MINM Review: The Visitors by Catherine Burns

A psychological character study with much promise and potential, in need of a top-notch editor to streamline the manuscript, as well as to inject The Visitors with more tension and momentum.

Violence: Mild-to-Moderate

Profanity: Mild-to-Moderate

Sexual Content: Mild

Explicit Language: Mild

Animal Cruelty: Moderate

Thrilling Action: Mild

Red Herrings: Mild

Twists and Turns: Mild

Suspense: Mild

Plot Development: Mild-to-Moderate

Character Development: Moderate

Pages: 288 (Kindle)

Best For Crime Fiction Readers:

  • Who appreciate psychological, interpersonal family drama.
  • Who enjoy British vernacular in their reading materials.
  • Who don't mind a slower, exposition and detail-heavy narrative style. The "visitors" of the title are not directly addressed and focused upon until well into the second half of the novel.
  • Who don't mind a plot that, while well-written in terms of words, ideas, and turn of phrase, meanders and, at times, strains credulity. The Visitors does examine an aspect of some crimes that is not often explored.

MINM Overall Rating: 3.5/5

The Visitors by Catherine Burns book cover image.jpg

Publisher's Blurb:

Marion Zetland lives with her domineering older brother, John in a decaying Georgian townhouse on the edge of a northern seaside resort. A timid spinster in her fifties who still sleeps with teddy bears, Marion does her best to shut out the shocking secret that John keeps in the cellar.

Until, suddenly, John has a heart attack and Marion is forced to go down to the cellar herself and face the gruesome truth that her brother has kept hidden.

As questions are asked and secrets unravel, maybe John isn't the only one with a dark side.