Set in Scotland, an anniversary party at a newly opened guest home turns ugly immediately when guests realize it is the site of a birthday party 25 years earlier that ended in an ugly incident. But who is behind the reminders of that night?

Go to My Grave by Catriona McPherson is an eerie, suspenseful mystery.

Donna Weavers and her mum have just opened their bed and breakfast, The Breakers, and they are awaiting their first guests, a group of eight cousins celebrating a wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, Donna will be working alone since her mum is off to an event where she hopes to garner bookings for their B&B. The guests begin arriving and Donna is a little taken aback by some their unexpected reactions to the house. The weekend is off to a rocky beginning due to some inner fighting, tension and an unexpected departure. As the weekend progresses, sinister occurrences rattle Donna and her guests. A shocking discovery stuns Donna but is this just another one of the odd happenings that have plagued them over the weekend? Or is there a more much ominous reason what has just happened?

Donna has been in the hospitality business since she started working and after a relationship falls apart, she moves back in with her mum. Together, they have renovated the bed and breakfast and they are eager to begin welcoming guests to The Breakers. Donna is a bit concerned about working alone due to the workload, but she and her mum have devised a clever plan to help stay on schedule.

The first guests to arrive are Peach Plummer and her brother Buck. Soon joining them are their cousins Rosalie and Paul Buchanan, Paul's brother, Ramsay, Jennifer and finally, the guests of honor Sasha and Kim Mowbray. Kim planned the weekend as a surprise for Sasha for their tenth wedding anniversary celebration. Much to everyone's surprise, Sasha is hostile to Kim as he interrogates her about why she booked their stay there. He remains on edge during their stay and his sarcasm and caustic comments rub everyone the wrong way.

Nevertheless, Donna carries on her duties and maintains a cheerful attitude despite the tense atmosphere. The cousins are determined to make the best of the situation but Jennifer flees almost immediately. When strange things begin occurring, everyone is shaken and uncertain who is behind them. Donna remains hopelessly in the dark since no one is willing to explain why they are so upset or the significance of what is happening around them.

The chapters alternate between the events in the present and a momentous event twenty-five years prior. The answer to what is occurring at the current day gathering is gradually revealed through these passages. However, no one fully understands who is responsible for the current day events or the reason behind them until the novel's conclusion.

With an isolated setting and menacing overtones, Go to My Grave is an atmospheric, gripping mystery. The cast of characters are interesting and multi-faceted. The plot is quite clever and Catriona McPherson brilliantly keeps readers guessing the truth about who is targeting the guests and more importantly, why, until the novel's jaw-dropping denouement. I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend this twisty-turny mystery to fans of the genre.
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I keep a list of authors that I routinely check on just to see if the have new books coming out. Catriona McPherson is on that list. I've read several of her books with mixed emotions, as a few I've loved and a few I've only liked. This, unfortunately, was only liked. I loved the old manor house setting, which the main character has turned into a bed and breakfast with the help of her mother. It's very remote and bleak, which lends a Gothic feeling to the book. I've heard other reviewers likened it to Clue, and in a way it did have that feeling. However, there were far too many characters, most of which were unlikable. The main character was good, but often times her ineptitude grated on my nerves. The mystery was unique with lots of twists and turns, but the ending was quite unbelievable. Overall, it was a good atmospheric suspense novel that I liked reading but not enough to put it on my favorites list.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy given in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Donna Weaver and her mom have put everything into The Breakers, a luxury hotel, Home from Home. Eight old friends go to stay for the weekend not realising that they have been to The Breakers before twenty five years ago.

This is the type of book that I seem to be enjoying at the moment. A group of people gathering in a building with secrets and knowing that at least one will go missing or die. The story has an Agatha Christie feel about it with the classic reveal at the end. The story doesn't have the claustrophobic feel to it as the characters are not stranded and can leave at any time.

The characters are not very likeable at all apart from Donna who I did like very much. A motley crew of brothers, sisters and cousins who the reader gets to learn about what happened when they were at the house before.

I enjoyed the majority of the story, going in blind as it was a ramdom pick. The ending with the whys and hows I found a little unrealistic and at times silly. Apart from that I found the story a quick read that held my interest. ( )

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! ( )