Stevie‘s review of One Night by Georgina Cross
Psychological Thriller published by Bantam 01 Aug 23
Ten years ago, Meghan Chisholm was found dead, drowned in a creek after being struck on the head during a party to celebrate the end of term. The youngest of Meghan’s two sisters claimed to have seen Meghan arguing with her boyfriend Cal close to the creek, and he was subsequently convicted of Meghan’s murder. Now Cal has been released, and mysterious letters have been delivered to Meghan’s parents, her sisters, her father’s second wife, and a close family friend, inviting them all to spend the night at a holiday home, close to where they all stayed one summer before Meghan’s death.
The six arrive, individually and in pairs, as a storm is beginning, and find that the house has been dressed as if for a stage set with place cards at the dining table, magazines and brochures for the house taken from their homes on a coffee table, and Meghan’s prom dress – never worn – draped over a chair. Finally, they find themselves caring for an unconscious Cal – also the recipient of a letter, but involved in a car crash on his approach to the house – and become more concerned than ever as to who has set up this meeting and for what purpose.
Meanwhile, the storm rages outside, preventing the group from either leaving or summoning help for Cal. Each of them recalls the events surrounding Meghan’s death, as well as her brush with danger on a childhood visit to the same stretch of coastline. All of the family members speculate as to who has set them up in their situation, who might be the killer if not Cal, and which of them harbours enough of a grudge against Cal or any other group member to potentially commit another murder.
I liked the premise of this book but was disappointed with its execution. I couldn’t warm to any of the characters, and there seemed to be too many coincidences involved in their presence at particular places at specific times in the plot. The red herrings mostly fell flat as soon as they were revealed, and I got less of a sense of peril from reading the book than I seem to be conveying as I summarise it now.
Grade: C
Summary:
One night. That’s all the time a family has to decide what to do with the man they believe murdered their daughter: Do they forgive him, or do they take justice into their own hands?
The anonymous letters arrive in the mail, one by one: To find out what really happened to Meg, meet at this location. Don’t tell anyone you’re coming. In one night, you’ll find out everything you need to know.
Ten years after her murder, the letters tell Meghan’s family exactly when and where to meet: a cliffside home on the Oregon coast. But on the night they’re promised answers, the convicted killer—her high school boyfriend, Cal, who spent only ten years in prison for murder—is found unconscious in his car after it slammed into a tree near the house where the family is sitting and waiting. Is he really the one who invited them to gather?
As a storm rampages along the Pacific Northwest, the power cuts off and leaves the family with no chance of returning to the main road and finding help. So they drag Cal back to the house for the remainder of the night. How easy it would be to let him die and claim it was an accident. Or do they help him instead? As the hours tick by, it becomes an excruciating choice. Half of the family wants to kill him. The other half wants him to regain consciousness so he can tell them what he knows.
But if Cal wakes up, he might reveal that someone in the family knows more than they’re letting on. And if that’s the case, who is the real killer? And are they already in the house?
Read an excerpt.
