Secrets galore from beginning to end, and absolutely nothing is as it seems. Just as soon as you think you have something figured out, you get hit in the head with another twist! Recommended for anyone who loves a good read that will keep you entertained.

I want really feeling this when I first picked it up, but it was next in my netgalley list so I went with it. Wow, I'm so glad I did. It was getting, it was thrilling and I didn't want to put it down. The way it all unfolded was very well written. I would definitely recommend this

When Jen decided to book a luxury getaway for her hen ‘do’ she could not have imagined the consequences. She had booked a private island which they will have to themselves for 3 days, or so they think….
They are all settling in & have already had to much to drink which makes for a very unstable atmosphere. Then one of the ‘hens’ disappears and they receive a message that she will be killed unless someone confesses their secret. Unfortunately, everyone on the island has a secret and no one wants to confess.
I found this book a bit slow to start with but once it got its hooks in the pages kept turning. The multiple layers of secrecy and deception help conceal the identity of the assassin right to the end.

Chris Brookmyre is one of my all-time favourite, absolute auto-buy authors, and I feel so lucky to have received an ARC of this book. He sets up the most fantastic, unhinged locked-room-style thrillers where every single character has skeletons in their closets, with richly described Scottish settings that only make their appeal stronger - and this book was no exception. I feel like this was a more serious book than some of Brookmyre's other offerings, with less of the dark humour I adore threaded through it, but nevertheless I found it a gripping read with an intriguing cast of characters, and I loved the remote island setting.

This is the perfect book for when you know you can dedicate some solid reading time and get it down in one or two days - whether it's a rainy day weekend, lazing by the pool, laid up, off-sick - immerse yourself in the tale.

It sounds like a nightmare from the get-go doesn't it, a hen weekend on a remote island, miles from civilisation, with no real chance of communicating with the outside world. So it was obvious that things would be taking a sinister turn and take a sinister turn they sure did!

The group of 'friends' mainly only had the hen, Jen, as their common connection. Although they try to make the most of it to begin with, it is very obvious that they are all hiding something and that by and large most of them aren't there in the best of spirits and soon frictions become impossible to ignore. Frankly, that's recipe enough for a nightmare weekend in my book believe it or not things get worse as it starts to become clear that they are being targeted by someone on the Island. And as they are the only ones there...

The author reveals teasing backstories bit by bit and layers up the tension as some classic cliches are played out. An uncomfortable vibe already sets the tone and a few careful nudges soon send this in a downward spiral for the group who begrudgingly attend the hen party.

Overall, it's a brilliant mix of cleverly curated and unlikeable characters, a 'locked room' style mystery and damn fine example of why I like cosy hotels with good wifi ;)

I really enjoy books with multiple perspectives and unreliable narrators. Knowing that each of the characters may have something to hide made this book unputdownable.

I read this one in 2 sittings and loved the way each of the women's storylines intertwined and overlapped. I really enjoyed the writing style and would definitely pick up more from this author.

We really get a good sense of who these characters are as more and more secrets are unveiled as the story become darker. The tension becomes stronger as the story goes along with a great twist

This book has all the elements for a great story, isolated house on an island, a group of women with dark secrets and a possible murder. It took me a little while to get into this one and whilst it was entertaining I found the characters a bit dull and towards the end all the revelations became a bit overkill for me.. I found I didn’t really care what happened to the women in the end and the plot was a bit silly.
I had read some great reviews so I was disappointed, but, of course we all enjoy different things!

Chris Brookmyre’s 2022 island thriller, ‘The Cliff House,’ is written in quite an accessible way. I am not suggesting that this novel is written simplistically, but rather that it is written in a very familiar way, so one can connect with the narrative easily, although it concerns subject matters that I hope most people wouldn’t have had to endure (such as missing husbands, domestic violence and finding dead bodies in the kitchen). To say I think this book might have deserved a trigger warning for some of the content would be an understatement, Brookmyre writes in a familiar but blugeoningly unapologetic way, handling complex subjects and sensitive details skilfully, but occasionally the content could be at risk of upsetting some people.

Jen has rented a luxury getaway for her hen do, an entire island off the Scottish coast, a location that influencers scramble for invites to and celebrities pay thousands and thousands to host elaborate parties and weddings at the large lavish mansion that resides on the Island of Calchan Geal. Luckily for Jen, there was a cancelation. So, she booked the island for her big weekend, inviting her nearest and dearest to join her.

‘I want you to feel the one true essence of the Clachan Geal experience: Splendid Isolation’

Little did they know that within hours of arriving on the island and being greeted by the host and owner, Lauren, that they would find a dead body in the kitchen, and they would realise how very alone they really are.

‘The Reaper: All for one and one for all. Six downloads short.”

FULL REVIEW COMING ON THE FANTASY HIVE @TheFantasyHive

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the advance review copy.

Whilst I enjoyed this, and if I’m being honest it did keep me turning the pages given there were so many cliffhanger endings to chapters, I did find it hard to get into and follow. Having reached the end I’m still not sure I could tell you how Jen knew each of the women invited on her hen do, and in places this made it hard to understand or sympathise. Several characters were pretty unlikeable anyway but I get that that’s the point to an extent!

It was fast paced and I did want to reach the end to find out the truth and the culprit, but I’ve definitely read better ‘closed set’ style murder/crime mysteries lately.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me for this book.

I felt the writing was done well in this book but there was just something missing for me and I couldn't get into it and enjoy it as much as I hoped I would.

I enjoy Brookmyre’s books and am usually kept very engaged throughout them, with this book being no exception to that rule. I did need some time to get to grips with the characters but as an audiobook, it was kept very clear who is who in each new chapter. I enjoyed the unraveling of the mystery and can fully believe the realism of how they dealt with their situation.

I also enjoy the name-dropping of locations in Glasgow as it feels like a home comfort and building a bit more relatability of the characters. Overall, a very enjoyable read.

For the most of the novel, I was enjoying it very much. After all, what is not to love when mysterious killer targets a bunch of female acquaintances on an isolated island and wants them to spill their secrets? The secrets are explosive, the issues are real and the women and the tensions between them are believable (my favourites were frenemies Michelle and Helena).
But unfortunately the ending is a killjoy here - you have such an interesting game and you destroy it with such an unbelievable, clichey perpetrator? The ending also makes you think WHY do you need so many people present to execute such a plan. All is smoke and mirrors, yes, but when the smoke drifts away, you simply have too many bodies there.

Great fun - starts out as an Agatha Christie homage but gets much much twistier. It does end up being a little ludicrous, but I was swept up enough to suspend my disbelief. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

A group of women are on a hen weekend on a private island. There is no contact with the mainland and someone dies. Someone among them is the killer, and they all have secrets.

I found this quite difficult to review. On the one hand, The Cliff House is well-written. It's pacy and has lots of twists and turns. On the other hand, I feel like I have read a lot of books that revolve around a small group of people on a remote island where one of them is the killer and the secrets they all have will unlock the mystery.

That's my fault - I've clearly been attracted to this concept recently, but unfortunately it led to me being quite underwhelmed until the last quarter of the book. Then The Cliff House stands out.

I'd recommend for anyone who enjoys fast-pace suspense novels.

Many thanks to Chris Brookmyre, NetGalley, and Little, Brown for this copy.

This was a good read, although I'm not sure how believable some of it was.

Saying that, I still enjoyed it. It had an interesting cast of characters.

It had a lot of tension and I would have read the book in one go if I'd had a physical copy of the book.

Thank you to Chris, NetGalley and publishers Little Brown Book Group UK for the chance to read this book.

I enjoyed this ‘locked room’ thriller, I found it to be full of drama and intrigue and did not guess the end which is a bonus!

I think I've read too many of these weekend/ killer almost v locked-in louvain who did the killing?? I didn't like the main protagonist which is another difficulty .. female friendships are more complex than this (for me) .. but I can see the author is adept so I am forced to rate it ..

Jen is about to get married for the second time, and organises a luxury weekend break for six of her friends on a remote Scottish island as her hen do. She is the common denominator as most of them don’t know each other, and the ones that do are harbouring grudges and resentments going back many years. One thing they all have in common – they are hiding something that they would rather not reveal. One of their group is taken hostage and ‘The Reaper’ threatens to kill them, unless one of those remaining confess to what they have done – but which one? And who is The Reaper?
It takes a while for the story to get going as the various characters and their backstories are introduced. It is testament to Chris Brookmyre’s writing skills that he has written a large cast of believable female characters that are easy to tell apart. The action takes place over a single day and night which heightens the tension. The setting of the remote island, with no way of communicating with the outside world, emphasises their isolation and puts a new twist on the locked room trope.
The story is told from various viewpoints as the characters are paired up to try and find a way out of their predicament. At the beginning none of them are particularly likeable, but they grew on me as their pasts were slowly revealed. The plot is a bit far fetched in places, but somehow it still works. I am a big fan of Chris Brookmyre’s writing (especially the Jack Parlabane series) and I thoroughly enjoyed The Cliff House. Thanks to Little, Brown and NetGalley for a digital copy to review.

A thriller I just did not want to end. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book.