In an isolated retreat, deep in the Northumbria moors, three women arrive for a weekend getaway.
Their husbands will be joining them in the morning. Or so they think.
But when they get to Dark Fell Barn, the women find a devastating note that claims one of their husbands has been murdered. Their phones are out of range. There’s no internet. They’re stranded. And a storm’s coming in.
Friendships fracture and the situation spins out of control as each wife tries to find out what’s going on, who is responsible and which husband has been targeted.
This was a tight-knit group. They’ve survived a lot. But they won’t weather this. Because someone has decided that enough is enough.
That it’s time for a reckoning.
My thoughts: this was an interesting read, the heightened fears of the the three women in an isolated place, the nameless narrator of alternating chapters (who isn’t who I thought it was) and the sinister nature of the threat left with a bottle of champagne all slowly reveal someone very disturbed at the heart of this supposedly close knit group.
Ruth, Emily and Jayne are woefully unprepared for the remoteness of the Northumbrian farm they’re staying on, especially as the weather worsens and they can’t reach their husbands. Wandering about in the dark is a stupid thing to do and it pulls the farming family who own the land into their mess, ending in tragedy.
Meanwhile our villain is back home carrying out their increasingly unhinged plan, unaware of how sloppy they’ve been and of the various loose ends left everywhere. As morning arrives and people finally reconnect, their plan starts to unravel and they become more volatile.
Shocking and brutally violent, everyone is forced to deal with some pretty serious home truths about themselves and each other. But resolution is needed to continue, even if nothing will ever be the same.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 