Tess has done it again! Another thriller which gets inside your head.

The book is split between past and present chapters which made for a gripping read but tied the story seamlessly together. I had lots of questions about Matt’s history and Callie and what bought her to the retreat.

The story was written well and fast paced and there were a couple of good twists. Overall an enjoyable read for any thriller fans, I really enjoy this authors books.

4.5 ⭐️

Overall, The Highland Retreat was a great whodunnit thriller. The plot was well paced and engaging as the chapters switched between past and present, enabling the reader to learn about Callie and the trauma she was working through. The reminders of how much Callie used to be a party girl became repetitive. The twists were executed well and I enjoyed the ‘locked-room’ vibe that was created being in a remote location.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc.

AHHHH I loved this thriller! Secrets, a manor, crazy weather, suspense, Scottish setting. This book follows Callie as she arrives at a Scottish retreat for writing. This was a fast paced story that I could not put down. It had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Callie arrives at an isolated Scottish writing retreat hoping distance will help her recover from the violence and fear that upended her life six months earlier. We don't know what happened, just that she is barely functioning. The setting should offer quiet, focus, and a chance to begin again, but the manor quickly becomes dangerous. As the layers peel back to the trauma that hurt Callie we learn there are secrets at the manor and not everyone will be getting out alive.

The Highland Retreat has all the pieces of a thriller I enjoy: a remote manor, a group of writers with secrets, and bad weather. to keep a close to locked room setting. Readers who love fast-paced retreat thrillers, remote Scottish settings, and stories where a supposed escape becomes another nightmare will likely have a good time with this. It is readable, atmospheric!

#TheHighlandRetreat #TessMackey #AvonBooksUK #NetGalley

Tess Mackey's first adult thriller is an impressive debut! While the story starts as more of a slow burn, the eerie atmosphere and growing sense of unease kept me turning the pages. The twists completely caught me off guard and made the slower build-up absolutely worth it. If you enjoy suspenseful thrillers with shocking reveals, “The Highland Retreat” is definitely one to pick up.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to read this book ahead of it's release.

After reading the authors first book, The Perfect Wedding I already new that this "Dark Places" series was going to be amazing. This book was even better!

We meet Callie, a member of the secondary wedding party in the previous book who is still suffering 6 months after the tragic events at the wedding. She decides to get away on a writers retreat in the Highlands of Scotland. It soon becomes apparent that recognises a couple of the faces, like she has seen them before. As you find with all things like this, there is good reason for this and it's not long before tragedy unfolds again and everyone is looking at each other to find the culprit.

Delightfully creepy in parts and very well written

A fast-paced thriller that had be gripped throughout and I read it in one setting. The ending was also perfect and not at all what I expected. I cannot wait to read the other books in this series!

The Highland Retreat by Tess Mackey is a gripping and deeply moving read that kept me hooked from the very first page. The story is full of emotion, with characters I quickly became invested in, and the tension never lets up. I stayed up for most of the night because I simply couldn't put it dow. I just had to know what happened next. An unforgettable novel that I highly recommend.

A fast paced read, perfect for when you are in need of a book that will keep you hooked from start to finish.

Absolutely loved this book by Tess Mackey. What an amazing story held at a struggling authors retreat filled with lies, murders and mystery!
The twist was one I would have never in a million years guessed was coming! Definitely another 5 stars from me. This is the second book I’ve read of hers and I enjoyed both of them.

The Highland Retreat is this authors second adult book slipping over from the YA section, I read the first one and loved it but think this is slightly better? As a point it does say in the acknowledgments that this book is an actually her first adult book so maybe this should have come first but didn’t?
This book is an atmospheric read set in the highlands in a creepy part of the world and the perfect place for loneliness and tension. Callie has suffered a lot these last few months and her body is only just functioning day to day life. She’s stuck in a rut and has decided to come here to a writing retreat to help get her back into writing but it’s more like a retreat for her mind as she starts to unravel her past.
This was a creepy read, every creak in the manor made you think it was more, the twists were great and the last half just kept coming and coming. This is definitely a scary thriller and had me galloping through the pages. The dual timeline worked really well and I was sometimes narked that it ended on a cliff hanger to be brought straight back into the other timeline finding out about the last cliffhanger LOL! A decent thriller and had almost a locked room vibe but with lots going on not knowing who to trust from one page to the next. I can’t wait to read the next.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

The Highland Retreat by Tess Mackey is an atmospheric psychological thriller that blends a remote setting with mounting suspense and hidden secrets. The tension builds steadily throughout, with engaging characters and well-timed twists that keep you guessing. A gripping, immersive read.

Another really enjoyable, fast-paced thriller from Tess Mackey. I liked the isolated Highland setting and the writing retreat made a great backdrop for everything that was going on. There was plenty of tension throughout and enough mystery to keep me guessing.

Like The Perfect Wedding, I thought I had a fairly good idea where things were going at points, but there were still some twists and reveals that surprised me. The different timelines worked well for gradually revealing what had happened in the past and how it connected to the present.

An easy, gripping read that kept me interested right to the end. I'll definitely be looking out for more from Tess Mackey.

When there's no signal and nowhere to run, who do you trust?

The Highland Retreat by Tess Mackey is an intensely claustrophobic dark thriller, set against the raw isolation of the Scottish Highlands.

Troubles author Callie retreats to a remote writers' getaway seeking solace, only to find the landline down and no mobile signal for miles, the kind of isolation that turns escaping the world into being trapped in it.

Unsettling noises keep her awake at night, and her unease sharpens into dread when a body is discovered.
Mackey builds tension through a dual timeline told as a story within a story. The present unfolds in the first person, keeping us locked tight to Callie's fear and instinct as the danger escalates. The past, though, is delivered with a subtle remove, as if someone else is recounting Callie's history rather than Callie living it in the moment. That narrative distance is a clever touch, slowly drip feeding what's shaped her and lending real weight to the reveals when they land.

Her remarkable resilience shines through as the body count climbs and the Highland isolation closes in around her.
I rooted for Callie every step of the way as the pace relentlessly ramped up, delivering endless twists and a totally unexpected final reveal that turned everything on it's head. Perfect for fans of twisty locked room thrillers.

My thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC.

This book had me gripped in the best way possible. It was told from two different timelines and both were equally unputdownable. I was desperate to hear more about Matt and Callie but also desperate to know what was going on at the retreat.

While what happened to Matt wasn’t hard to guess, it still left me with such a sad emotional feeling when it was revealed. I’m going to be thinking about his character and this story for a while. It had quite the emotional impact.

I enjoyed Callie as a character. She was fierce, and deeply cared for Matt. I enjoyed reading about her healing progression. The Retreat setting seemed idyllic. This story was filled with suspense, twists, and lots of emotion. Definitely recommend!

this was a really good locked in thriller of a read. basically thriller books at the moment are covering all grounds in terms of teaching us never to go anywhere, haha. in a remote Scottish manor especially. i love th way thriller manage to take something a romance novel could write a delightful, and spin it into something isolating and brooding.
via past and present timelines that weave together nicely we find out just what is going on here. is this just Caliie isn't doing so well so that also brings there a sense of tension and never quite knowing what we can trust.
we know Callie is trying to escape an event that turned her life upside down. and we know she has chosen to do so at a writing retreat. but Callie luv, wherever you go you are and so this might not be as much as a rest and recover as she thinks. certainly not when strange things start to occur, dangerous things.
has danger followed her here? if so why? and will she be able to run from it once again?
the unease in this book is built really well. you are never to far from questions and never too far from wanting to know more. i really like how this world was built by Tess. like i could look up and see out the window the location she was describing. i could feel the sense of dread and just wanted to read and read so i could figure out how it would all piece together.

This is a fast paced thriller, told in two different time lines. I enjoyed it, and didn't see the twist. Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for ARC
3.5⭐️

A well paced thriller that sees Cassie's past,, the past she's tried to wipe away, come back hard when she goes on a writer's retreat. Set in the Scottish highlands (but not as atmospheric as I'd hoped), it's a locked retreat (I know) mystery about who and why. It moves between Cassie's past and her present to tell her story. It's nicely complex (no spoilers) and you will root for Cassie. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.