“The Retreat is a chilling reinvention of an old mystery favorite…The atmosphere is richly drawn, a heady mixture of artistic ambition, oncoming claustrophobia, and adrenaline-soaked sleuthing.” –CrimeReads
“By setting The Retreat during one of the pivotal moments when everyday elements besieging a woman’s life seem to be conspiring to an overwhelming degree, de Mariaffi vividly humanizes what might, in lesser hands, have been a pro-forma, overly familiar thriller. Instead, The Retreat shines, at once thoughtful and chilling, familiar and unsettling.” –The Toronto Star
“A perfect getaway book for the cottage.” —The Globe and Mail
“Elisabeth de Mariaffi does an excellent job weaving the reader into this tactile sense of lifting and stretching, wincing and bruising. . . . And as the hours pass with no rescue, Mariaffi’s classic horror setup gets ever more bizarre and macabre.” – Telegram
“This thriller delivers double the chills, making it the perfect book to beat the heat.” – Zoomer Magazine
“Canadian author Elisabeth de Mariaffi’s latest has shades of Agatha Christie and will keep you guessing until the end.” – Real Style Magazine
“The Retreat also turns the intriguing central device of the Christie classic on its head by giving it unexpected weight and substance, which is why de Mariaffi is considered a practitioner of the literary thriller rather than simply an escapist entertainer.” – Postmedia