I've enjoyed other standalone novels by Catriona McPherson because she is skilled at heightening suspense and in creating characters that grab my interest. She's got plenty of suspense here in Go to My Grave, and the character of Donna Weaver certainly grabbed my interest. So, too, did the element of running a bed and breakfast on a beach in Scotland because I've enjoyed stays in more than one place like that.
The story is compelling, told in two timelines. One, in 1991, in the voice of a teenage girl invited to that fateful birthday party, and the other in the voice of Donna, the co-owner of The Breakers, in the present day. Both voices are forceful, making readers want to keep turning the pages. Both voices make readers want to know what really happened at that birthday party and who is responsible for what is happening at The Breakers now.
Unfortunately, I deduced what was going on almost immediately, and I came close to skipping to the end to find out if I was right because this group of cousins is nothing more than a pack of entitled, self-indulgent pillocks who've never taken responsibility for their actions in their entire lives. At one point, I closed the book and thought-- very loudly-- "Would someone stick a knife in that man!" because one of them is obnoxious beyond belief.
But you know what? Donna's voice kept me reading until the very end, and although this isn't one of my finest reading experiences this year, I'm glad I finished it. I will admit that, if the next book I pick up has a similar cast of characters, I won't finish reading it!
The story is compelling, told in two timelines. One, in 1991, in the voice of a teenage girl invited to that fateful birthday party, and the other in the voice of Donna, the co-owner of The Breakers, in the present day. Both voices are forceful, making readers want to keep turning the pages. Both voices make readers want to know what really happened at that birthday party and who is responsible for what is happening at The Breakers now.
Unfortunately, I deduced what was going on almost immediately, and I came close to skipping to the end to find out if I was right because this group of cousins is nothing more than a pack of entitled, self-indulgent pillocks who've never taken responsibility for their actions in their entire lives. At one point, I closed the book and thought-- very loudly-- "Would someone stick a knife in that man!" because one of them is obnoxious beyond belief.
But you know what? Donna's voice kept me reading until the very end, and although this isn't one of my finest reading experiences this year, I'm glad I finished it. I will admit that, if the next book I pick up has a similar cast of characters, I won't finish reading it!
