Book Review: Go to My Grave | Catriona McPherson

There’s nothing more important than family, they say. But I think the suspenseful thriller Go to My Grave will have you questioning that assumption. To say the main family in this book is dysfunctional is an understatement. This book has a whole cast of unreliable narrators isolated in a bed and breakfast for the weekend, and surrounded by mysterious happenings. This book has a vintage feel that I quite enjoyed! A cast of characters, all with secrets to keep, and a host left to sort through the mystery. And the twists! Gosh are they dark!

About the Book

Donna and her mother have finally realized their dream of opening a coastal bed and breakfast. They’ve purchased a house they call The Breakers, located on a remote stretch of beach. With pops of soft lavender, fresh flowers, and luxury accommodations, The Breakers is sure to be a go-to getaway destination.

On their first weekend open they have a group of guests celebrating their cousin’s Sasha’s birthday. But as the guests arrive, Donna begins to wonder about the family. They’ve been here before, they say. Something familiar about the house and beach—a summer getaway twenty-five years earlier. And a secret that they have sworn to keep to their graves.

Amidst lavish meals and white-glove service, mysterious events begin to occur. One of them has arranged this weekend on purpose, and that person is ready to reveal the secrets from so many years ago…

Reflection

Well this is quite a book! Dark and atmospheric, with a seriously twisted family at the center of it all. By the end I found myself SHOCKED by the things that were revealed. And the mystery itself was unsettling—the weekend shrouded in a mist of uncertainty that keeps the reader guessing.

Then we have the flashbacks to 1991—the week that the family was here the last time. The house had a different name, different owners, and a different feel, but it was the same house. And we all know that some buildings seem to have a memory of their own. It seems inevitable that this family would return here and all of their secrets would come back to life—lurking away in the ebb and flow of the tide, up inside of the fireplace, and hidden in locked cupboards. Someone wants to reveal the truth, and the question is if they can be silenced in time.

Another unsettling element to this novel is having Donna as the narrator and protagonist. Donna is actually the lone shining beacon in this novel. She is untainted by the grime that seems to cover this family, and the secrets they’ve kept locked away. Donna is new to the family, so she doesn’t have the backstory to fill us in on any details. Donna is pure, and because of that, she is a fantastic narrator. We see the story unfold through her eyes, without preconceived ideas or bias. And with a cast as unreliable as this one, Donna is a much-needed guide through the mystery!

You won’t really find many to root for in this novel. This family is seriously twisted! But by the end, I think you’ll find sympathy in characters you’d never believe that you’d empathize with. And that is really credit to Catriona McPherson’s writing!

Thank you to Minotaur Books and St Martin’s Press for my copy to review.