THE PLOT: ‘The Cliff House’ by Chris Brookmyre is a thriller set during a luxury hen (bachelorette) party. Newly minted Jen is taking her besties to a private island to celebrate her upcoming wedding. A widow, this is Jen’s second time at marriage and she’s determined to make it work. The only problem is that a few of the guests don’t get on. Her oldest friends, pop diva Michelle and ex-bandmate Helena, haven’t spoken in years. Plus, she felt obligated to invite her grumpy ex-sister-in-law (from her first marriage) and her mouthy future-sister-in-law. In the midst of the celebrations, there is a murder and one of them disappears…

RATING: An eight-time bridesmaid (four completed, four upcoming), I’m no stranger to planning a hen party which is why I was excited to read this book. It didn’t disappoint and made me want to read more thrillers as I devoured it in a few days. The murder mystery element kept me hooked as I tried to guess the killer and their motivations, while the hen party element added some girly, gossipy fun to the whole affair. Although I got confused at the multiple-POVs in the beginning, this added so much suspense and intrigue as I simply could not figure out the twist. Even when I’d half guessed it an extra element took me by surprise and kept me on the edge of my seat.

GOOD BITS:  This novel is all about plot and pacing. The super short chapters meant I could always convince myself to read “just one more” before bed. The clues were subtle but well-spaced out, allowing me to come up with several theories about who the murder was and why. There were also a lot of red herrings, which will take people down the wrong path. I guessed an important connection between two characters very early on but I really didn’t see the extra twist to that dynamic coming. There is also a slight social justice aspect about have’s and have-not’s which satisfied my general taste for deeper themes and meaning.

NOT SO GOOD BITS: There are about seven POVs and really short chapters, which meant I struggled to keep track of who each character was. Coupled with a million-character names – each one was introduced along with their spouse (or ex-spouse), kids, colleagues, dentists etc. – I had no idea what was going on for around fifty pages. As the multi-POV spiced up the murder mystery, I think this could have been solved by trimming the number of named characters to the bare minimum in the first five chapters. Additionally, I also baulked at this being written by a male author. I know gender shouldn’t matter but I think a female author would’ve captured some more snarky/ passive aggressive hen party tones. In particular, I felt Nicolette’s storyline didn’t fully add up and her secret might’ve been more realistic if nuanced by a female author.

OVERALL: I’d recommend this book to lovers of ‘The Glass Onion’ (film) or ‘Three Hours’ by Rosamund Lupton. I don’t read too much in this genre so I don’t have the best comps but if you want a fast-paced whodunnit to read poolside, this is your book.

Thank you to Little Brown for my #gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. This book was released in May 2023 and is available to order on my bookshop.org profile.