The Fall by Gilly Macmillan and some thoughts about escalating tension
The Craft Review #2 A warming chiller for a wintery day...
This is the second in The Craft Review series. The review is free. If you’d like to read some thoughts about the craft that went into creating this story, why I think it works (or doesn’t) and join in the discussion (everyone’s opinion is valid), please consider subscribing. Next up, The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho by Paterson Joseph.
This is the perfect psychological thriller for dark winter days after Christmas when it’s freezing and we’re broke. The Fall by
is set in a sweltering English summer and is about two ordinary people, Tom and Nicole, who have just won ten million in the lottery. The story opens with Nicole driving back to the house that Tom and she had built, a stunning state-of-the-art barn conversion on a remote peninsula along the River Wye. The barn has a wild swimming pool I’m very envious of - unfortunately Nicole finds Tom’s body floating in the pool. The police arrive and after discovering a nasty bump on Tom’s head, conclude that he was murdered.It hardly seems credible that Tom has been murdered. Money is clearly the most obvious motive, but Tom and Nicole opted not to go public with their winnings so almost no one knows their great good fortune and they have barely any family between them. The area is remote and the only other people around are a young couple - a writer, Olly, and a yoga instructor, Sasha - in the nearby Manor House, and their house keeper, Kitty, who lives in the next door Coach House. Yet someone has killed Tom, and if they want the money, Nicole could be next.
The location is fabulous: remote, beautiful, heat sears from the pages. There is a handy map with creepy locations, such as the abandoned village and ruined chapel. The glass barn is, of course, to die for, but has way too many ‘smart’ features that you just know are going to go wrong; the Manor House, in contrast, is extremely old, with a priest’s hole and hidden passages. The story is told from multiple points of view, and it quickly becomes clear, that not everyone is who they say there are…
This is a warming chiller for a wintery day…
[Potential spoilers alert!] I’ve read every one of Gilly Macmillan’s books and I love her writing. The Fall has all the hallmarks of classic crime fiction: