Tombstoning

by Doug Johnstone

our best mate just fell off a cliff in mysterious circumstances and you were the last person to see him alive. What do you do?Well, if you're David Lindsay from Arbroath, you get the hell out of there and don't return. Not for at least fifteen years. Until Nicola Cruickshank - yes, that Nicola, the girl you always fancied but never had the guts to approach - gets in touch and asks - no, demands - that you go back for a school reunion. To the place where it happened. The place you've been running from for fifteen years. Of course you go. Not to belatedly lay your mate to rest, but because you still fancy Nicola.The thing is, if you are David Lindsay, then returning to Arbroath isn't going to lay any ghosts to rest. And when someone else takes a dive off the cliffs - an act the locals have taken to calling 'tombstoning' - while David's there, he has a run away again, or finally find out why people keep dying around him . . .

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Ebooks, Mystery, Suspense, Adventure, Mystery Thriller

Paperback

First published August 3, 2006

About the author

Doug Johnstone is a writer, musician and journalist based in Edinburgh. His fourth novel, Hit & Run, was published by Faber and Faber in 2012. His previous novel, Smokeheads, was published in March 2011, also by Faber. Before that he published two novels with Penguin, Tombstoning (2006) and The Ossians (2008), which received praise from the likes of Irvine Welsh, Ian Rankin and Christopher Brookmyre. Doug is currently writer in residence at the University of Strathclyde. He has had short stories appear in various publications, and since 1999 he has worked as a freelance arts journalist, primarily covering music and literature. He grew up in Arbroath and lives in Portobello, Edinburgh with his wife and two children. He loves drinking malt whisky and playing football, not necessarily at the same time.

Reviews

[Monika Armet · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1988, David Lindsay lived in Arbroath and attended the local high school. His best friend, Colin Anderson, has died by falling off a cliff.

After the funeral, David has moved away with his family, and never returned to his hometown.

Fifteen years later, David works in a dead-end job which he dislikes, and his only companion is alcohol. When Nicola Cruickshank, a girl whom he fancied back in high school, emails him to invite him to their school reunion, David hesitates.

He doesn’t really want to return to Arbroath, but he still has feelings for Nicola, so he eventually agrees.

After the reunion, someone else ends up dead… on the same spot where Colin died.

What will David do this time?

I was on the edge of my seat with this book. I really enjoyed Nicola as a character (David liked his booze a bit too much for my liking!), she was no nonsense and straight-talking, qualities that I like.

Alcohol is such a big part of the Scottish culture and this book captures that perfectly. David formed a drinking group with three other young men, and he basically hasn’t stopped drinking ever since. I found his character quite complicated and still immature when compared to Nicola.

This is a gripping mystery thriller. I enjoyed it.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two strong emotions at finishing this book- delight at enjoying another of Doug Johnstone's books and grief because it's the last one I had left to read.
Dave left Arbroath after the death of one of the four members in a group at high school. Fifteen years later he gets an e-mail from Nicola [the girl he fancied at school] and decides to call her. And there starts the story which follows a school reunion, the death of another one of the four in the group and Dave and Nicola's discovery of what was going on.

[Pete Ord · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super predictable from start to finish but I’m on holiday and it fitted perfectly with that vibe. I liked the characters and the writing style but it’s definitely quite straight up and basic

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tombstoning is very much a novel of mystery and suspense.

You have to love a story that involves a school reunion, having watched many films that are along the same topic, you just know that things are probably not going to run to smoothly.

Nicola is my stand out character in this novel. I love her strength and independence. She's a woman who knows what she wants and she knows how to handle herself. I enjoyed reading of the relationship between her and David and seeing things grow between them the further into the novel I got.

Even though I liked David, he does come across as being a man who hasn't quite grown up yet. From the way he dresses to his over fondness of alcohol, he certainly came across as someone that has a bit of growing up to do but, I think Nicola and the reunion makes him start doing just that.

I really enjoyed the whole feel of this novel. It is steeped in mystery and intrigue and whilst not as dark and gritty as the authors other novels, it has a certain amount of charm and appeal about it.

Another good offering by the author and one that I think his fans will enjoy.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps I'm not the right demographic for this book, but it seemed contrived and clichéd.

A dot-to-dot of the genre.

One final thing; the dialogue was terrible.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I heard that Orenda Books were going to be republishing some of Doug Johnstone's backlist titles I was a very happy reader. Now, having finally read Tombstoning, his debut which celebrates its twentieth birthday this year, I'm most certainly a very happy reader indeed.

This book hooked me in from the beginning, and I finished in just a single day, totally absorbed in the story of David Lindsay and the tragic history that him leave his hometown behind without a backward glance. Until, that is, the childhood girl of his dreams, NIcola Cruickshank gets in touch, inviting David to a school reunion. David is reluctant to go, and the more we learn of his past, the more I completely understood him and his decisions. However, the draw of meeting up with Nicola proves too much, and in one single afternoon she convinces him to make the journey that is going to change his life ... assuming he survives.

Doug Johnstone is a brilliant author and, as debuts go, this book has real echoes of the writer that we all know and love from the Skelfs and Enceladon series of books. It a mystery, but also not, the largest part of the story being about a man, David, who has struggled with the events of his past, hiding from it in fact, and who is forced to face it all head on, if only to impress the girl-turned-woman of his dreams, Nicola. I can understand his reluctance to return to Arbroath, the town forever tainted by the death of his childhood best friend, Colin, who fell from the cliffs after a drunken night out. Whist the cause of Colin's death remains disputed - a verdict of death by misadventure doing little to settle matters - David is certain it was an accident. It is something that has haunted him ever since and it is the exploration of this, being brought face to face with his past, as well as his growing attraction to nicola, that actually forms a large part of the novel

I like how with author explores the conflicted side of David's character. His vehemence in defending Colin, his turmoil over returning to his childhood home, and his acknowledgment that much of what he and his close circle of friends got up to as children would not always stand up to moral scrutiny. David is the man who has still not quite grown up, even after 15 years, and that realisation is something that dawns on im the more time that he spends with Nicola. The authenticity in the portrayal of David's personality is really no less than I would expect from Doug Johnstone, his ability to create believable characters who I become entirely invested in being one of the reasons I keep returning to his books.

Speaking of great characters, Nicola is one who more than holds her own amongst all of the madness. The drunken posturing of the male egos that never grew up and make misogyny an art form, or the bitchiness of the high school Queen bee who loves nothing more than highlighting all the ways in which a person may be less than perfect, at least by her standards. But there is more than just that deflection of the all too realistic negativity from her old school group that really makes her a stand out character. She is strong and fiercely determined. A single mother who knows exactly what she wants. The chemistry between her and David leaps off the page, and the banter and back and forth between the pair is a highlight of the story.

Now, there is mystery in this book, not just around what really happened to Colin, but also over a very similar incident following the reunion in which another of David's childhood friends is found in similar circumstances. But was in an accident, a deliberate act of malice, or an episode of tomfoolery, the likes of which the local youth are believed to be engaged in. The act of so called 'Tombstoning' of the books title - jumping from the cliff tops into the waters below? Well, this is the puzzle that David vows to find out and, in probably the latter third of the book, the point at which is takes a real turn to a more crime or thriller style of story. There is an increase in pace and tension, and some scenes at the end in which everything that has come before draws to a very danger laden conclusion.

If you approach this book expecting just murder mystery from the off, then you're probably reading the wrong author as those are not really the kinds of books I've come to expect from Doug Johnstone. This is actually a very perceptive exploration of the human condition and how our pasts almost always inform out future. How the impacts of grief and the tendency of so many of us to avoid more difficult elements of our pasts can just fester to the point of becoming destructive. There are also some perhaps forgotten legacies of times past that, at the time of the books initial publication, were so very relevant and real but which, in face of all the present day madness, I had almost forgotten were true.

With a wonderful vein of understated and authentic humour, compelling characters so accurately observed, and pitch perfect pacing and mystery, this was a real treat. Looking forward to reading more of Mr J's back catalogue now.

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredibly interesting reading experience, revisiting a book I was very familiar with, but not having read it for a few years, viewing it in relation to what Johnstone has produced since. And do you know what? It is still the whip smart, slightly unhinged, weirdly thrilling smorgasbord of human failing and stubborn endurance that I remember it as…

David Lindsay is a brilliant central character, who can out-beige beige in his singular blandness. Mid thirties, living alone, with boring and precarious employment which he despises and often fails to turn up for anyway, and living a generally humdrum existence in Edinburgh, many miles away from his home town of Arbroath. Until the random invite to a school reunion by the unrequited love of his life, forces him from his own indolence and the mental scarring of teenage experience, to return to Arbroath, which in of itself could almost be a fate worse than death, and the past begins to rear its ugly head.

Will he finally be able to tell the comely Nicola his true feelings?

Can he man up enough?

Will Nicola laugh in his face, or get drunk and succumb to his ineffectual overtures?

And just who is the maniac at large in Arbroath apparently hoying people over cliff edges, and just why is David in their sights?

It’s all going on…

All joking aside, what reveals itself in the course of this book, is Johnstone’s aptitude for really drilling down into the thoughts and emotions of his characters, and surprising the reader with moments of sheer pathos and sensitivity balanced with the sardonic, sharp wit that tempers the potential emotional overload. Both David and Nicola carry emotional baggage- he through the untimely and inexplicable death of a friend from school- and her from disappointing men and the pressure of single motherhood. There is a real sense of them being shared souls as the book progresses, as they seem to intuitively mirror the other in thoughts and feelings compounded by their humour but nicely underscored by David’s fatalism and Nicola’s cheery optimism. The repartee between them is hallmark Johnstone, where their natural propensity is to laugh in the face of adversity, sometimes in deeply dangerous circumstances, but this peppering of humour throughout the book is brilliantly blackly comedic.

Likewise, Johnstone fully rounds out the characterisation of others in the book, the sad individuals from David and Nicola’s past who have remained trapped in Arbroath like his former schoolfriend Gary Spink, and his old teacher Jack Bowman, who for differing reasons reconnect with David with divisive results. The theme of human connection, and our place in the sprawling uiniverse, established here becomes a central theme in Johnstone’s work throughout his writing career, and is a real touchstone for the heft that this carries in the appreciation of his work, and the empathy and emotions it transfers onto the reader themselves. I often cite E. M. Forster’s theme of ‘only connect’ when I talk about Johnstone’s work, and it is always satisfying to recognise this in the interactions and emotions of his characters.

Although this being labelled a crime thriller and with death inevitably playing a central role, it’s interesting to see at this early stage of his writing, how the subject of death, suicide and an understanding of PTSD/ mental health issues then becomes a recognisable theme in Johnstone’s work from here on in. As David revisits the circumstances of his teenage friend’s death many years previously, which is integral to subsequent events, and seeks to empathise with the mental breakdown of another friend, scarred by their army experience, Johnstone handles these incredibly sensitive issues with a deft touch, amidst the lighter hearted moments of the book. Throughout his ouvrage of work over the past two decades, Johnstone has been unafraid to really dig down into the subject of death, physically, spiritually or biologically, and its impact on those it leaves behind and their reconciliation with it. Hence, you never really just get a ‘crime thriller’, but instead a multi-layered examination of the human condition stemming from the thing that inevitably comes to us all, and consequently a much more insightful reading experience.

It was a genuine pleasure to pick up Tombstoning again, and to see how much this still stands up as a very satisfying introduction to his work. It’s mordantly funny, oozes with compassion and empathy, is as nerve shredding as a crime book should be, and serves to introduce the important themes and motifs that define Johnstone’s work to date. It goes without saying that I would heartily recommend picking up this one, or indeed any of Johnstone’s books if you haven’t already, and also, twenty years? Where did that time go?

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a massive fan of Doug Johnstone's writing. His novel Breakers is my second favourite book of all time (coming second to the incredible The Handmaid's Tale). His voice is unique; gritty and heart felt, compassionate and witty, sweary and relevant, and perfect.
When I heard that Tombstoning was being reissued for its twentieth anniversary, complete with an introduction by Christopher Brookmyre, I wondered how this early novel would feel two decades on. I needn’t have worried. This is a five-star read all over again: darkly funny, sharply observed and quietly devastating.

At the heart of the novel is David Lindsay, who fled Arbroath fifteen years ago after his best friend Colin fell to his death from the cliffs. David was the last person to see him alive. Colin had everything to live for. He was walking in the opposite direction. None of it made sense. So David did the only thing he felt capable of doing; he ran.

Now living in Edinburgh and working as a web designer, David is lured back to his hometown for a school reunion by Nicola Cruickshank. Yes, that Nicola, the one he always fancied and never quite had the courage to approach, although he has a hazy memory of a New Year's Eve snog. His motivations for returning are quite self serving, and that’s one of the things I loved most about this story. David is flawed, often selfish, occasionally cowardly, but always utterly believable.

The author's writing is tight and purposeful; there are no wasted words, or scenes. The pacing is beautifully controlled, the tension building really subtly that I sometimes didn’t realise quite how anxious I’d become until another death at the cliffs; an act now known locally as “tombstoning" made me feel quite terrified. It's a though the past, and the present have collided.

As in all of this author's novels, there is an incredible sense of place. Arbroath is vividly depicted; the cliffs, the sea, the small-town claustrophobia and unexpected warmth. You can almost feel the salt in the air and the weight of shared history pressing down on everyone. It’s a picture of a town that David once dismissed as small and stifling, only to discover that perhaps he hasn’t escaped it, or his own past, quite as successfully as he imagined.

There’s also a tenderness here beneath the dark humour and creeping dread. This is a story about guilt, about the stories we tell ourselves to survive, and about the uneasy business of growing up.

As debuts go, Tombstoning is remarkably assured. Reading it now, you can see the seeds of the bold ideas and emotional depth that characterise the author's more recent work. Gripping, intelligent and emotionally resonant, this is a novel that stands the test of time, and one I wholeheartedly recommend.

[Lynsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Tombstoning’ has been republished for its twentieth anniversary and was Doug’s debut novel. I am a huge fan of this author’s, but mainly from the Skelf series onwards, so it was going to be interesting moving backwards, right to where his writing career began. Let’s be honest, debuts can be hit or miss at times, but there is no need to worry as this was fabulous!

David Lindsay grew up in the small town of Arbroath but fled after his best friend died in an accident at the clifftops. Fifteen years later, he hasn’t been back to the town. But he gets an email inviting him to join his school reunion, and despite his better judgement, he decides to go. Maybe, because the email sender is Nicola, the girl he used to like back at school!

I flew through ‘Tombstoning’ in one sitting - I was utterly engrossed. Maybe it was the nostalgia element for me. There was a lot about this book that I resonated with. I grew up in a small seaside town, spent many a day getting drunk with friends, sticking to the local club’s floor, and messing around in the dark, whilst walking home! I, however, have not been brave enough to go to any of my school reunions. Doug manages to nail what small-town living is like, especially one you return to after a period of time.

Although this is billed as a mystery and there are parts of it that are thrilling, it is more of a character study piece. David is a broken man. Drinking way too much, struggling at his job, with nothing really in his life, and he struggles to deal with the trauma of his best friend’s death. His friend Gary is the epitome of what happens to someone stuck and unable to leave. Neil…well, Neil is Neil. Nicola, for me, is the standout character. The Nancy Drew of the book. Doug really needs to write a spin-off where she gets sucked into some Historic Scotland planning conspiracy! I adored her.

This book was brilliant. Full of great, realistic characters, dark humour, and an enthralling narrative. Quite a debut!

Let me know if you pick this one up!

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This year Doug Johnstone celebrates 20 years as a writer, and Orenda Books is reissuing this debut and its successor, The Ossians, this spring.
After a peach of an introduction by Chris Brookmyre, we jump straight into the life of David Lindsay, who grew up in Arbroath but now lives in Edinburgh, as he gets an email out of the blue from Nicola Cruikshank - his schooldays crush - inviting him to a school reunion. Reunion with Nicola? Oh yeah... But David hasn't been back to his hometown since the funeral of Colin, one of his best mates, 15 years earlier, just as they were all about to leave school for new lives.
On arriving in Arbroath, a joyful night out with Nicola and a group of friends is followed by an afternoon at the football with old pal Gary, who never left the town.
An ominous note is introduced via a former teacher David and Gary bump into: some of the town's teens are jumping from the cliffs into the sea, in emulation or tribute of how Colin died, ignoring the danger. The tension increases on encountering the school mean girls, and a real bully, at the reunion. But there's relaxing, laughter and reconnection at the end of the night too - then the morning after brings the grimmest of phone calls.
So that's David, Colin and Gary. The fourth of the gang, Neil, dropped off the grid entirely two years ago. David's search for Neil is fruitless - until all of a sudden it isn't...
Probably my favourite thing about Johnstone's novels is his characters, and here they are very much people you recognise - and I love Nicola, who has agency in spades.
Johnstone also has a great control of pacing from the unhurried slow burn opening, then dialling up the pace towards the denouement, when your heart races. Also present and correct in terms of Johnstone hallmarks: a vivid sense of place, real emotional depth and empathy, dark humour, and a sharp, unfussy writing style.
There are some minor flaws, but overall it's a compelling page-turner from start to finish, and you should not hesitate to dive in.

[Jacob Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t believe I have never got round to reading Tombstoning by Doug Johnstone, especially as I have loved his more recent novels. In his debut novel, we meet David, who finds himself at a sort of crossroads in life. However, he is still haunted by the death of his best friend, Colin, which took place when they were teenagers. But when David is reunited with his old friend, Nicola, his life takes an unexpected new turn, and his own past is soon set to come back to haunt him.

One of Doug Johnstone’s real writing strengths is in creating unforgettable, real characters. I really liked the chemistry between Nicola and David. Nicola was David’s childhood crush, and it is clear to see that he still has feelings for her. They seem to have slightly different personalities; Nicola comes across as warmer and more bubbly than David. He seems more reserved at first, but his own personality soon starts to come to the forefront. I really liked seeing this unfold on the page as he and Nicola start to get to know one another again. It’s really Nicola who pushes him to reconnect with some of his old school friends at a reunion, and I could really feel his reluctance to do so. I could definitely understand why he was reluctant when we meet his old school friends.

Overhanging Nicola and David’s reunion is still the death of David’s friend. David has been forever linked to what happened to Colin, and I could really sense how deeply this still affected David. This is especially the case with how often the subject is brought up again when David is reunited with his old school friends. This does create a sense of mystery surrounding the case, which drew me further into the story, and I was even more intrigued when another similar death takes place in the present. This is what really begins to heighten the tension and raises the stakes as David struggles to come to terms with what is happening.

Once again, Doug Johnstone continues to amaze me with how real he makes his characters feel. I’m sure David and Nicola will live long in my mind, and when I think like that about characters I know, I’ve read a brilliant book.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tombstoning, Doug Johnstone’s 2006 debut, follows Edinburgh web designer David Lindsay on a reluctant trip down memory lane to Arbroath – the hometown he hasn’t been back to since he completed his Highers, 15 years previously.

The catalyst for David’s departure in 1988 was the death of his best friend, Colin, in circumstances that made no sense: Colin had everything to live for, and David last saw him walking in the opposite direction to the cliff he fell from.

Persuaded to return for a school reunion by old classmate and budding love interest Nicola, David finds he’s not the only one who’s still thinking about Colin – especially when another of his cohorts is found at the bottom of the cliff the morning after the party…

Chris Brookmyre’s concise introduction to this reissue of Tombstoning pre-empts a lot of what I want to say in my review: going back to a well-established author’s earliest work is a gamble that in this case pays off; the writing is tight and every scene moves the story forward; and you can already detect the working-in of interesting facts and “big ideas” that so strongly characterises Johnstone’s more recent work.

Brookmyre’s analogy of listening to a great band’s minor-label debut and, to your relief, finding it coheres with the rest of their output, is spot-on. To extend this, I’d say Tombstoning is a progenitor to Johnstone’s later writing with a bigger budget, more studio time, and more space to experiment and take risks. The characters are very ordinary compared with the Skelfs and the humans in the Enceladons series (though no less fully-realised or compelling for it), and a quick skim of the author’s Wikipedia page reveals he started off with “write what you know” in terms of their age and home town.

Accordingly, Tombstoning has a brilliant sense of place. I’ve never visited Arbroath, but found it easy to picture thanks to Johnstone’s descriptions of its landmarks, geography, and history, as well as David and Nicola’s personal relationships with these.

It also feels like a tribute to the town, and small towns more generally: David initially looks down on it as an unglamorous, faded place he’s been fortunate to escape, but comes to appreciate some of the charms that were lost on him as a teenager, and see his former schoolmates as individuals with complex inner worlds and good reasons to stay in the town who have (mostly) grown and changed in his absence. Not to mention, he’s not doing that well himself.

Other aspects of the book I really enjoyed were how the suspense built up over the course of the story (sometimes so subtly, I didn’t even realise at the time!) before suddenly and dramatically coming to a head, and the ingenuity David and Nicola respectively displayed in tracking down one of their classmates who was conspicuously absent from the reunion (no Facebook in 2003!) and navigating the sticky situation they ultimately ended up in.

Tombstoning is a tightly-plotted and compelling debut with a strong sense of place.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I’ve read a number of books by this author I hadn’t read this one so when the 20th Anniversary edition came out I thought it was about time I did. Following the tragic death of his best friend Colin, David Lindsay left Arbroath intending never to return. Although designated a mystery/thriller the first half of the book is more an observation into David’s life and the effects of the death of his friend on David.

Briefly, fifteen years after leaving his home David receives an invite to a school reunion, from the girl he admired from afar, NIcola Cruickshank. Reluctantly he agrees to go, of course he wants to see Nicola again, but after the reunion another tragedy, similar to Colin’s death takes place in the same spot on the cliffs. But this time David isn’t running he want to get to the bottom of the mystery.

David is an interesting character who can see the stupidity in how he and his friends were as teens, but he is still a bit juvenile and needs to man up a bit. Nicola, I loved, a strong and feisty single Mum who knows her own mind. The attraction between the two of them is palpable, oh David all those wasted years! A good drama with a strong mystery element. Not as gritty as later books from this author but it does stand the test of time well. An enjoyable read.

[Naturalbri (Bri Wignall) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do love a good light thriller, plus it's based on Arbroath and it involves some of the stupid things I did as a youth. This book was instantly one I wanted to check out. I've loved numerous other books by this author and reading a reprint of a throwback was very exciting.
I found it interesting that this all hovered round one of the stupid and obviously dangerous things that a lot of us did as teenagers. There was real reason bar the danger and the rush, but this time something goes wrong and we see the fight or flight kick in for David. It was interesting to be in his mindset and see what he chose and why. Then to have him flip and go back home, really shows you he was crushing hard on Nicola. The dynamic in the party trio was interesting. The characters were very well rounded and interacted with true banter, making it easy to connect with them and feel a part of the story. Then the mystery grows and things start to unravel. I really liked that this time her chose fight and they are attempting to find the person responsible. The path throughout was a good read and very enjoyable. I liked that the way they went was something true to what's teenagers do. A good read.

[Paul Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

My introduction to Doug Johnstone was seeing him perform as a member of the Fun Lovin' Crime Writers, a covers band made up of six authors of crime fiction. If you ever get a chance to see them, grab it. They are very good (good enough to make Glastonbury in 2019). And fun, for them and the audience.

This is crime fiction in the sense that it involves criminal events. But it is no police procedural, the police barely put in an appearance. There is an investigation of sorts, by a central character who is seeking to understand the unexplained death of a school friend. But there are no forensics and no real witnesses to interrogate. This is more a story about love and friendship, about the role of the past in our present and about how decisions we make affect the future for ourselves and those around us. There is tension, excitement and adventure. This is a could-happen-to-anybody story. And it's really rather good.

[Leigh Lennon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one of my favorites by Doug Johnstone! This book is about people jumping to their death from the cliffs of an ocean town in Scottland and most do it as a dare. It is the quickest way to meet their tombstone and thus the name of the book. But when someone ends up dead from the jump and it looks like murder, it sends a set of friends(David and Nicola) on a mission.

[Ray Smillie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My path of discovery in the novels of Doug Johnstone has taken me right back to his debut set mostly in Arbroath, which has one of my favourite football grounds, visited when following the Pars. This is interesting rather than great and you can see the beginnings of a future great writer. Still worth adding to your collection though.

[John Travers · Rating 4 out of 5]

in two minds.

realistically its a 2 out of 5 for its amateur main plot ending, didn't make sense, muddled.

however the backstory, Dave and Nicola, arbroath etc... was so well described and the reunion that it was a shame that there even was a murder to get in the way.

[Iona · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story starts fairly mediocre but was interesting enough to keep reading. It only really cranks up over 75% in but it is worth staying with it.

Not worth reading a second time though!

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

a book about turning over dark events from the past, but a zippy read. well-placed settings - Arbroath, especially.

[Paschalis]

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[Lee Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid book ok read

[Jill Andrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Well grounded in Arbroath and Edinburgh. The storyline didn't grab me and there were too few clever or twisty plot devices on the way.

[Tracey Pearce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remind me never to go to school reunion or Arbroath. I really enjoyed this one but not as much as the last two I have read if author. I still love places mentioned that I have been too in Edinburgh

[Meryl Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnstone describes Scotland and her rural areas well, and this is a well written tale of love. Prefer Johnstone to the other Edinburgh writers frankly.

[Taz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one especially as it was about somewhere I know

[Liam Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

it took me a few chapters to get into this one but before long I was hooked and couldn't put it down. Such a great read and will be keeping an eye out for more from this author.

[Lian Tanner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea what to expect with this, but enjoyed it hugely. Johnstone captures the slightly disappointed life of his protagonist, then puts it through the wringer with a school reunion that turns into something both better and worse. I particularly like the way Johnstone writes about relationships and sex - an antidote to the overly-dramatic bodice-ripping of so many authors. (Not that I mind the occasional bodice-ripper, but it's good to see something a little more realistic.)

[Aura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok - two stars, and only because it was set in places that I know really well. Story so-so, writing the same, and had it not been for the fact that I was fishing for descriptions of my favourite places, I wouldn't have been interested at all. Shame.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been better! With only 2 relationships going on, one with his new girlfriend and the other with his old school friend, not enough of a story to keep me rivited! Plot was good but needed more!