This was a multiple POV fast paced thriller. It was twisty and a little disorienting which I loved. The POV switched around quickly and you really had to pay attention to figure out whose POV you were in. I enjoyed this one.

The latest standalone by Gilly Macmillan, The Long Weekend, isn’t your standard closed circle mystery. Instead of being on a faraway island, a train, or high on a mountain top, Macmillan’s characters find themselves in a remote barn in the middle of nowhere. And because things never go right in stories like these, the start of the weekend begins with three women driving up to their annual couples getaway together without their husbands, who can’t make it immediately.

Straight-laced Jayne and flighty Ruth have been friends a long time, but feisty new bride Emily is an outsider and making little effort to change that. They’re also feeling the absence of their friend Rob, who recently passed away, and his wife Edie, who couldn’t bear to join their annual holiday without him. The evening promises to be an awkward one. Naturally, it goes from bad to worse.

Waiting for them on the table is a package with a carefully written note. In it, the not-so- mysterious E tells them that she’s leaving to start a new life—and that she killed one of their husbands before she left. The wives, now deep into the countryside, have no cell service, no internet, no easy way back to their host’s farmhouse and, oh, by the way, a violent storm is rolling in. Jayne and Ruth know Edie to be a trickster and a lover of all things dramatic. So did she write this note just to ruin their holiday without her, or is someone really dead? As the wives stay in limbo, the narrative quickly makes it clear through the killer’s perspective that someone has, indeed, been murdered.

Macmillian’s dark homage to the 1949 Joseph Mankiewicz film A Letter to Three Wives kicks off with a bang and just keeps the twists coming. Set mainly over the course of three days, the breakneck pace only slows down long enough to inspect each of the wives insecurities in turn and reveal how fragile their relationships really are. These are flawed, very human women who immediately commence arguing, breaking down, and getting nearly nothing done. On top of everything, their host, John Elliott, is suffering from delusions and may be dangerous as he wanders around in the dark. In probably the most nail-biting portion of the plot, Rob and Edie’s daughter Imogen also finds herself hitched to the murder train whether she likes it or not.

Macmillan is a veteran of tales where the past comes back to haunt characters in full force, and The Long Weekend is no exception. If there is any fault in the tightly plotted story, it’s that more attention isn’t given to the husbands and their childhood friendships that started it all. The men spend very little time on the page, and what we learn of them comes secondhand—portraits tinted by the lies they’ve told and the emotions at the forefront of their marriages. It seems strange to leave these ties behind in the shadows, strong as the wives are as characters. Regardless, this is a solid entry into Macmillian’s blibliography, and it will keep reader’s guessing until the very end.

This isn't my favorite novel by the author but I respect her willingness to try new things especially in an age where it seems like every Thriller is pumped out to be the beginning of a series.

Gilly Macmillan is a personal favorite, and this book does not disappoint. The twists and turns are unexpected but never implausible, love it.

Another fantastic book by a must- read author. Through her writing you get absorbed into these characters lives and situations. On the edge of my chair reading!

WOW! What a great read. This story has been well written with the twists and turns, in depth character development and intense story lines.

Gilly MacMillan takes you deep into each character, experiencing their deep seeded feelings that torture each and every one of them. The plot that she starts with moves along keeping you engaged. Now, there a couple of times I has to re-read a page or two as characters overlap as the author tells the story of a ‘gang’ of friends (Paul, Toby, Mark, Rob and Edie) who were friends all through school and remained a tight group. Although they are go in separate directions in the work lives and all get married, they still gather when one is in crisis.

The story starts on family owned farm for a weekend getaway for the ‘group’. The owners themselves having their own problems and you are taken on a trip with them as well.

The Dark Fell Barn is the retreat the group is going to. Only the women (Jayne, Ruth & Emily) arrive. These three women are battling their own troubles that we join in on. I found myself loving and hating each one and yet at times feeling sorry for each.

Upon their arrival - the note is found that starts the roller coaster moving. One of their husband’s has been murdered!!! The find themselves isolated in acres of land, with no telephone or internet service. All three struggle with is this a prank or is it real?

I don’t want to give too much away - however get ready to settle in, buckle up and get on the ride of suspense, thriller and emotional feelings. You won’t be able to put the book down.

Thank you @gillymacmillan for another great book.

#harpercollinsCanada #netgalley

This was my first from Gilly Macmillan but won't be my last.

What I enjoyed from this one:
- the atmosphere of the secluded barn weekend
- multiple characters points of view to keep you guessing
- secrets

What didn't work for me:
- the long chapters made the story feel like it was dragging a bit in parts
- while the twist was surprising, I was waiting for 1 more surprise at the end that never came

{review} The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan

Pub: March 29, 2022
Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the e-arc to read and review


"Three couples. Two bodies. One secret."

I'm a sucker for a story about old friends with lots of secrets reuniting at an isolated location. Gilly Macmillan does this well in The Long Weekend with a good combination of atmosphere (I do NOT want to go out at night in Dark Fell!), plot twists and interesting characters.

This story takes place over a weekend. Each day is one section of the book. This took some getting used to at the beginning as I kept wondering when the next chapter would show up, but I easily settled into the style. The multiple POVs, including one unknown narrator, keeps things moving in the longer sections.

While it was a longer read for me, it was well worth the time. I look forward to her next book!

The Long Weekend didn't take me nearly that amount of time to finish. An un-put-downable, twisty thriller with an ending I did not see coming.

Thank you to William Morrow and Custom House and NetGalley for this copy of The Long Weekend by Gilly Macmillan.

Three couples have planned a weekend away at a remote and isolated location. Leading up to it, the three husband all have things come up – so they send their wives ahead with the promise to arrive the following day. Once the wives arrive, there is a note waiting – from the wife of the fourth couple, who is newly widowed and not joining in on the weekend. She also reveals that at least one of their husbands will have been murdered by the time they read the note.

A storm hits and everyone is stuck with no cell service – a perfect thriller set-up!

The book is told from multiple POVs, which at times could be hard to keep track of who I was reading about, but in general worked for me. With lots of surprises and twists, this was a fun thriller I would recommend.

From my blog: Always With a Book

Ever since reading Gilly Macmillan’s debut novel, What She Knew, back in 2015, I knew this was an author I was going to follow and read everything she wrote…and so far she has not let me down! I love that she has her books with familiar characters – DI Jim Clemo – and then she has her stand-alones, and each and every one stands out as having just enough twists and turns to keep you engaged without going over the top and they are also brilliantly crafted, and this latest one is no exception!

This book captivated me from the start. I remember I read it while I was away (yes…this review is a bit late, but life totally got in the way of me getting it written!) and I was totally consumed by it. Once I started reading it, I didn’t want to put it down and if I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it…to me, that’s always the sign of a good book! I loved how mysterious the book was – I cannot even imagine going off on a trip with people I don’t know that well…but perhaps that’s just me. But then, as if that isn’t strange enough, things take a weird turn when a package arrives with a very ominous message.

This book was so mysterious and that is what kept me flipping the pages. I loved that it wasn’t just that I never knew what to expect, but that as the story progresses, I started to not know who I could trust, especially as we started getting their backstories. Who was behind all this?

As I already mentioned, I devoured this one and while the lack of chapters didn’t bother me, I can see where it might not be to everyone’s liking. It’s broken down by the long days of the weekend, which goes with the overall theme of the book. Again, it worked for me but might be a deterrent for some. But if you can get past that, I definitely think you will enjoy this crazy ride…for it sure was one long weekend for these characters…one I’m sure not going to be forgetting anytime soon!

A great twist at the end, but the I just did not enjoy this book. I know the disjointed storytelling is supposed to lend itself to thrillers but I did not like it.

My thoughts are kind of mixed on this one. I didn't want to put it down and it was fast-paced with many red herrings. To counter that however, it seemed like there were TOO many things going on sometimes which were over the top, even for a novel in this genre. I also question why you would leave your guests in the middle of nowhere without some form of communication to the main house. Some type of long distance walkie-talkie or something. It just doesn't seem practical considering they have no means of transportation.. It was a fun read though and if you enjoy these suspense thrillers then you will likely enjoy this one.

This suspense novel was a fun read with excellent surprises along the way. The premise is a popular one lately - friends away together in a secluded area, etc, but this one is done well and has some great twists! Thank you to William Marrow and NetGalley for the ARC!

The Long Weekend is a phenomenal thriller from start to finish. Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked. The characters are well-developed. The story is incredibly fast-paced. This is one not to be missed! Highly recommended! Be sure to check out The Long Weekend today.

3 couples are supposed to spend the weekend together in a remote barn in Northumbria. However, all three men have reasons not to come the first day and the three wives drive up alone. But they arrive to find a letter in the barn which sets off a train of events that lead to lies, injuries and even death. A good page-turner with a few twists (some slightly unbelievable). Quick read.

This book kept me guessing as the author very cleverly made the narrator unknown to the reader and I spent a lot of the book thinking we were getting the story from one characters perspective only to find out it was another

Very well done

I wanted to like this one so badly, but I ended up ultimately confused most of the time. The characters were all very flawed, which I don’t normally mind, but these ladies all seemed to run together for me. It tended to be hard to distinguish one from the other. I found it a bit tedious to get through unfortunately.

Picture it: a Ruth Ware novel, set in a cabin in the woods, but the ending makes sense.

Three couples are meant to be meeting up for a long weekend off-the-grid, but only the wives show up. They discover a letter from their widowed friend which promises to kill one of their husbands. This leads to a good deal of panic and personal injury, but the real threat is even more sinister than what's in the letter.

Elsewhere, Imogen has just been picked up from music camp. Her driver is a killer. She doesn't know that, but she does begin to pick up on some seriously crazy vibes. Eventually, the fates of all of these characters dramatically and painfully intersect.

This book is twisty, but in that good way where you realize halfway through that you've been reading it wrong the whole time. Red herrings abound but are tolerable because they give insights into the characters and help build tension. There is so much tension from beginning to end. Then you get to the end and most of what happens is a believable and natural result of earlier events, rather than a too-neat happy ending.

The Long Weekend is a suspenseful tale of friendship, family, and finding out who you can trust....all gone horribly wrong. Is anyone truly who they say they are? What happens when lies creep in to fill the cracks of relationships with those who are supposed to know you best?

Gilly Macmillan's novel had all the suspense and drama that could ever surround a close group of friends sent off to enjoy a long weekend away from each other, until death and dismemberment decided to rear it's ugly head.

While I enjoyed aspects of this novel, I quickly found myself lost in the amount of characters, who was married to who, who was attracted to who, and who I was supposed to be on the side of. I enjoy a good "locked-room" mystery, and the title and description had me thinking this book would be that. However, I quickly found this story going off the rails with outlandish actions and that made it extremely hard for me to follow.

The redeeming aspect of the book, for me, came about three quarters of the way through when one of the narrators who I thought was giving their point of view actually turned out to be another character completely. Unfortunately, I don't know if this was just super well-done by the author to throw the reader off like that, or if my mind had wandered so much that I missed the narrator identifying who they were early on. Hopefully, it's the former and I can give some entertainment points back to the author for that.

Overall, a suspenseful read, but not one that I found overly memorable or that I will recommend to friends.