Carole Johnstone melds intricate family dynamics into a gripping mystery with the undercurrent of a gothic novel in Mirrorland. A childhood filled with trauma, abuse and dark secrets created a strong bond between twin sisters Catriona "Cat" Morgan and Ellice "El" MacAuley. To escape, the girls created an imaginary world they called Mirrorland, filled with pirates, witches and clowns. But the stress of the past also led to their estrangement as adults.
The sisters' relationship drove Cat to move to California 12 years ago, where she established a career as a freelance writer, while El remained in Edinburgh, where she married Ross MacAuley, a clinical psychologist. Now Cat returns to Scotland because El hasn't returned from one of her regular solo sailings on the Firth of Forth. Creepiness quickly settles over Mirrorland as El and Ross have bought a house Cat has tried to forget. Even stranger, the couple has been restoring the residence and furnishings to resemble the way it used to be. "The house is both too quiet and too loud," thinks Cat. While the police and Ross want to give up the search, Cat believes that Ellice is still alive, which elevates the suspense.
The parallels between reality and the sisters' childhood world add heft to the plot; Cat finds the house even more foreboding as her memories threaten to overwhelm her. Johnstone keeps Mirrorland character-driven as she explores the complicated connection between the sisters and Ross, whom they have known since they were kids, all of their personalities forged by trauma. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer