Auld Acquaintance is the story of Millie, a woman who receives a mysterious New Year's Eve party invitation to a remote Scottish island. When she arrives however, the old friend who invited her is nowhere to be seen and instead she is surrounded by strangers, with one notable exception-someone from her past she really doesn't want to see. Things start to go wrong and before long, Millie is trapped on the island and in very real danger.
I must confess, it took me a while to get into this book. The first 20% is structured a little oddly, with one of the most interesting characters being killed off almost immediately, leading me to wonder why Millie was bothering to stay on the island (she was not yet stranded by the storm). Unclear motivations was an ongoing theme throughout the book, and while the plot was decent, the writing felt like it could use another draft. It quickly takes the structure of a typical 'murder island' mystery which are some of my favourites, but the characters aren't quite relatable enough to carry it properly. There are some good gruesome deaths and an interesting sense of foreboding, but not much else to keep you reading.
Having said that, once I got used to the writing style I did enjoy this book quite a lot. It works well as a themed seasonal read that you can enjoy full of turkey and Christmas pudding, without needing to focus too hard on it. I found the character of Winston really interesting, and I think if they'd all been as developed as him then this book would have been a lot stronger. Ultimately though, not being able to understand the motivations of the main character is quite a big problem. This book also borrows quite heavily from And Then There Were None, a recent trend which really bothers me because it is starting to feel more like ripping off than homages. I am a huge Agatha Christie fan but unless you have a really good spin on the formula, you will always just be stealing her plot in my eyes.
Overall, I still recommend picking up this book if you want a decent seasonal read with some genuinely cool deaths. Just set your expectations for fun rather than a genius mystery.
Overall Rating:
.5
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