The Cliff House: One hen weekend, seven secrets… but only one worth killing for

Product Information

And then there are people we might have some family connection with but who we don’t particularly get on with. I wanted to write about what friendship really means to people in different ways and how that works out over the course of years. But, crucially, I wanted to write about who we can trust. The person who might be closest on the surface is maybe the person who knows all our vulnerabilities. As a fan of Christopher Brookmyre's books I was expecting great things from this, and was not disappointed. Marissa and I did an Ambrose Parry event at Conversations on The Coast about this time last year and we were really quite taken by it – it was a full house and we had a really warm response.” He was originally planning on sending his bride and her guests to New York before deciding that they should have a more isolated party venue. Who can you trust in The Cliff House? This book was pretty good, though with a storyline quite similar to a lot of other recent books. The story centers on Jen, who is getting married and invites a bunch of her girlfriends to a mansion on a secluded island for her bachelorette party. It becomes clear that someone has murderous intentions, but who and why?

Any story of invitations to a select and secluded gathering where death is the true host will inevitably make the seasoned crime reader think of And Then There Were None. There is no point in denying that Agatha Christie’s classic thriller played a part in shaping my book, but THE CLIFF HOUSE is as much subversion as homage. Compelling and brilliant as Christie’s tale might be, on an emotional level I recoil from how literally unforgiving it is, as a group of people are extra-judiciously executed for their secret crimes by a figure representing the rule of law. I wanted to respond to how Christie’s book is about retribution by writing a novel about forgiveness. Jennifer is forty-two and getting married for the second time, but that doesn't mean she can't go all out for her bachelorette weekend. She's taking her closest friends to the kind of place that has a years-long waiting list for a booking: three days of super-exclusive luxury accommodation on a remote Scottish island. So excited by the complicated means of transport required to get to the island, no one gives much thought to the implications for getting off again, especially if the weather should turn. But why would they? They're in for a time they will never forget. Just not for the reasons they imagine. Firstly, Moira! What? For a years-ahead booked super luxurious resort, there is a crazy old lady roaming around? And why? Just.. no. She finally said something conciliatory. ‘We should take the weekend to talk this through. I’ll cancel the trip.’ Dark, heartfelt, stylish and thrilling, the kind of wonderfully original tale I just adore. Chris Brookmyre is a storytelling mastermind'

Advance Praise

This was the first book I have read from this author and I'm not sure after this if I want to read any of his others. I don’t need perspective on us. I think we’re great. It’s just—’‘Not perspective about us, Jen. Perspective about you.’

I do read a lot of crime fiction,” he says, “a lot of it written by my friends because you do end up becoming friends with writers.

The Cliff House and ‘the toy box’

Somewhere isolated might seem quite sinister while at other times it might seem paradoxically secure because you are away from what you are afraid of.” The Cliff House and ‘the toy box’ When it is the winter months coming in, having somewhere for people to gather and in a cosy environment for a cosy discussion certainly seemed to create a conducive atmosphere to talk about books,” he enthuses. Chris Brookmyre on books – what’s he reading? Zaki was different, though. She had to accept that. He was insisting on paying for the honeymoon, which she knew was his way of demonstrating that he wasn’t expecting to leech off her. Unfortunately that meant they were only having a few days in Skye rather than the luxury trip she would have happily sprung for, but it was important to let him have this. The extent to which you might enjoy this convoluted and twisty tale will very much depend on your willingness to suspend disbelief. The initial set up is a little far fetched however at around the halfway point it stretches the bounds of credulity to beyond breaking point, and by the conclusion it's just plain ludicrous.