"The Cliff House" by Chris Brookmyre

 

A group of women assemble for a hen weekend on a remote and uninhabited Scottish island. Once there, they become cut off, all communications cut. One is kidnapped. 'The reaper' contacts them, threatening to murder the kidnap victim unless each of the women confesses their secrets. They all have them.

Michelle is a pop star who ditched her guitarist, childhood friend Helena, on the road to stardom. Helena, in revenge, has hacked Michelle's cloud and released a self-made porn tape of the pop star having sex. Jen, another childhood friend, murdered her husband Jason, who raped Michelle, and who is Beattie's brother. Nicolette, Kennedy and Beattie also have secrets. 

It's a sort of version of And There Then Were None (other titles are also available) by Agatha Christie. It is told in the past tense from the third person limited PoV of each of the women. 

I guessed every one of the twists.

Selected quotes:

• "Sometimes when you have a secret it makes you feel vulnerable. You are afraid of what you could lose, afraid of what everyone might discover. But ... being the one who knew a secret gave you a power over everyone who didn't." (Helena)
• "The kind of place where the bouncer frisked you for weapons, and if he didn't find any, gave you one before he let you in." (Beattie)
• "She was starting to understand what it must feel like to be a stag when the royal family were loose in your postcode." (Nicolette)
• "You tend to scream louder when a blow hits a sensitive spot." (Michelle)
• "Looks had always meant a lot to Jason. Some called him vain, buit that was what the envious said when someone more blessed than themselves wore their pride without apology." (Beattie)

Entertaining.

March 2026; 344 pages

First published in 2022 by Little, Brown

My paperback edition was issued in 2023.

I have also read The Cut by Chris Brookmyre

This review was written by

the author of Bally and Bro, Motherdarling 

and The Kids of God