The Short Straw by Holly Seddon

Book Blurb
Three sisters find themselves lost in a storm at night, and seek safety at Moirthwaite Manor, where their mother once worked. They are shocked to find the isolated mansion that loomed so large through their troubled childhoods has long been abandoned. Drawing straws to decide who should get help, one sister heads back into the darkness. With the siblings separated, the deadly secrets hidden in the house finally make themselves known and we learn the unspeakable secret that binds the family together.

My Review
Holly Seddon has written some brilliant thrillers, and The Short Straw is her latest offering. This is the story of three sisters who breakdown in a storm snd take refuge in Morthwaite Manor, where their mother worked when they were children. The combination of an abandoned house, no ameneties, a storm and three sisters who are very different and not use to spending time together make for an interesting and compelling read.

The Short Straw is very much a character led read, with chapters from the point of view of the sister’s in the present and their mother Rosemary in the past. The sisters Nina, Lizzie and Aisa make for a fascinating character study. Nina is the eldest, seen as the capable one, the one who takes charge as she has done since childhood, a trait that annoys her two sisters. My favourite sister was Lizzie, she is the quiet sister, who avoids confrontation and who is seen by her sisters as being too dreamy and ineffectual. I felt like I connected with her the most, she is an introvert who works with sick animals and prefers animals to people and has a house full of books. The younger sister Aisa, is a free spirit, who travels around the world petsitting and having no permanent home. She is the one who rebels against authority, especially that of her sisters. I was captivated by their relationships, the way they saw each other and reacted to each other especially in a time of crisis.

I really enjoyed Holly Seddon’s writing, her sense of characters and her setting. Her writing really portrayed the setting of the house, the storm, the rural setting brilliantly, it sent a chill down my spine as I was reading. The split timeline added interest, as their mother’s story and theirs entwined and the full story of Morthwaite Manor and it’s inhabitants are slowly revealed. As I mentioned before, The Short Straw has the perfect combination for a thrillers; set in a storm at night, a brokendown car, an abandoned big house, no electric and no reception for their mobile phones. The potenial was there for a brillliant story but unfortunately for me the book fell short of this. It was a slow start, but it did pick up towards the end but then fell flat for me. I’m sure many will disagree with me, however the characters and setiing were brilliant.

The Short Straw was an interesting read, the sisters made for a fascinaing case study, at how they saw each other and how they reacted when put together. The writing and setting were atmospheric and a times chilling, I hate the thought of being in an abandoned house, trapped during a storm. Overall this is a tense and unsettling undercurrent.

I’d like to thank Orion Books and Tracy Fenton from Compulsive Readers for the invite to take part in this blog tour in return for my honest view.