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The Thin Place

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Pub Date Apr 15 2021 | Archive Date Oct 15 2021

Amazon Publishing UK | Thomas & Mercer


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Description

She has to know the truth about Overtoun Estate, but there is a reason it has stayed buried for so long.

When journalist Ava Brent decides to investigate the dark mystery of Overtoun Estate—a ‘thin place’, steeped in myth—she has no idea how dangerous this story will be for her.

Overtoun looms over the town, watching, waiting: the locals fearful of the strange building and the secrets it keeps. When Ava starts to ask questions, the warm welcome she first receives turns to a cold shoulder. And before she knows it, Ava is caught in the house’s grasp too.

After she discovers the history of a sick young girl who lived there, she starts to understand the sadness that shrouds it. But when she finds an ominous old message etched into a windowsill, she is forced to wonder—what horrors is the house protecting? And what will it cost her to find out?

With her own first child on the way, Ava knows she should stay away. But even as her life starts to unravel, and she receives chilling threats, the house and the bridge keep pulling her back…

She has to know the truth about Overtoun Estate, but there is a reason it has stayed buried for so long.

When journalist Ava Brent decides to investigate the dark mystery of Overtoun Estate—a ‘thin...


A Note From the Publisher

As an ex-history teacher, Cesca has always been fascinated by true stories from the recent past. She has written three novels; her debut, The Silent Hours, was described as a ‘moving debut’ by Women & Home magazine and The Times called Major ‘a talent to watch’. Her third novel, The Other Girl, a historical thriller set in an asylum in 1940s New Zealand, was described as ‘a marvellous read, gripping from the very start’ by Good Housekeeping. Cesca has vlogged about the writing process for www.novelicious.com and the Writers & Artists’ website. She has also presented shows for ITV West and Sky. She runs writing retreats twice a year in the West Country and teaches creative writing workshops on occasion. Cesca lives in Berkshire with her husband, son and twin girls.

As an ex-history teacher, Cesca has always been fascinated by true stories from the recent past. She has written three novels; her debut, The Silent Hours, was described as a ‘moving debut’ by Women...


Advance Praise

“I devoured this novel in a single sitting, transfixed by the unfolding story, and by characters so real I felt myself holding my breath on their behalf. Gripping and unsettling, The Thin Place will stay with you long after you turn the final page.” —Clare Mackintosh, bestselling author of After the End

“A highly entertaining and spooky mystery.” —Cass Green, author of In a Cottage In a Wood

“Eerie and fascinating, The Thin Place is a skillfully written story, where the historical and present day deftly intertwine. I read it all on one rainy weekend, and loved it.” —Louisa de Lange, author of the DS Kate Munro series

The Thin Place is a hauntingly evocative read. I’m still holding my breath!” —Jane Isaac, author of A Deathly Silence

The Thin Place is utterly and relentlessly gripping. My heart was racing as I tore through the pages, simultaneously devouring the story and dreading what was coming next. An immersive and thrilling ride.” —Vikki Patis, author of The Wake

“I was hooked from the first page. This story stayed with me all the time I was reading it and after.” —Victoria Dowd, author of The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder


“I devoured this novel in a single sitting, transfixed by the unfolding story, and by characters so real I felt myself holding my breath on their behalf. Gripping and unsettling, The Thin Place will...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781542023016
PRICE $15.95 (USD)
PAGES 320

Average rating from 234 members


Featured Reviews

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That’s amazing thriller kept me on the edge of my seat until the last page. The characters were realistic in the plot was thrilling. I highly recommend this book.

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So, I have read The Other Girl from this author and I really liked it, so when I saw this ARC, I was super excited to get my hands on it.
This book didn't live up to my high expectations, although it wasn't a bad book at all. I love this author's writing and she can create a vivid book - almost movie-like - with her descriptions and realistic dialogue and I really like this.
However, I was way more invested in Marion and Constance's chapters than Ava's. I almost skim-read hers to get to the others and this didn't add anything to the story. I was honestly so captivated by the other two's voices that I forgot Ava was even investigating this at all. I think the book might have benefited from more of their chapters or maybe even told from Ava's mother's point of view.
However, the pacing for this story was great and I would honestly recommend this author.

I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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I really liked this one- just the right side of creepy and I couldn't put it down! Some of the twists were a bit predictable but added to the story well.
I liked the flashbacks that told more of the story and really added to the tension, and tied the story together.
I empathised much more with Constance than with the main character of Ava, and found the details of her life heart-breaking.
I found myself wanting to visit Overtoun to see if I could feel "it" too.

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I love stories where houses take on an almost human-like quality. Given the description of The Thin Place and its atmospheric estate, I was prepared to be sucked into the book. Unfortunately, it just didn't click for me. The multiple perspectives felt more distracting than intriguing. By the time I was about 20% of the way through, I hoped to be into the plot, but there just wasn't enough buy-in to keep reading.

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This is a fast paced mysterious book written from 3 different view points, 2 in the past and one in the present.
In the present Ava is drawn to investigate overtoun house and the nearby bridge where many legends are told about numerous dogs leaping to their deaths.
In the past Marion and Constance lived in Overtoun house. Each character had an interesting all though depressing life in the past. As Ava investigates the history she seems to become more obsessed with the how and whys of the house with no regards to her own health (She is pregnant and has some high blood pressure)
Things come to a head as she receives threatening messages to discontinue her investigations and the ending was interesting and satisfying.

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Television reporter Ava Brent is pregnant with her first child, and while this should be a time filled with joy and happiness, she’s become obsessed with Overtoun House. The creepy old house has quite a history, complete with a ghostly white lady and a bridge that modern days dogs jump from to their deaths. Ava can’t stay away from the old estate, even though she feels in her bones that something very ugly happened there. Locals believe it to be one of the “thin places” a spot where the veil between the living and the dead is especially thin. This book was so good I didn’t want it to end, one of the best gothic novels I’ve ever read

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Past And Present Collide...
The Overtoun Estate, a feared and perhaps fearful place? What deep mystery does the Overtoun Estate hold, if any? Journalist Ava Brent decides to investigate just that with little regard for her own safety. She soon becomes drawn into the house, the place, the mystery as well as the people when past and present collide. Compelling suspense with a well drawn and atmospheric plot.

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This story is about a foreboding Scottish home, Overtoun Estate, that holds an eerie power over its grounds and many of the people who cross its path. It starts with Ava, a journalist who becomes obsessed after doing a small news piece on the property after hearing about a particularly spooky bridge on the grounds. It's known as a 'thin place' in Celtic lore, where the line between this world and the next fades away. After feeling unexplainable energy and not trusting what she sees and hears, Ava begins to believe in the otherworldliness and almost immediately becomes obsessed with the estate. And I mean obsessed - her job suffers, her home life suffers, she doesn't even seem interested in her new pregnancy. She spends more time researching the estate than she does anything else and the point is driven home in page after page of her internal ramblings about her obsession. To me, the story would flow better with less.

We're also introduced to two other time periods and occupants of the house - Marion in the 1920s and Constance in the 1940s. Marion is a newlywed who is finding marriage to be lonelier than she expected when her husband is constantly away working. She's left with not much else to do but roam the grounds and long for a child to fill her life. Constance is a sickly young girl who is practically imprisoned in her small room by her mother, worried about her poor health. It soon becomes clear that Constance isn't the only sick one in the home.

Through her constant research, Ava begins to see connections between the generations of people who lived in this house. The question becomes whether her family and career will still be there for her once her obsession is brought to an end. I enjoyed this story, especially the eerie mystery surrounding the bridge - it's a real place, and quite fascinating. I would recommend further reading into that as well, just don't let it become an obsession!

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I dived right into this strange and spooky tale of three women whose tales will somehow intersect. I loved the use of a real haunted location and the twists and turns of the obsession. This tale of secrets and strange suicides will be highly recommended to my friends.

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CW: miscarriage, child abuse, animal abuse, animal death

"The Thin Place" is three interrelated stories occurring at different points in time, all entering around a house named Overtoun in Scotland. The main story is that of Ava in the present day, a television journalist in her late thirties. Ava’s pregnancy makes her worry about possible unknown genetic issues, as her mother was adopted and has always refused to speak about her past, her biological parents or her adoptive ones. Looking for a story to fill a gap on a slow news day, Ava suggests looking into the bridge at Overtoun, from where since the 1950s dogs have been known to leap to their deaths. On the bridge, Ava feels something that may be supernatural, and she becomes obsessed with finding out the truth about what happened at the house and the bridge, an obsession that strains her relationships with her mother and sister, the father of her child, and her capacity to do her job. The two other stories are that of Marion, a naive young woman who, in 1929, marries a handsome young man who takes her to live at his family’s crumbling estate, and that of Constance, a sick child who lives isolated in a small room of a big house, occasionally visited by her mother.

The title "The Thin Place" refers to a place where the veil that separates the world of the living from that of the dead is particularly thin.

Major weaves a tense, creepy atmosphere, with the large house looming over everything, creeping into Ava’s brain, its darkness infecting her apartment and her relationships. I was at once repulsed by some of the events in the book (see content warnings above), but I also couldn’t put it down. I could see the shape of the thing that would be revealed, but it was hazy enough that I had to keep reading to learn if the characters would get through it. The writing cleverly sticks very close to the characters’ point of view (Ava, Marion, and Constance) so that it is very difficult to decipher what is real from what could be their false interpretation of events and phenomenon. The chapters are short, which makes it even easier to just burn through the whole book by telling yourself “just one more chapter”.

Ava is not entirely likeable as a character for the greater part of the book. I think the greatest accomplishment of the writing is that the reader can see all the bad decisions she is making, but is so engrossed in the mystery that it is difficult to blame her for wanting to know the truth as much as we do (or as much as I did). For all the mystery, and ghostly atmosphere, and strange events, this is at heart a story about mothers and daughters, which makes it very relatable.

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Fantastic read! The Thin Place was such a creepy, twisted, heartfelt read. I couldn't put it down. 5 stars.

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Compelling thriller with the backdrop of a creepy country estate? Whats not to like? Told from multiple perspectives I found myself more involved with the 'past' sections than the present day. They were genuinely uncomfortable to read at times, and I found the voices of Marion and Constance more convincing than that of modern day Ava - she's obsessed with the story of this whole house but her reasons for it don't really come across as such, and I found it hard to summon up any sympathy for her. But overall this was a great, atmospheric read. read

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This was a slow book. I kept waiting for it to pick up pace during the first quarter. I felt that the multiple perspectives were a bit annoying and distracted from the flow of the story. However, it started to get gripping and I enjoyed the ending overall.

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This book tells the story from three characters' viewpoints and three different points in time. It focuses on the Overtoun Estate and the history of life there, as well as the mysterious dog suicide pattern at the nearby bridge. Ava is a journalist and decides to investigate further. She can tell that the house has a mystery that it is hiding and starts to receive threats herself. Her obsession with the house begins to put a strain on the relationships in her life.

To me, this book was trying to touch on a lot of things at once, mystery, relationships, family history, the supernatural - and it never really came together well for me.

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The Thin Place tells its story through 3 characters from 3 different points in time. Set around Overtoun House and bridge near Dumbarton in Scotland, modern day journalist Ava sets out to investigate a story surrounding the property whereby hundreds of dogs have leapt to their death from the bridge, with no reasoning ever being discovered. She finds herself increasingly attracted to the house and begins to investigate its past, to the detriment of her own relationship. Intertwined with Ava’a story are Marion and Constance’s. Marion moved from London to Overtoun after marrying the lord of the manor in 1929. Her expectations of a lavish new lifestyle were never met, her life plagued with tragedy, sadness and loneliness. Constance is introduced to us from 1949, a young sickly girl who also lives at Overtoun.

I found it hard to put this book down! I haven’t read anything by CD Major before and didn’t really know what it was going to be about. It was fast paced and had a gothic vibe that I loved. It was chilling and spooky; even more so once I found that the house and bridge really exist and that the bridge does have a reputation for dogs jumping from it into a gorge below. I found both Marion and Constance’s stories to be heartbreaking in completely different ways. I think Ava was just a good way for the author to be able to tell the reader Constance’s life before and after Overtoun. I would say that as the story is set in Scotland that I would have liked to have seen a little bit more in the way of Scottish dialect.

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This book was perfect for winter’s nights, with its gothic atmosphere mixed in with the contemporary world. I couldn’t put it down, even though its content meant that it was hard to read in places. If you’re a sentimental dog-lover like me, be warned that it’s a difficult read, but well worth it for the gripping plot.

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'Heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in think places that distance is even shorter.'

The Thin Place follows 3 women's stories across the span of decades and generations, yet somehow all connected to Overtoun House. Overtoun House is a real place in Scotland that has been described as a 'thin place'. A bridge exists there where numerous dogs willingly jump to their deaths; some survive only to go back up to the same spot and jump again. This piece of historical fiction is very eerie and left me feeling really unsettled throughout. I guessed one or two twists and yet the execution of them was still brilliant to read. I enjoyed that the chapters were snippets of each woman, quite fragmented rather than allowing the reader to see the full picture which definitely added to the mystery.

The Thin Place is released in April 2021 and it is now available for preorder!
Thank you to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for my advanced copy.

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A stunning novel that perfectly handles dark twists and turns. Despite it touching on difficult themes, they are all handled very sensitively. I was desperate to find out what secrets the house (and the bridge) held so I raced towards the satisfying end! Very excited to see what else this author has coming up next.

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A <b>BIG THANK YOU</b> to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for the ARC of The Thin Place
by C.D. Major. For fans of The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, C.D. Major delivers an eerie and evocative page-turner. The Thin Place is a mystery with the lasting power to stay with you long after the book is closed. ★★★★★

From the publisher: She has to know the truth about Overtoun Estate, but there is a reason it has stayed buried for so long. When journalist Ava Brent decides to investigate the dark mystery of Overtoun Estate—a ‘thin place’, steeped in myth—she has no idea how dangerous this story will be for her. Overtoun looms over the town, watching, waiting: the locals fearful of the strange building and the secrets it keeps. When Ava starts to ask questions, the warm welcome she first receives turns to a cold shoulder. And before she knows it, Ava is caught in the house’s grasp too.

After she discovers the history of a sick young girl who lived there, she starts to understand the sadness that shrouds it. But when she finds an ominous old message etched into a windowsill, she is forced to wonder—what horrors is the house protecting? And what will it cost her to find out? With her own first child on the way, Ava knows she should stay away. But even as her life starts to unravel, and she receives chilling threats, the house and the bridge keep pulling her back…

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

5 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 15 Apr 2021
#TheThinPlace #NetGalley

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The Thin Place is an incredibly captivating story of family secrets. CD Major uses multiple narrators to tell a harrowing tale of a manor home and the bridge nearby that has claimed the lives of upwards of 500 since 1950.

This novel was spellbinding and I could not put it down once I started reading. A clever balance of horror and mystery, this book will surely hold you captive as you learn the secrets of Overtoun.

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The Thin Place has three stories woven together that take place at various times throughout history. As you read on, you eventually discover the connection between the three. This book also takes advantage of the ever-popular somewhat unreliable narrator combined with some subtle thriller vibes.
The story takes place in Scotland and explores a bridge there where many dogs have jumped to their death (this is a real place in Scotland) and a house near the Bridge called Overtoun. The author tells the tale of the thin place where - the place where the world of the living and the world of the dead has a thin barrier.
The book is filled with intrigue and turns - even toward the end when you think you’ve solved it, there’s still another twist. Not only does the author delve into the mystery, but also familial relationships, which makes it more interesting than a standard thriller. I will say in the beginning, it was a bit slow to start and hard to keep track of who the three characters were, but once it takes off, I finished reading it within a few hours because I couldn’t put it down. Overall, it’s worth a read!
Thanks to Net Galley for a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

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What are Thin Places? Thin places are places of energy. A place where the veil between this world and the eternal world is thin. A thin place is where one can walk in two worlds – the worlds are fused together, knitted loosely where the differences can be discerned or tightly where the two worlds become one. (Definition provided by thinplacestour.com)

Ava Brent is a journalist that takes on the story of Overtoun House and bridge. A spot that locals refer to as a Thin Place. It is believed that in the 1950's upwards of 500 dogs have leaped to their deaths from the bridge. Not only that but dead bodies have been found around the estate with spent guns next to them. Does the bridge have some strange pull that brings both man and beast to their death?

That is what Ava wants to find out.

Once Ava arrives on site she gets a strange feeling. It's as if the house knows she is there and is demanding her to leave. Yet as strange as she felt while there she becomes obsessed and finds herself going back there time and time again. Even breaking into the home to curb her curiosity. Meanwhile, Ava has also discovers that she's pregnant and while she is delighted to be having Frasier's baby she can't seem to focus on her own health and their future together. Overtoun House is the only thing on her mind.

Then we flashback to Marion and Constance both of whom resided in Overtoun house.

Marion, 1929

A poor young woman that is swept off her feet by Hamish. They marry and he brings her back to his families estate. They try and try again for a baby but it isn't meant to be. Miscarriage after miscarriage have left Marion frail and Hamish resentful that she can't carry a baby.

Constance, 1949

A young girl that is locked away in a room at Overtoun House. Her mother tells her that she is very ill and should not be exposed to anyone. Loneliness is the only life she knows. All she has is the view of the bridge from her window and how excited she becomes to see anyone crossing over wishing she could run out there to laugh and play with them.

All three storylines will interconnect and I'll admit that I was surprised by one revelation though in hindsight I'm wondering how I missed the connection. It seems so obvious...now. A slow burn of a novel with rich atmosphere and an intriguing location that kept me turning the pages. The author ends the novel with an historical note and much to my surprise Overtoun House and bridge is, in fact, a real place steeped in mystery. I have much to Google. 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for providing me with a digital ARC.

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The Thin Place - CD Major. A story in three timelines about a "thin place," a place where the space between worlds is smaller. Ava is a newly pregnant journalist in the present day, investigating a story where dogs are compelled to jump from a bridge; Constance is a sickly little girl in the 1940s, locked in her room; and Marion is a young bride in the 1920s who has come to live at her new husband's foreboding estate, while he is never home. This was good. I wasn't too surprised by anything that happened, but it was a pretty good read. Four stars.

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*I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

The Thin Place centered around the dark history of the foreboding Scottish estate, Overtoun. It follows the story of three women from different times whose lives will somehow intersect.

The story starts with Ava, a television journalist, who decided to investigate a bridge near the Overtoun estate where many dogs have jumped to their death.  She soon obsessed to uncover Overtoun's dark history, putting a strain on her relationship with her family, partner, and her job.
We're also introduced to two other women — Marion and Constance. Marion, in 1929, she married the lord of the manor. It tells her story of courtship and marriage plagued by loneliness, misery, and tragedy. Constance, a sickly young girl who lived in the manor in 1949 with a devoted mother.

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A compelling and gripping thriller with its gothic and creepy atmosphere. The Thin Place is slow paced with realistic and well-written characters. Told by multiple narrators, Ava is not a likeable character. She makes a lot of bad decisions. I found myself drawn to Marion and Constance. Both of their stories are heartbreaking and sometimes uncomfortable to read. A book filled with intrigue and secrets, some were predictable. The slow build up of tension was so satisfying!
Overall, The Thin Place is a captivating read with a perfect mixed of mystery and suspense.

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‘The Thin Place’ -C.D. Major
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ *easily 5 stars*
Genre: Historical Fiction/ Thriller

⚠️ TW: Miscarriage, still-birth, munchausen by proxy, animal abuse and animal death ⚠️

The Thin Place: where the veil between heaven and earth is so thin, one could effortlessly fall over the precipice.

This slow-burn novel perfectly encompasses fact, fiction and mystery, utilising them in an emotive, shocking and disturbing storyline. Throughout reading this I; nervously paced, held my breath (countless times) and felt that dread of your heart dropping suddenly out of your body without a trace.

Based upon the real location of Overtoun in Scotland, that is steeped in myth, Ava- a tenacious journalist, seeks to uncover the truth behind its tragic past. But will this jeopardise everything she once loved?

Told through three female characters; Ava, Marion and Constance, spanning different time frames, the history of this tragic place begins to reveal itself as we learn these women share a harrowing connection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for this riveting ARC.
Release date: 15th April 2021

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Very well developed characters and an extremely engaging story. Well thought out and very suspenseful story line that keeps the reader guessing until the final twist! This is the book to read this year! Highly recommended!

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Great mystery story—chilling—but I didn’t want to put it down. I had an idea of how the different story lines might be connected, but there were several possibilities and the author kept me guessing to the end.

At a little over the halfway point, a lot of Ava’s story became redundant. It seemed to drag out more than it should. I grew tired of reading about how messed up she was, physically and mentally.

>Note—skip the epilogue—it’s terrible. I hope the author changes it by the release date.

Advanced reader copy courtesy of the publishers at NetGalley for review.

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Ava Brent, a small time news reporter, a woman in a loving relationship, with a nice if somewhat mysterious on her mother’s side family, has finally all she has so desperately wanted to be…pregnant. Now her life can be complete…yet a case gets in a way. Something that should have been a peculiar but trivial story about a strange suicide inducing landmark turns out to have a strange and irresistible attraction for Ava. The creepy Overtoun Estate standing all but forgotten in the shadows and gloom calls to Ava, promises to whisper its secrets to the right ears, seemingly desperate to have its story told… Or maybe Ava’s projecting, powered on by her obsessive personality. Either way, she can’t let go of the story, to the great detriment of her professional and personal life. And so the novel mainly follows Ava on her quest for the truth.
And meanwhile, you get two other storylines, set in different times.
One of a sheltered young woman who gets wooed, married and whisked away to a remote hostile manor by her superficially dashing broom, Crimson Peak style minus the incest. Whereupon her isolation and loneliness and inability to have a baby turn her mind to a darker place. The other of a young girl, systemically and horribly mistreated by her mother.
Of course, all the stories are connected and it’s up to Ava to jostle her growing belly around trying to figure out the connection.
The overall success of Thin Place depends on how you read it. If you approach it as a character driven drama with Gothic undertones…it’s pretty good. If you read it as a thriller with light supernatural ghostly echoes…it’ll leave something to be desired. Which is to say I figured out every single plot turn and twist way, way too early on. Every single freaking one of them. There might have been surprises for Ava, but there were none for this reader. And that’s in a genre that (pun intended) lives and dies by its twists. I mean, granted I’m a person of an above average intelligence, with an analytical mind adapted for deduction, who reads tons of thrillers, so my brain is somewhat primed to solve these things, but still…this has been the most predictable of adventures. Which is somewhat disappointing, because otherwise the book read pretty well. It managed to sustain a nice atmosphere throughout, Overtoun Estate rendered appropriately creepy (it’s the eponymous thin place where the boundaries between the words are…well, thin), and the characters were well developed and had that careening trajectory that made their stories as compelling as train wrecks…you know where it’s going but you can’t look away.
The pacing was good, the novel read very quickly. And it was inspired by real life events, locations and cases. The latter, specifically, the case of Dee Dee Blanchard and her daughter, which, having never jumped on the true crime train that is such a modern obsession) I’ve never heard of until now and having looked it up since I’m stunned any jury would convict the daughter. I mean, if there was ever a mother you can justify killing…oh justice, how strangely your wheels turn. Anyway…
So yeah, a darkly entertaining and fairly compelling, but tragically predictable thriller or a darkly entertaining character driven generational dramatic tragedy. Choose your own adventure. The author’s debut looks interesting too, especially the NZ asylum thing, maybe one day. Thanks Netgalley.

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I chose this book as the book cover and the blurb drew me in and I love the idea of a mystery novel.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I enjoyed the level of detail and some of the suspense provided in the book, however it did take me a while to get into the story and I wasn't captivated at the beginning enough to read on with speed.

To captivate me and keep me going from the offset, I feel that the story should have been played the other way around so it starts with the Ava finding out her mum's background and going through the story that way rather than waiting until the last few chapters to find out what's happening. I found the investigating piece long and drawn out.

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So I need someone to make this into a show or movie yesterday. Following the three timelines and how the connect at the end is amazing. It’s truly a book that you cannot put down. I felt the obsession that Ava had to know the whole story and fill in all the missing pieces. If you liked haunting of hill house and bly manor read this book.

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I found this in the Read Now section of Netgalley. I liked the sound of it, so I decided to check it out.
I hadn't realized that I'd read something by this author before, and it wasn't for me. But I figured, each work should be judged on its own merits, right?
So here goes. The story is told in three parts with three different narrators. We know that Ava is here in the present, but the position of the other two narrators in the timeline is unclear. This is obviously on purpose, though, as knowing would spoil one of the big reveals. I like the multiple timeline format, and feel like it worked well, here, although I did find myself more interested in the two "past" plots than the present one.
Ava, the protagonist, is not a particularly likable character, but then, neither is anyone else in her life. The lack of communication between her and her family members, as well as her partner, is pretty extreme. Everyone comes off as weirdly selfish and sulky and persecuted, and I found it difficult to care about any of them.
Ava's story was her solving the mystery of the other two people's stories. She's an investigative reporter, but she does very little actual investigating. Answers just sort of fall into her lap, first stumbling upon a giant clue that literally explains half of the mystery, and then two conversations clear up the rest. Ok, then, so maybe this is meant to be less of a mystery and more of a character study? Maybe, but as I said, the cast of the present part of the story weren't particularly interesting, well-developed or likable. The two characters in the other parts of the story fare better, but they are also very one-note.
The ending, or, at least the pre-ending/big reveal came as no surprise- from the introduction, it was clear that Marion was going to end up being [can't spoil it!]. What did surprise me a bit, though it shouldn't have, was the mean-spirited little twist at the end, which mirrored the ending of that other book I'd read by the author.
Clearly I am not the right reader for CD Major.
It was a well-structured and interesting enough story, though, and I can understand people enjoying it.

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I found this book to be just okay. It was an interesting premise, but I found the story as a whole to be a bit lacking. I also figured out the twist well before the end, it seemed so obvious. Overall, it was a decent read, but not something that knocked my socks off.

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I quite enjoyed this book, but the dual narrators didn’t quite work for me and I think the atmosphere could have been stronger.

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This was an incredibly easy read,and I dont mean that in any negative way.
It was straightforward,and didnt throw in red herrings or too many plot twists.
I made assumptions about the characters quite early on,and was pleased to have them be right.
A very interesting idea that has a place be haunted by its past,and the people who lived there.
It packs a punch or two,but never veers off into unbelievable territory for me.
A very enjoyable read.

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Ava is a news reader who discovers a story relating to Overtoun House and Bridge where stories say hundreds of dogs leapt to their deaths due to the thin place (a celtic belief that heaven and earth are only separated by a thread). Ava visits the house on many an occasion and becomes obsessed with the house, much to the consternation of her partner and family.
There are also chapters written by Marion and Constance who in different decades lived in Overtoun house.
At the end of the book the author references tragedies than have happened at Overtown.
A really interesting book which grabbed my attention from the start.
Received this book from Netgalley and publishers in exchange for an honest review

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What a ride this book is! The epitome of the ideal thriller with just enough dark chill, legend and mystery without graphic gore. Scotland positively drips with atmosphere and I could picture myself there at Overtoun Estate. The story is told by three perspectives and the focus is mainly on the goings on at a bridge, the estate and a flat in Glasgow. Jumping dogs and obsessions add to the atmosphere as do minor characters.

Ava, a journalist and pregnant with her first child, is drawn to Overtoun Estate to investigate a local legend and her own disturbing fascination. But the more she learns the more obsessed she becomes. She cannot let go and her priorities become skewed, very noticeable to those around her. She's not particularly likeable but one needn't like or relate to characters to enjoy a good read.

The stories of Marion and Constance are so riveting I was very eager to read more and more. Talk about secrets galore and loads of twists and turns! The strategic melding of the three perspectives is brilliantly done. And the ending! I absolutely loved it. The writing itself is great and the mysteries well planned out with a few helpings of genius.

Readers of General Fiction, Women's Fiction and Mysteries should read this absorbing book. Though chilling, it's not scary.

My sincere thank you to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley! Much appreciated.

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I really enjoyed this. The story of the bridge felt very "internet rabbit hole". Told from multiple viewpoints I felt myself more drawn in by Marion and Constance's story, and wishing there was more to them. Ava I didn't get pulled into until towards the end.

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Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for providing an ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

My second CD Major book (first was The Other Girl) and not disappointed. Started at 5pm, finished by 9pm. Certainly an easy read, but at 3am I was still awake thinking about the characters of this harrowing, haunting and heartbreaking story. The story follows the lives of Ava, Constance and Marion. Spoiler Alert: You can’t help but feel quite a bit of empathy for the latter two (at least for a substantial portion of the novel). I was angered by what Constance was being subjected to, and then when we learn Marion is the perpetrator, it is soul destroying to ponder how she could confuse love with abuse. How a character I felt strongly about could do something so heinous left me feeling quite dejected. I don’t turn to CD Major for rich literature but you do feel very much part of the story. And for a quick read that will stick with you, she has not failed.

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The Thin Place is a story told by three perspectives. Ava is a journalist with an obsessive personality. Although pregnant with her first child she becomes wrapped up in investigating the haunting tales of a local bridge and nearby estate in Glasgow. Ava digs deeper and deeper into the hauntings of the grounds and just what horrible events happened there previously. At the height of her obsession I found myself no longer able to like or even relate to her character.
The chapters with Marion and Constance were the most intriguing. I was hooked on their perspectives and eager to learn just what had happened in their lives. Although an interesting read, I had guessed a main part of the plot/ending by the midpoint. This is disappointing in a mystery/thriller novel.

Thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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The Thin Place surprised me in a good way. What I really appreciate is that the setting was in the real place, so it’s based on the real story which makes it more believable.
What I really enjoyed was the telling of three characters, who were slowly unfolding the storyline. We do not really know how these three women are connected, although quite easy to guess. Unfortunately I was more interested in the story of Marion and Costance, which was really interesting. I found Ava who was telling most of the story in present quite an unlikable character, not concerned about her own baby and partner. Also her family and relationships there were not so nice, often people not talking to each other, mother whose history (past) no one knows from the family.

And I really pitied Fraser, Ava’s partner, he was so considerate and Ava so obsessed. I get it that she was a journalist and that the house was somehow triggering her, but still it was too much from my point of view.

The story is getting much better more in the second half of the book, all pieces coming together. Falling into lap of Ava, so it’s not much discovering the mystery by her. Overall I really liked how all the stories fall together so for me it is 3.5* more to 4*.

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I really enjoyed this book! I had never heard the term ‘thin place’ before so was intrigued to learn what that meant. The story was riveting, the characters were well formed and overall, I’m excited to have discovered a new author! The topic covered in this book can be hard to deal with at times but it wasn’t so involved that I couldn’t read it. All in all, I would definitely recommend this book to friends...

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I'm an absolute sucker for a foggy, suspenseful house horror, and C. D, Major's "The Thin Place" delivered exactly that.

The story is told from the viewpoint of three different women in three fairly sequential time periods, but the main protagonist is Ava, an expectant mother and local news reporter who gets hopelessly hooked on what she assumed would be a quick story about mysterious dog suicides by the hand of Overtoun Bridge, located in a neighboring town. Despite her growing unease of Overtoun Bridge and the accompanying house on the adjacent property, Ava finds herself so drawn to the locale and its muddled history that she barely notices the jagged rifts forming between her and her partner, family, and colleagues. Major's secondary and tertiary narrators provide bits and pieces of the property's history, though they are just as much of a puzzle as the whole mess is to Ava.

While "The Thing Place" is not an entirely new concept for a spooky tale, it's quite enjoyable. There were a few bits I found on the predictable side, but I think it's rather unusual for that to not happen if you're a fan of the genre. Also, for what it's worth, I definitely did not predict every twist and turn. The ones I was expecting were still just as unsettling once confirmed. There is a also a layer of moral dilemma of whether or not your demons are, in fact, your own that adds a complexity to the characters and relationships in the novel. Does keeping them to yourself harm your loved ones more than you? Can you share them without knowing? Is there any way to keep them out? To get out yourself?

Major's exploration of Overtoun as a "thin place," described as a place where the barrier between this world and the next is noticeably weaker, kept me hooked and kept me awake. I believe it will always lead me to hold onto the leash just a little tighter.

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3.75/5 stars

First of all: Thank you Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Second of all TW: suicide, child abuse, miscarriage, animal abuse and death.

Overtoun Bridge: Set in Dumbarton, Scotland. This bridge is also known as the "dog suicide bridge". Dog suicides have happened since the 1950s. It is not yet exactly known why this happens, but there is a wide array of theories surrounding it.

Thin places: Places where the corporeal world and the eternal world’s veils are thin.

These two themes are well talked throughout the whole book (as well as others!) and this in turn, made me want to read it. I had read somewhere about Overtoun Bridge but never actually delved deeper. I had never though, read or heard about "thin places" but alas, knowing me? You know I would be fascinated by that. This book managed to get my attention in the best way possible, it was also my first e-ARC, and I'm definitely not disappointed (finally a good start to the month!)

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Now: Ava is a journalist and a mom to be. However, she develops a concern because of her ongoing pregnancy and a lack of medical history since her mother is adopted and refuses to speak about it. Consequently, Ava tries to dig into it, leading her to Overtoun. She develops an unhealthy obsession for the place and starts in turn, to receive threats in order for her to leave the place the hell alone.

But, did she listen? Nuh-uh. She finds ways to make it her job: she tries to cover it for the news, she goes there as a tourist, she creates a bond with the current owner of the house. And well, she definitely doesn't expect what she finds...

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This is a thriller of sorts, but as I found myself reading it I would definitely say this has also tiny bits of supernatural/terror thrown here and there (and i'm living for it!).

This book started off a bit slow but wow. Wow, wow. I'm dumbfounded really. I can't even put my ideas into proper words. This book is absorbing, interesting, and a bit gruesome. (if you do plan to read this check the trigger warnings at the start of my review)

However!: The protagonists read off almost the same (I think that is the main reason it didn't go up to 4.5/5 stars like I envisioned it at first). I had to constantly check who was narrating. As a funny note: I found the form of narrative interesting and curious. We have 2 first person narrations and a third person narration. It's... a compelling decision to say the least. I liked it. Props to that.

The ending? Well. It's one of the best ending lines I've ever read. I'm not kidding. I wish I was, but I screamed, and then I stared... with my mouth open... I´m astounded.

The pace? I have a few complaints here and there but honestly, now that I think about it... nothing to serious. I stopped my chores of the day to finish this. Seriously. I couldn't put it down, that’s why I have no complaints on that department. *chimes*

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In conclusion what I liked: supernatural themes and historical themes surrounding the book, the pace was *almost*perfect, it started off strong, the ending (not getting tired of saying that), the setting, the plot.

What I didn't like: Protagonists reading off almost the same (up to almost the ending), the multiple people getting pregnant at the same time (sorry not a fan of it) and would say that’s about it. (because it's a thriller and I can't say much without spoiling)

SO!, Do I recommend it? Yes, yes I do.

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Went into this book expecting a thriller that would keep me on the edge of my seat, but it did not live up to my expectations. From the get-go I could not really connect with the characters or what they were experiencing. I also decided not to finish this one. The Thin Place was just not the book for me.

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This book began promisingly but ended with me wanting more. Major does a great job creating the tense, foreboding atmosphere that underlies a majority of this novel, but lacks in creating a fully-fledged three-dimensional character in Ava. I loved traveling through this story through multiple POVs, and I was very interested in each character. Although I could guess the "plot twists" very early on, I was still interested in how exactly the whole plot would play out. The "creepy" scenes were a bit over-the-top, and i found myself cringing more at the character's exaggerated reactions to these scenes instead. I feel like one of the struggles in the creation of this book was finding a good reason why Ava was so drawn this house in the first place. In the end it didn't seem believable and was a bit of a reach, but I kind of let it go because I found the whole plot in its entirety to be interesting. A lot of see-sawing between stars because of all these pros and cons, but in the end it's a solid 3 stars for me.

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A well written book with interesting characters. I enjoyed the twists, although I did guess them all. Will read more by this author in the future.

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With vividly drawn characters and an unusual and interesting plot, The Thin Place is a page turning read

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This spooky thriller was interesting. I like how everything tied together. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

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A gripping read which when I thought I'd worked out what was what had me staying up far too late to read to the end. I was right, but only partly as a new twist awaited.

The story revolves around three very well drawn female characters, (Ava, Marion and Constance) and their interaction provides the basis of the plot. The descriptions are atmospheric and as a whole the book has a delicious unsettling feel to it.

A great read and I shall definitely look out for this author in the future.

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Very good read. I love this author. She writes about real historical places.
What is it about Overtoun house and bridge that Ava is so drawn to it? How is Ava's mother connected to the place? Will Ava's unborn baby be safe? Who is sending the creepy letters?
Hard to put down novel with so many unanswered questions. Highly recommend.

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