Deep Beneath Us

Deep Beneath Us is the sixth book I've read by Catriona McPherson, all but one of which I gave 4/5 stars. McPherson excels at psychological mysteries.

When I started this one, I wondered if I'd finish it because the beginning was so confusing. Dealing with mental illness IS confusing and trying to follow the "logic?" difficult.

Then as Tabitha returns home, the plot becomes more and more interesting. Clearer? No. This is one of those books in which you truly do not know what to expect next.

The characters are interesting, and the reader quickly becomes involved with the lives of Gordo and Barrett and their support of Tabitha. The suspicious death of Tabitha's cousin Davy unites them, and the multiple plot twists are provocative.

The background of a dysfunctional family is revealed slowly with each twist throwing the reader off again. Barrett's girls Willow and Sorrell, and Tabitha's son Albie, and eventually, another teenager become a lighter, positive element as the Muire family secrets and lies gradually surface.

I don't know how the author kept up with all of twists; there were points when I just had to accept them because they came so fast and thick. You aren't going to be able to predict them all even when you think you can.

I couldn't put it down.

Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for this one.

Read in April. Blog review scheduled for May 22.

Publication date: June 4, 2024 341 pages.

Ooo this was all things creepy and claustrophobic with a side order of suspenseful! We start with Tabitha returning home, to where she grew up, after pretty much losing everything - job, house, the custody of her son after the divorce. She is hoping for a clean sheet, a new start, and is just starting to find her feet when an explosion in a nearby loch becomes the catalyst for a whole new world of pain... It is swiftly followed by the discovery of the death of her cousin Davey who she had been getting to re-know since returning home. These two events then conspire to make her confront the demons that she thought she had left behind. They expose family secrets that surround her father and his brother, and the two families that were rocked by another event that I will leave you to discover for yourself...
Well... this was the gift that kept on giving. Just as I thought I had it worked out, the author threw me another curve ball which left me reeling. Yes I did guess something a little early, but that wasn't quite the whole truth, turned out not at all... It's all deliciously convoluted and interconnected with secrets and lies aplenty and more than a very healthy dollop of dysfunctional behaviour. It wasn't an easy book to start with initially as it did meander a bit and got a bit weird quite quickly, but, that said, after it started to come together, it was a veritable race to the finish which left me both reeling and satisfied. I guess what I am saying is - stick with it through the confusion, as there is light at the end of the tunnel and, for me, the destination was well worth the journey!
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Tabitha has had a hard time of it.  She had a mental breakdown when she was a teenager, she's recently found out her husband has been cheating on her, he's making her out to be an unsuitable mother and her son has decided to stay in the settled life he has rather than move with her to her childhood.

However, on moving back to the old renovated church she can't say she blames Albie for not moving.  It's cold, it's bleak and it's bringing back far too many bad memories.  Then her cousin is murdered, she gets an unplanned inheritance and more people around her die.

Tabitha has to rely on tentative new relationships with some locals to try and investigate what has been going on in Hisketh in her long absence.  But some long held family secrets and resentments are about to bubble up to the surface and Tabitha may struggle to come to terms with them.

This story really does have a twisty story arc and the psychological trauma of Tabitha is a major part of that. Tabitha is a completely unreliable narrator as due to her mental health issues we're never quite sure if the information being presented by her is "real and factual" or just her grasp of things.  

I really began to feel sorry for Tabitha early on as she really has had a crappy life and hopefully now that things are in the open, she will struggle less.  Albie, her son, seems to have lightened her load slightly with his visit and Gordo and Barrett have become fast new friends for her.

Catriona McPherson excels at crafting creepy psychological thrillers. But I'd say her latest, Deep Beneath Us, is not so much creepy as it is claustrophobic, addressing the themes of mental illness, murder, dysfunctional family dynamics, and the (un)reliability of memory. Narrated primarily by Tabitha Muir from her home on the banks of a remote Scottish loch that may hold secrets, there is very little action. The tortuous plot progresses mostly through dialogue, reminiscence, and musing, and I struggled to make sense of it for the first half of the book. In the latter half, things get even more labyrinthine, but glimmers of facts and the first hope of solving the mysteries emerge.

My favorite characters are the quartet of teenagers who ground the story with their clear-eyed pursuit of the truth and their refusal to give up, although they exhibit realistic teenager characteristics. I also enjoyed spending time in alternate chapters with two men--friends of a recently deceased family member--who have their own secrets and family issues, but who are determined to help their late friend's family deal with their myriad fears, suspicions, and tragedies. Tabitha, the central character, who has lost her marriage, her job, and almost the custody of her son, and who has spent time in a mental institution, is still dealing with her very fragile mental state. I had a difficult time connecting with her, although I held out hope at the end that her life would finally improve. Side note: I would have appreciated a glossary of Scottish words and expressions.

My thanks to Severn House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

First of all I love this author and have read every single book she’s ever written! This book certainly didn’t disappoint and in true Catriona McPherson style, I was hooked on the twisty and claustrophobic setting. Brilliant read and I definitely would recommend it!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC