Book Review - Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

Title:  Daisy Darker
Series: -
Author: Alice Feeney
 
Description: After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80^th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the time comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.
 
The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…
 
Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed.
 
Review: When you read a thriller by Alice Feeney, you know you can expect a surprising reveal or plot twist. Although this is different from previous books I read by her, that final reveal is again one that I did not see coming.
 
Daisy Darker was born with a broken heart. Literally. But after years of avoiding each other, her family comes together for the 80^th birthday of her grandmother, Nana. The venue is Seaglass, Nana’s gothic mansion on an island that can only be reached at a low tide.
 
When the family arrives, secrets surface one by one. And things get worse when they are cut off from the mainland for eight hours during the tide. Add to that a severe storm and the party is complete. Especially when at midnight, Nana is found dead. An hour later, so is the next family member. They are being murdered one by one. To find the culprit, they will have to face their secrets.
 
“Daisy Darker” was obviously inspired by “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie, which involves a group of strangers invited to a mansion by a mystery guest on a remote island and are also killed one by one. Here it’s a dysfunctional family. “Daisy Darker” is not as much of a page turner as “And Then There Were None” or Alice Feeney’s other books “His & Hers” and “Rock Paper Scissors”. And I felt kind of meh throughout the book. It was just fine, enjoyable, but nothing special. But then there is that reveal and the plot twists. And that’s what made this book so much better. It even makes you want to read it a second time, to see if you can spot the clues. Maybe the culprit could be predicted, but the shocking ending is way more complex and original. That bumped up my eventual rating of the book by a point.  
 
If I would recommend you an Alice Feeney book, I would probably not go with this one, but it’s still a book worth reading.
 
Rating: 3/ 5