The Cliff House: One hen weekend, seven secrets… but only one worth killing for

Product Information

I had a suspicion of which of the ladies was involved from pretty early on, but the ending did offer something more.

For a change there are no characters popping up from previous books, even in the smallest cameo appearance, but there are some similarities to earlier books. The premise of a hen party on a remote Scottish island is a bit like the oil rig scenario in One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night, right don to having one of the characters being an old friend who is now a celebrity. Like that book and 'Tale Etched in Blood' there is a large number of characters that it takes a while to get your head round, and like many of CB's books there are strong female characters. One of their number has been abducted and is being held by The Reaper until someone admits their sins and makes reparations. Of course these people, including Lauren have all done things they are not proud of and they all have secrets. They have no idea who the actual target is. So of course nobody wants to go first! Thinking about The Cliff House in particular, he says: “It’s very much about, if you put a whole lot of people on a small island and they realise somebody dangerous is on the loose and you’ve got this contained environment, the reader can be sure that all the components are already there.

We have been to St Andrews a lot but the Elie is one of these wee areas of Fife that you tend to bypass. Cosy Conversations on the Coast From the top, the plot was where this story soared. Starting off as a slow burn as the women arrived and their relationships were established, things really got underway about a quarter of the way into the book. From there on out, the revolving door of multiple POVs kept me just as bamboozled as the characters themselves. And while each of their individual thoug Get ready for a closed circle mystery like no other. One that asks: how well do you really know anybody, even your oldest acquaintance? And what if your best friend is really your worst enemy? If it’s nothing, why did you delete it? Yes, I looked. You emptied the trash too. That’s a lot of steps for nothing.’

Set in a luxury retreat on a private island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the action unfolds with a weekend hen party organised by the bride-to-be, a self-made millionaire with a pop star in the mix. “One party, seven secrets, one worth killing for,” says the publisher’s pitch. But it’s more than that. The novel is an exploration of friendship and forgiveness with a killer twist and an upbeat conclusion. Chris Brookmyre recently sat down with The Big Thrill discussing his latest domestic thriller, THE CLIFF HOUSE. When it is the winter months coming in, having somewhere for people to gather and in a cosy environment for a cosy discussion certainly seemed to create a conducive atmosphere to talk about books,” he enthuses. Chris Brookmyre on books – what’s he reading? Jennifer is forty-two and getting married for the second time, but that doesn’t mean she can’t go all out for her bachelorette weekend. She’s taking her closest friends to the kind of place that has a years-long waiting list for a booking: three days of super-exclusive luxury accommodation on a remote Scottish island. So excited by the complicated means of transport required to get to the island, no one gives much thought to the implications for getting off again, especially if the weather should turn. But why would they? They’re in for a time they will never forget. Just not for the reasons they imagine. Once it gets going, the story is what you would expect and hope for: twists, turns, a bit of gore, some Glaswegian dialect and the odd pop culture references thrown in.

Chris Brookmyre on books – what’s he reading?

This is a story of friendships, secrets and lies from the past and what happens when those secrets start to emerge and cause enormous problems for everyone. From the synopsis, I thought the story would be a phycological thriller, but, I'm afraid I felt slightly let down by the pace, which for me was too slow. However, the book redeemed itself with the writing and the actual idea for the plot of the story which was actually a really good one. Being isolated from friends during the pandemic that led to me thinking about the family of friendship and different levels of friendship.

No,’ Zaki replied. ‘You should take the weekend to have some distance, have a good time. Maybe it will let you get some perspective.’ Chris Brookmyre's latest psychological thriller is set on Clachan Geal, a small remote Scottish island on the edge of the Atlantic, a beautiful, windswept place on which is located an exclusive, luxurious and expensive mansion for hire, with attractions such as an infinity pool and golf course. Jen is a successful business woman who has recently sold Muffin Finer, although she remains the head of the company, leaving her an extremely wealthy woman. She is engaged to be married for the second time to her fiance, Zaki Hussain, although she has a few niggles about him. She has booked the island mansion from the owner, property developer, single mother Lauren, for the celebration of her hen night with a group of female friends, each of whom it is trailed from the beginning, are women with closely guarded secrets. Dark, heartfelt, stylish and thrilling, the kind of wonderfully original tale I just adore. Chris Brookmyre is a storytelling mastermind' And then there are people we might have some family connection with but who we don’t particularly get on with. I wanted to write about what friendship really means to people in different ways and how that works out over the course of years. But, crucially, I wanted to write about who we can trust. The person who might be closest on the surface is maybe the person who knows all our vulnerabilities. P.S. can add its voice to the praise, rating the writer’s latest offering, The Cliff House, among his best yet. The book is his 27th in 25 years as a novelist and comes in addition to the Ambrose Parry series written with his doctor-turned-author wife, Marisa Haetzman.I’m sorry to be so critical. The prose is good and others who enjoy this genre may well like the book, but for me it was just a string of stale, implausible characters and situations. I hope that Brookmyre will hive us another Parlabane book, but it seems that his other fiction is really not for me.

The extent to which you might enjoy this convoluted and twisty tale will very much depend on your willingness to suspend disbelief. The initial set up is a little far fetched however at around the halfway point it stretches the bounds of credulity to beyond breaking point, and by the conclusion it's just plain ludicrous. I do plot things out quite carefully but you always need room to allow the characters to breathe – it’s always a kind a balancing act.”He had been right. It was her problem. She had never fully trusted him, and at the root of it was this inescapable fear that he was too good to be true.