To The Last Page

" They had been on the island less than five hours and already the whole thing was falling apart ". For just for a brief moment at the start of The Cliff House I thought I caught a glimpse of something recognisable as the Chris Brookmyre of old. Opening with that ominous first line, it seemed like classic Brookmyre. Ok, a hen party on a remote island is a little different from those classic thrillers but who knows whether the island mightn't turn out to be the base for a terrorist group on manouvres, planning an assault on the Scottish parliament or at least a unit planning to kidnap and hold the entirely fictional leader of the Scottish Conservatives there for ransom. If only... But no, while there are flashes of humour and self-awareness in the characterisation, there is more than an air of Agatha Christie than Tartan terrorism to The Cliff House . Seven women in their 40s, two of whom have a longstanding grudge against each other, although an ex sister-in-law and a ne...