Gingerbread House, A

A Gingerbread House, a thriller by Catriona McPherson is deliciously disturbing. Characters are an artful mix of sweet and spicy, just the way you expect a good gingerbread to turn out. The story follows four women, all losing their way in the world. Our main focus is on Tash Dodd, the daughter of a successful shipping company owner. Big Garry is your typical big fish in a little pond, setting up his business outside of the major metro areas. Even though Tash has known a privileged life, she chose to focus on the work, viewing herself as the worker bee of the family while her brother got stoned, her mom upgraded their house, and Big Garry grew the business. But when an unexpected phone call on a hidden phone overturns everything she thought she knew about her family, their business, and the world they’ve built for themselves, Tash makes a run for it. As she travels through rural areas of Scotland, giving the reader little appetizers and tastes of the country, her path crosses with three other women, women who are about to be plunged into a hellscape with very little chance of rescue. The reader will find themselves urging Tash on, willing her to find these vulnerable women and many like them, before it’s too late.

The suspense of this novel is pitch-perfect, starting out at a steady, even clip and building until you simply cannot stop turning the pages. McPherson’s Scottish voice is wonderful, never too complex so that you can’t follow, even if you don’t know the slang-du-jour. The evil lurking on the pages of A Gingerbread House is both in plain site and hiding behind a veil of secrecy. McPherson will keep you guessing until the final pages. I simply loved this thriller and I think thriller fans everywhere should grab this one as soon as it’s available.

Huge thanks to Ms. McPherson, NetGalley, and Severn House for an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

Sweetly Scented Security…
Unpredictable psychological suspense where nothing is as it seems. The Gingerbread House lures with a false sense of sweetly scented security, that sense that all is well. With women disappearing and listed as missing how many more will it take before it is realised that something, somewhere is badly awry? Twists and turns aplenty and a credible cast add to this chilling tale.

Although this book was not my favorite, the story was interesting and the suspense was definitely there. I think the authors style of writing was just different than my taste but I enjoyed it nonetheless.