Agatha Christie was the first mystery writer I loved, and she set me on the path of following female authors who wrote mysteries featuring female protagonists. Of course Ms. Marple was a lot older than Kinsey Millhone or Tess Monaghan, but it generally didn’t take her as long to figure out who the killer was as it took those young whippersnappers. But that wasn’t the reason I preferred her to Hercule Poirot. It was because Ms. Marple was always getting invited to those wonderful weekend parties at some rich friend’s seaside or country estate. She had a lot of friends; there were a lot of parties, and sure someone usually died but there was tea and lovely strolls in the garden or by the sea, so what’s a dead body or two in exchange for all that?

Author Catriona McPherson, who won an Agatha award for her mystery Quiet Neighbors, must have been similarly inspired by Ms. Marple, because her current mystery, Go to My Grave, takes place at one of those British seaside houses. See the rest of my review by clicking the link below:

How have I just now discovered the fabulous Catriona McPherson?! I loved this book. Omg the characters are so much fun to hate! I was swept up in this story. It was a bit weird for me as I actually know a Donna Weaver so now I am slightly suspicious of her. Ha. I will definitely be reading more of Catriona’s books. I was hooked from the first page.

4-5 stars. I was a bit nervous about this book, because it's not my normal type, but something grabbed me and I am really glad it did. This book is so beautifully written, it's hard not to get sucked in. I found myself hardly able to set this book down, because of the way the author writes. It was a bit confusing, because of all the different characters, but because of the way it was written, I was able to look past it.
One I will be highly recommending after a short break in Chapter Chatter Pub. I think it's one of those books that makes readers understand how books can be considered beautiful.

There’s nothing more important than family, they say. But I think the suspenseful thriller Go to My Grave will have you questioning that assumption. To say the main family in this book is dysfunctional is an understatement. This book has a whole cast of unreliable narrators isolated in a bed and breakfast for the weekend, and surrounded by mysterious happenings. This book has a vintage feel that I quite enjoyed! A cast of characters, all with secrets to keep, and a host left to sort through the mystery. And the twists! Gosh are they dark!

About the Book

Donna and her mother have finally realized their dream of opening a coastal bed and breakfast. They’ve purchased a house they call The Breakers, located on a remote stretch of beach. With pops of soft lavender, fresh flowers, and luxury accommodations, The Breakers is sure to be a go-to getaway destination.
On their first weekend open they have a group of guests celebrating their cousin’s Sasha’s birthday. But as the guests arrive, Donna begins to wonder about the family. They’ve been here before, they say. Something familiar about the house and beach—a summer getaway twenty-five years earlier. And a secret that they have sworn to keep to their graves.

Amidst lavish meals and white-glove service, mysterious events begin to occur. One of them has arranged this weekend on purpose, and that person is ready to reveal the secrets from so many years ago...

Reflection

Well this is quite a book! Dark and atmospheric, with a seriously twisted family at the center of it all. By the end I found myself SHOCKED by the things that were revealed. And the mystery itself was unsettling—the weekend shrouded in a mist of uncertainty that keeps the reader guessing.

Then we have the flashbacks to 1991—the week that the family was here the last time. The house had a different name, different owners, and a different feel, but it was the same house. And we all know that some buildings seem to have a memory of their own. It seems inevitable that this family would return here and all of their secrets would come back to life—lurking away in the ebb and flow of the tide, up inside of the fireplace, and hidden in locked cupboards. Someone wants to reveal the truth, and the question is if they can be silenced in time.

Another unsettling element to this novel is having Donna as the narrator and protagonist. Donna is actually the lone shining beacon in this novel. She is untainted by the grime that seems to cover this family, and the secrets they’ve kept locked away. Donna is new to the family, so she doesn’t have the backstory to fill us in on any details. Donna is pure, and because of that, she is a fantastic narrator. We see the story unfold through her eyes, without preconceived ideas or bias. And with a cast as unreliable as this one, Donna is a much-needed guide through the mystery!

You won’t really find many to root for in this novel. This family is seriously twisted! But by the end, I think you’ll find sympathy in characters you’d never believe that you’d empathize with. And that is really credit to Catriona McPherson’s writing!

Thank you to Minotaur Books and St Martin’s Press for my copy to review.

Go to My Grave by Catriona McPherson is a thriller that gives the reader a group of unreliable characters and puts them into close proximity to keep the reader guessing. This one also takes this set up to a new level in which you not only have the current timeline but also one from the past with a different point of view in each timeline.

In the present timeline of the story Donna Weaver has put everything into remodeling and old bed and breakfast and is anticipating the opening. When her guests begin to arrived Donna finds that she has a house full of cousins who seem to have been to the property years ago and carry a secret from that time.

In 1991 this group was together at the same location for a sixteenth birthday party. That night of the party started out well but things eventually got out of hand and ended in a girl walking into the sea. Those left vowed to cover up the secrets of that night but now returning to the scene it seems someone is looking for the truth.

Go to My Grave is one of those atmospheric and dark tales that should keep a reader guessing on who to trust with no one seeming reliable. However, there really is a fine line between and untrustworthy/suspicious character and more of what I found here which was simply unlikable. I have trouble enjoying a story tremendously when I don’t care if the suspects become victims or not and that would be a case here. There’s an ok mystery behind the characters but I would have preferred connecting to them a bit more.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Go to My Grave is a creepy Gothic thriller. Just when you think you have everything figured out, you are wrong and something surprises you that you missed. This book was written well and I enjoyed the characters.

Accomplished dual mysteries wrapped in an artful gothic atmosphere. Go to My Grave tells the story of two parties that went horribly wrong.

“They were terrified. Every last one of them.”

Donna and her mother spent their last dime opening The Breakers, a bed and every meal (rather than just breakfast), on the Galloway coast. Kim decides to have a surprise tenth anniversary party there with her husband Sasha and his six cousins. Little does she know that Sasha and his cousins spent another harrowing weekend there 25 years earlier.

When someone begins leaving hints of what happened at the long ago birthday party, the cousins start to fall apart. Their pledge of keeping it in a box, stitching their lips and going to their grave with it clearly forgotten.

Alternating between telling the tales of the anniversary party and the birthday party 25 years before, Go to My Grave has some extremely creepy atmosphere. There are several possible endings for each tale making the mystery intriguing. Some of the slang used was unique. Neither my Kindle nor I could figure some of them out.

Overall, Go to My Grave is a first-rate gothic mystery for the windy fall days around Halloween. Perfect for mystery fans who want a touch of dread in their books. 4 stars!

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an advance copy.

I've enjoyed other standalone novels by Catriona McPherson because she is skilled at heightening suspense and in creating characters that grab my interest. She's got plenty of suspense here in Go to My Grave, and the character of Donna Weaver certainly grabbed my interest. So, too, did the element of running a bed and breakfast on a beach in Scotland because I've enjoyed stays in more than one place like that.

The story is compelling, told in two timelines. One, in 1991, in the voice of a teenage girl invited to that fateful birthday party, and the other in the voice of Donna, the co-owner of The Breakers, in the present day. Both voices are forceful, making readers want to keep turning the pages. Both voices make readers want to know what really happened at that birthday party and who is responsible for what is happening at The Breakers now.

Unfortunately, I deduced what was going on almost immediately, and I came close to skipping to the end to find out if I was right because this group of cousins is nothing more than a pack of entitled, self-indulgent pillocks who've never taken responsibility for their actions in their entire lives. At one point, I closed the book and thought-- very loudly-- "Would someone stick a knife in that man!" because one of them is obnoxious beyond belief.

But you know what? Donna's voice kept me reading until the very end, and although this isn't one of my finest reading experiences this year, I'm glad I finished it. I will admit that, if the next book I pick up has a similar cast of characters, I won't finish reading it!

Donna's got a lot on her hands with her new B&B and then her first customers.......Wow. This is a twisty gothic which moves back and forth between 1991 and the present. It's not clear immediately what's going on with this group of cousins but for sure you'll be glad you aren't related to them. Hard to review without spoilers, this isn't as tense as it could be but it's a very good read. We can argue about the ending but heck, it's certainly a pay off. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This was good! I like it when the author lets you figure it out, but not quite all of it! Instead we get what feels like a very classic British mystery: people reunited in a country house where something took place several years prior. Then things start happening. Someone wants revenge. Who? And for what? Ms. McPherson makes sure the story doesn't feel too old by adding a few modern twists and a wicked ending. I've seen many people feel the ending is implausible and I partially agree with them; however, based on how the characters were developed and the story was written, it wouldn't be too far off base and definitely worth the read to find out for yourself!

Donna Weaver is hopeful that the bed and breakfast she and her mom have just opened will be successful. Donna is nervous about an upcoming booking because her mom has to be away for a conference, but thinks she has things under control. The eight guests arrive to "The Breakers" but become uneasy when begin to have a feeling they've been to the house before. Unexplained things begin to occur that have Donna and her guests fearing for their safety and their sanity.

The set-up for this book is intriguing with guests at a bed and breakfast returning to the scene of a long ago tragedy. The story is told both in the present and through flashbacks to another gathering at the house twenty-five years earlier. When the book is at its best, there is a creepy, Gothic vibe in the atmosphere and the events going on at the seaside house in Galloway, Scotland. However, the scariness changes to confusion when some of the the events and their explanations don't add up.

Some of the events that are described from the party in 1991 are disturbing and unpleasant to read. Most of the characters in the book, even Donna, are unpleasant and/or shallow. Some are horrible to each other while others sit back passively and take it. However, I must say that even when the book became strange and confusing, it continued to keep my interest. I was able to put some of the pieces of the peculiar things going on at "The Breakers" and how they were tied to the past, I couldn't have guessed all of it. The ultimate reveal was surprising and the book had a strange, but somehow satisfying ending. I would rate the book as 3.5 stars.

I received this book from NetGalley, through the courtesy of Minotaur. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

I've greatly enjoyed Catriona McPherson's previous books a great deal, but Go to My Grave didn't appeal to me as much.

This book felt more manipulative than McPherson's previous books. The characters were stereotypical and not really engaging, not even Donna. I suspected the big twist and did not find it especially believable.

Read in September.

NetGalley/St. Martin's Press
Mystery/Suspense. Oct. 23, 2018. Print length: 304 pages.

Donna is setting up for a weekend of catering to guests in the full-service beach house rental that she owns with her mother. This weekend she is on her own to look after a group of cousins that have booked the house to celebrate a wedding anniversary. As the guests begin to arrive, she can tell something is off. There is arguing, an abusive relationship, and most of all the revelation that they have been here before, and something significant and tragic happened on their last visit twenty-five years ago. A mysterious crate of food arrives, suspicious items are found hidden around the house, and all the cell phones are missing… The novel also flashes back to 1991, and begins to piece the story together.

This novel is dark and atmospheric, and by the end I could not put it down. I found Donna to be an unreliable narrator, mainly because I was questioning everything that happened. We are not sure in the beginning if or how the girl in 1991 connects to any of the present-day characters. I was confused in many parts of this book. Some of it is intentional; we are supposed to be wondering: Who is terrorizing the guests? Is it one of them or is someone else there? What happened in this house so long ago, and was Donna involved somehow? However, there were other instances where I found the writing to be confusing- there were words I didn’t understand, and parts where I couldn’t picture the scenario clearly. It is suspenseful and surprising. I did not piece everything together by the end, and was definitely caught off guard by the big reveal. That said, it was quite out there, and I’m still not sure how some aspects fit in.

I loved the dark, haunting atmosphere that Catriona McPherson creates in Go to My Grave. It is all about the big twist, and from the beginning you know that it is coming. The foreboding is intricate and very well done. For me, it started out slowly but by the end it had turned into a unique, twisty mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Characters we love to hate, and this book presents numerable choices. A new B&B, Donna and her mother bought and spruced up this old house, and are now expecting their first guests. A 10th Anniversary party, attended by a group of family members, all of similar age. Things are prepared, even though Donna's Mom leaves her in charge to attend a conference on the hotel industry in order to drum up some more bookings. Although Donna is a little hesitant to attempt this on her own, the house looks lovely, the menu mostly planned. What could possibly go wrong? And then they begin arriving.........

I love how this suthor puts her stories together, building layer upon layer, discovery upon discovery. There are secrets here, always secrets, but these cousins and spouses have a history, a locked box where the secrets are kept, so to speak. But it seems someone has decided to let some of them out in a terrifying manner. Can one believe one's own eyes?

Darkly atmospheric, things appear, disappear, we're they ever really there? The tension builds, some past history is exposed. Like Donna, we are confused, this author is so good at keeping the reader off balance. One of a handful of authors whose psychological thrillers I always look forward to reading.

ARC from Netgalley.

I featured this book on my blog in a post about what to read in October. The link and my thoughts will be included in a note to the publisher when I sent in my opinion in the next stage here.

"Donna Weaver has put everything she has into restoring The Breakers, an old bed and breakfast on a remote stretch of beach in Galloway. Now it sits waiting―freshly painted, richly furnished, filled with flowers―for the first guests to arrive.

But Donna's guests, a contentious group of estranged cousins, soon realize that they’ve been here before, years ago. Decades have passed, but that night still haunts them: a sixteenth birthday party that started with peach schnapps and ended with a girl walking into the sea.

Each of them had made a vow of silence: “lock it in a box, stitch my lips, and go to my grave.”

But now someone has broken the pact. Amid the home-baked scones and lavish rooms, someone is playing games, locking boxes, stitching lips. And before the weekend is over, at least one of them will go to their grave."

A new Catriona McPherson book means a new book for my bookshelf.

Talk about a twister! First you will look at the guests, and think coincidence. Then you start wondering if their is evil afoot....then gothic eerieness sets in and you start to wonder if this is the light mystery you thought it was! This book straddles the line between mystery and gothoic noir so deftly, you won't realize you're reading a gothic tale, til the last few chapters, when you can't stop reading! There's a reason Catriona has won two Agatha Awards, as she keeps you reguessing in this book! Make sure this "Who REALLY done it years ago? AND now" thriller is on your fall reading list!

I was definitely intrigued by this novel right away. I absolutely loved the gothic mystery vibe that McPherson has going on for her readers at play here.

I had fun with this one! It also reminded me of Clue...where people are staying at a hotel/home and have to figure out who is behind the murders and games.

Donna is attempting a new business with her Bed and Breakfast home open to guests. Once the guests start arriving... the weaving web of darkness and malice start to irrupt. Who is behind all the sinister games and why does it appear that the guests have been here before?

I was definitely entertained once the games and action started but unfortunately the ending was wayyy to far fetched in my opinion. It was a tad bit slow in the beginning... and I felt like there was too many little loose ends that didn't quite add up in my opinion.

I enjoyed McPherson's ability to paint a very dark sinister environment here and can definitely see her talent in this one.

Huge thank you to Minotaur/St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest thoughts.


Overall... 3.5 grave stars rounded down on this one!

Publication date: 10/23/18
Published to GR: 9/30/18

When her B&B is rented for a weekend Donna is very excited. She’s worked so hard to get the old place in shape. Now its ready for the first guests. The guests who arrive are related by marriage or blood and don’t seem overly fond of each other or the guests of honor – a sibling and his wife celebrating a special anniversary. As soon as the house is full odd things begin to happen. The reactions of everyone involved could be deemed telling – to someone who knows what’s going on. At times I was reminded of an Agatha Christie mystery. There’s the beautiful Inn, loosely related guests, and things that disappear or appear at unexpected times. But then something big happens and the smaller incidents don’t seem that minor anymore. I found the reveal interesting but, honestly, I almost gave up on this book a couple of times. Most of the characters were self-involved boors who acted horribly at one time or another, if not most of the time. The novel is mostly set in the present time but occasionally moves to the early 90s – one night in particular when unspeakable things happened. This group thought they’d go to their graves with the secrets from that night. But will they? For me it was an okay read but fans of this style of mystery might have a different opinion.

A diabolical plot reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, but with a twist and a flick.
A 10-year wedding anniversary celebration turns sour when those attending realize they have been in the house before with deadly consequences. My first Catriona McPherson book. It will not be my last.