The Girls Weekend opens with an invitation. International bestselling young adult writer Sadie MacTavish is gathering her college friends for a weekend getaway in the Pacific Northwest to celebrate their friendship and her cousin Amy’s pregnancy. The reunited Fearless Five prepare for a perfect weekend organized by their perfect friend, complete with wine, kayaking and plenty of rehashing of past adventures (as well as grievances).
But the weekend takes a sour turn when their host abruptly goes missing, leaving behind a massive bloodstain, a messy house and a missing statue. None of the friends remember the night before, but all know the truth: With tensions high, any of them could be responsible for Sadie’s apparent murder. The only problem is that none of them knows who.
Jody Gehrman’s latest thriller is a locked-room mystery in which no one even knows how the room got locked in the first place. The women—possibly including the killer—dont’t know who’s responsible for Sadie’s disappearance, to the point that they think they might have all been drugged. Paranoia and claustrophobia prevail as our narrator, English professor June Moody, tries to uncover what happened to her perfect and perfectly infuriating friend. Gehrman slowly and skillfully doles out one bit of recovered memory at a time as June gets closer to the truth, and as the innocence of each character is questioned in turn.
With intimate character studies and breathtaking suspense, The Girls Weekend deals with old relationships turned brittle with age, inviting the reader to an idyllic haven and then abruptly shattering the calm.
