Review - The Short Straw by Holly Seddon

The Short Straw by Holly Seddon

Publisher: Orion

Release date: 14 September 2023

Back cover blurb: Three troubled 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 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 truth that will tear the family apart.

Three sisters. All grown adults. Lizzie, Nina and Aisa Kelsey find themselves taking refuge in an abandoned house after their vehicle runs out of fuel in the midst of a storm.

Morthwaite Manor is familiar to them, though not as adults. Their Mother, Rosemary worked there when the girls were young, and they spent time there with the owner's daughter Jane.

They are shocked to find the once almost palatial house in an abandoned and derelict state. But that is the least of their worries.

Aisa is impatient to get to the airport for a flight, Lizzie has missed an important date that she hasn't told her sisters about, and Nina has her own secrets and reasons for not wanting to be there.

None of them want to enter the dilapted manor house, but they must to shelter themselves from the violent storm. Once inside they must decide which one of them will volunteer to go back out into the treacherous conditions to find help.

Morthwaite Manor is a mobile blackspot, and none of the girls can get a signal. In order to refuel the vehicle they need to call a breakdown company, or find someone that can help in the village. It's dark, late and cold. So they do what they Kelsey girls have always done to make a decision, they draw straws.

But who got the short straw? And what lies in store for them?

I don't want to say too much more as this is absolutely a novel that you should discover for yourself. A great thriller that would make a fabulous movie! 

The Short Straw is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.