BOOK REVIEW: The Girls Weekend by Jody Gehrman @jodygehrman @crookedlanebks #bookreview #thegirlsweekend

In Jody Gehrman’s The Girls Weekend, a group of women who are mostly friends (but maybe a bit of frenemies) get together for a reunion, at the large estate owned by queen bee Sadie MacTavish. When Sadie goes missing, they are all suspects… A fun and twist-y read that will definitely have you grabbing for the popcorn!

About the Book

Their reunion just became a crime scene…

June Moody, a thirty-something English professor, just wants to get away from her recent breakup and reunite with girlfriends over summer break. Her old friend and longtime nemesis, Sadie MacTavish, a mega-successful author, invites June and her college friends to a baby shower at her sprawling estate in the San Juan Islands. June is less than thrilled to spend time with Sadie–and her husband, June’s former crush–but agrees to go.

The party gets off to a shaky start when old grudges resurface, but when they wake the next morning, they find something worse: Sadie is missing, the house is in shambles, and bloodstains mar the staircase. None of them has any memory of the night before; they wonder if they were drugged. Everyone’s a suspect. Since June had a secret rendezvous with Sadie’s husband, she has plenty of reason to suspect herself. Apparently, so do the cops.

A Celtic knot of suspense and surprise, this brooding, atmospheric novel will keep you guessing as each twist reveals a new possibility. It will remind you of friendships hidden in the depths of your own past, and make you wonder how well you really know the people you’ve loved the longest.

Reflection

I loved that this is a closed-room mystery. All of the characters who could be suspects are secluded at the MacTavish estate, and I did enjoy puzzling over who I thought might be to blame! I have to say, these women are definite frenemies. They support each other some of the time, but this girls’ weekend definitely brings out some old drama they’d probably rather stay buried!

June is a professor, and from the beginning it is clear she doesn’t want to go to Sadie’s. Why would she? Sadie is married to her ex-boyfriend and former love? Sadie also happens to be a wildly successful author, while June has written a single book that has gone out of print. If I were June, I probably wouldn’t want to go either!

But June has just gone through a pretty awful break-up. The kind of break-up that made me angry just reading about it! Like, her most recent ex-boyfriend is a horrible partner. And as can happen when we suffer losses, it makes her re-think her invitation to Sadie’s. Afterall, her best friend Em will be there, and Em is sure to help her forget about her troubles. The group is rounded out by their other friends, Amy and Kimiko. And let’s just say, all of these women have some skeletons in their closet!

The weekend is a bit rocky from the get go, but June is settling in and even making up with Sadie. When Sadie goes missing after a night none of the women can remember, the light shines straight on them. And when I say everyone is a suspect, I mean it! So many secrets and hidden agendas! It is also pretty fun to see the fragments of the lost night start to piece back together—like a puzzle of their own memories.

And the forgotten night definitely isn’t bought by the police in charge of the investigation! June knows she didn’t do it—or at least she thinks she knows…

Whose secret was salacious enough to murder for?

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books for my copy. Opinions are my own.