A Week In May

A Birthday Trip Turns into a Haunting Mystery

When Jen Barclay sets off for a relaxing week in Narbonne, France, she expects sunshine, sightseeing, and time with her best friend, Lisa Edward. The trip—Lisa’s birthday gift to Jen—begins just as planned. But after a night out, Lisa vanishes without a trace.

Alone in a foreign city and struggling with the language, Jen is drawn into a tense and emotionally charged search for her friend. As secrets unravel—through diaries, messages, and unexpected encounters—Jen discovers she may not have known Lisa as well as she thought. The deeper she digs, the more she uncovers about Lisa’s hidden ties, her estranged father, and a betrayal that cuts close to home.

Told through Jen’s perspective, A Week in May is a gripping thriller that explores the fragility of friendship and the consequences of long-buried truths. With help from the local police and uncertain allies, Jen races against time to uncover the truth—before it’s too late.

Get your copy of A Week in May by Ann MacKinnon and uncover the secrets that turn a dream holiday into a chilling fight for answers.

Excerpt from the book

I love writing things down. Anything from a line of poetry to a recipe from a magazine. Ever since I was young, I have written about things that bother me or things that make me happy. I write lyrics from songs or little snippets of conversations I have heard, and poems I make up, so Lisa could not have given me a better present than this diary. Her presents are always good, but this is fantastic!

I open the gift.

and am enthralled with it.

I christen the page.

But not only has she given me this beautiful diary—it is pink with a bejewelled elephant on the front—she is taking me on a trip. The diary is particularly appropriate as my birth sign is Taurus and the elephant is my lucky animal. She has been very mysterious about the whole thing. She is telling me nothing. I don’t really care as she will choose well. She will make all the arrangements, and I know it will be interesting. It is always lively when I am with Lisa.

One birthday present I particularly remember is the one she gave me for my seventh birthday. It was a flight attendant’s uniform for my Barbie. We both wanted to travel the world and speak other languages. We played all our games with one being the passenger and one serving the drinks, using our toy tea-sets and the dressing up box. Her gran was a great seamstress, and she always had odd bits of material to furnish into outfits.

‘Are you sitting comfortably? What would you like to drink?’

‘I would really like some of that very special tea you serve on board.’

‘Here you are, Madame. I hope you enjoy it.’

How our ideas changed! This year, so many years on, my present is very different as was my party. My friends and family were there but the hats were shiny silver instead of homemade, and we were all wearing sophisticated clothes, not wee pink sticky-out frocks. Everyone had a good time, and the cake was just as good.

Lisa has fulfilled her dreams to a certain extent by becoming a travel agent, but I have taken a different path. I wear a sort of uniform, a black suit and white blouse. Working in a lawyer’s office was not my first choice, but I have grown to love it, and it is never dull. In fact, lately, it has been exciting but not in a good way. I will confide in Lisa and ask her advice, but I think the priority is to enjoy the break. Both Lisa and I have been working hard, so it will be great to relax. Maybe we will get back some of the old joie de vivre that we used to have.

I am desperately looking forward to getting away. If only life was as simple as those childhood days. We enjoyed every moment. No thought of what was to come. Why walk when we could run? We had no secrets from each other. Nowadays, I think we are more reticent with one another. Maybe being away together will help us open the boxes we’ve stored our secrets in.