thriller. I absolutely didn’t know where the story was going until the end. I loved all the twist and turns. The story was really original.

Storm was not really the book that I was expecting.

It was very slow to start and felt like many books that I have read before. I struggled to keep interested in it. Although it was full of twists and turns, it just wasn't for me. Maybe I am done with the rich people behaving badly storylines.

I can see that many people have enjoyed this so make up your own minds on this onw. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy to read.

This is a great thriller.
Set in a luxurious chateau in France this book is about a group of friends who meet up for a weekend away.
Jo lost her husband a few years ago and whilst the group are mainly his friends, she takes them up on the invitation.
A woman arrives out of the blue and causes a bit of awkwardness in the group. She’s the girlfriend of Max who is yet to arrive but Storm isn’t shy so gets there ahead of him.
It’s clear more than one of the group has secrets and Storm has a knack of causing a scene.
The weekend ends in tragedy but who is the killer?
This is a gripping thriller that I really enjoyed.
Thanks to Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.