April 2022

THE LONG WEEKEND by Gilly Macmillan is a truly terrific locked-room thriller. Three women head out of town a day in advance of their husbands for an annual weekend getaway at a secluded location. When they arrive, they receive a note that one of their husbands has been killed. It is signed “E,” the fourth woman who usually joins them. She is skipping this year as her husband died, and she is not comfortable hanging out with the usual group of couples.

The three wives immediately start to ponder if their husband was the one killed. The barn, which has been converted to a rustic but chic getaway spot, has no cell service. (Note: Do we ever see convenient cell service in a thriller plot written after the early ’90s?) A storm has rolled in, and there is no way to get to a place where the women can make contact with the men to see what is going on.

Gilly already plants one twist in early; I dare you to guess it. It is followed by another, and many more! It’s good and edgy in the same way that I devour a Ruth Ware locked-room thriller. Keep close track of the characters, as what you learn about the couples will have a large bearing on what happens.

I am going to memorize the phone numbers of everyone in my family. We rely way too much on numbers loaded into our cell phones for this. When you read the book, you will see why!