St Rule is a small isolated town in the highlands of Scotland. It’s 2013 and Joanie, 18, has just graduated from school. It’s a time for partying on windswept beaches and generally letting go. But she is desperate to leave with her boyfriend and start a new exciting life in Canada. However, disaster strikes and all her plans fall into ruin. Left behind in her home town, she meets charming, charismatic post-graduate couple Erin and David. Erin is kind and empathic. David is intellectual and obsessive. They make Joanie feel valued and alive and so she falls under their spell. David is obsessed with the connection between Henbane (dangerous and potentially poisonous) and the Viking berserker raids and so experiments with volunteers with the drug as part of his research project. But is David all he seems to be? Is Erin as free and happy as she seems?

Time switches to 2023 and returning to St. Rule, Cameron, an old friend of Joanie, is surprised no one has seen or heard from her in a decade. What has happened to her? This question is the basis of the plot and unfortunately it is all pretty thin. Switching from one time line to the other was initially a bit confusing. There were a few moments of tension but they felt forced somehow; tagged in via the conceit of diary fragments written by Joanie to try and build up suspense.

I did feel that occasionally the narrative was more like a newspaper report, written somewhat clumsily at times and as a reader I felt some characters were two dimentional and in need of fleshing out. After a moment of true horror, the ending seemed rushed as if the author got fed up with the whole thing.

I liked the descriptions of wild Scotland. They worked well in the context of the story and did add a sense of danger and isolation.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me an advanced copy for my kindle (which unfortunately didn’t format properly). This is my honest review after a complete reading of the book. seems?

I really enjoyed Bluff but I suspect it might suffer from being labelled a “gothic thriller”. This isn’t a book of jump scares, melodrama or plot twists, and it doesn't have the spooky elements of Francine Toon's debut Pine. It's quiet and restrained, and all the better for it. It builds slowly, atmospherically, until the pieces fall into place with a brevity that makes the climax more effective, not less.

What Toon actually delivers is a thoughtful, compelling tale about missed chances, shifting power, and the pull of staying put versus breaking free. St Rule is vividly drawn, looking beyond the surface of a postcard-perfect tourist and student town to the reality of a lived-in place where locals wrestle with their own small and large dramas. With its dual timelines and subdued sense of unease, Bluff sits somewhere between mystery and character study -- less gothic thriller, more low-lit intrigue with a lingering aftertaste.

Bluff is a nice easy read for a cold, rainy evening. The atmosphere and setting are particularly well done and really drew me into the story. I liked the main characters and this kept me reading as the overall plot itself is quite simple and perhaps a bit drawn out. I found the ending a little silly, a lot of build up over a few questionable character choices, but I enjoyed the journey along the way.

Francine Toon’s Bluff is a haunting and atmospheric novel that skillfully builds tension through its eerie setting and psychological depth. Toon’s prose is sharp and evocative, drawing readers into a world where reality and perception blur. The characters are well-drawn, and the slow unraveling of secrets keeps you turning pages.

However, while the buildup is rich with suspense and intrigue, the conclusion feels abrupt and underwhelming. After so much careful layering, the payoff doesn’t quite match the promise of the setup, leaving a sense of unfinished business. It’s a good read overall, especially for fans of literary thrillers, but the ending may leave some readers wanting more.

In 2023, Cameron, a teacher in his twenties, returns for Christmas to his family in the coastal village of St Rule (modelled on St Andrews?), in Fife, Scotland, ten years after graduating from school there. His visit home, prompted by a recent break-up, revives memories of his student life and of a momentous end-of-school party, during which his friend Joanie was cheated on by her then-boyfriend. This leads him to realize that he has not heard from his old school companion in a long time. His attempts to trace her and catch up, however, are unexpectedly and mysteriously stonewalled — including by some of his closest friends. When Cameron starts receiving threats, he figures out that his curiosity might well be dangerous...

I had lapped up Francine Toon’s debut novel Pine, with its mix of mystery and supernatural Gothic, set in Scotland, a country I love. Bluff had enough similarities to pique, and retain, my interest: the same Scottish setting, a mystery at its heart, and Gothic overtones verging on dark academia. Toon also skillfully employs a mix of alternating narrative voices: a teenage essay by Joanie recounting a break-in at her house that would prove to be a defining moment in her life; the 2013 storyline, narrated in the third person, charting Joanie’s increasing involvement with the enigmatic Erin and David; and the “present” timeline, narrated by Cameron in the first person.

Yet Bluff never quite surpasses Pine. Toon’s second novel feels as if it’s straining to capture the same atmosphere, but with a plot that is less convincing. When the explanations arrive, somewhat rushed in the final chapters, they feel anticlimactic and their impact is underwhelming. As mystery thrillers go, this is a good and entertaining read, but hardly an unforgettable one.

3.5*

I don’t know how to feel about this. I felt like they’ll pacing was a bit off - there was lots of backstory at the beginning and then everything happened in the last 20%. I loved Pine but this one wasn’t for me.

This story is told by two protagonists across two timelines:

In 2013 on a night to celebrate graduation from school, a devastating incident sends Joanie on a different path and into the orbit of an enthralling older couple.

In 2023, Cameron takes a trip home to Fife. For the first time in ten years, he thinks of his former school friend, Joanie, and sets about finding out what happened to her.

Ideal for fans of arm’s length narration and the slow, sure building of suspense.

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

Upon publication I will post this review on my blog.

Dripping with dread and atmosphere, with echoes of teenage angst and dark academia, this story grabs you and doesn’t let go!

This was different from Pine but the storytelling is just as taut and thrilling. In ways, it reminded me of Kala with our teenage protagonists, suffocating small town environment, and mystery. I can’t say enough about how well done the scene setting and buildup is in this book, I’m not sure the climax fully does it service as the last 20% or so felt a bit rushed, but I enjoyed the time I spent with this book. It’s tricky not to race through it in one sitting!