Joe McKee has recently been told that he has incurable cancer and roughly 3-6 months left to live. His step-daughter Heidi collects him from the hospital and takes him home. He might be frail but she is still afraid of the man who made her childhood a complete misery. She won’t allow him to touch her and she is wondering how you behave towards a person who is dying at yet you truly hate them.

Joe asks Heidi to call his daughter Ciara. She too doesn’t have any kind of relationship with her father and dislikes him also. Putting her own emotions to one side she visits him with her partner Stella. Ciara is too waiting for an apology that never comes just like Heidi.

Because of the hard work looking after Joe now he is mainly bedridden, Heidi asks her Aunt Kathleen to come over from England to help look after him. One afternoon with a house full of people Joe dies and is found by Heidi’s husband Alex. The undertakers remove his body and as the family is waiting for him to be returned, ready to be laid out before his funeral the police arrive.

They have reason to believe that it wasn’t cancer that killed Joe. There are marks on his body and it would seem like he has been asphyxiated, but who hated Joe the most that they were willing to commit murder rather than wait the 3-6 months for him to die naturally?

The Liar’s Daughter is a novel about family, past hurts, and hidden secrets. It is told from the points of view of Heidi and Ciara and a few from Joe and in two different timelines, Now and Then. For those of you who read my reviews you will know that multiple POV books are not really my go-to reads and adding in two different timelines I was expecting myself to give up on this book just partway through, but I stuck with it and actually read it in just two sittings.

From the detail in the synopsis I expected Joe to die earlier in the book than he did at 25% of the way through, but it was good to hear some chapters in his own words. He was a nasty man to his girls and yet the people outside of his house thought he was a lovely man and adored him. I’ve known a couple of people just like this so it was perfectly realistic to me.

The characters were well developed and the plot kept me guessing as to which person wanted Joe dead the most. The main setting of the book is Joe’s house and there are plenty of conversations between all of the characters which help you to analyse them if you are trying to work out the culprit.

The subjects covered in the book were done very sensitively and handled well. The Liar’s Daughter is the first book by author Claire Allan that I have read and her writing style, including short snappy chapters, kept this book moving along at a nice pace. I now look forward to reading more from her in the future.

An atmospheric, (albeit a dark and spiky atmosphere), book full of family rows and retribution. I found it difficult to warm to any of the characters but nonetheless the story is gripping. It delves into the intricacies of family relationships and the damage that can be done to children by the thoughtless of adults. It's quite twisty and though I don't think it''s thriller in the strict sense of the word, nevertheless it keeps you guessing.

I never doubt that when I receive a copy of author Claire Allan's book's, I know I am in for such a great read.
This book had me hooked completely from the very beginning.
I read this book feeling an undercurrent to the story. I knew it was so much bigger than what I was reading if I'm honest.
I really enjoyed her characters, the story line and the relationships each daughter had with their father and each other.
Death of a loved one gives us so much time to analyse, to assess and wonder could we have done something different.
When their father Joe dies under suspicious circumstances, everyone seems to have a reason to want him dead.
Everyone wants to blame the other which makes for a gripping read.
Thoroughly enjoyed this one

This is a hard-hitting, dark story of Joe, his daughter, Caira, and his stepdaughter, Heidi. Joe finds out he has cancer and not much time left. He wants to reconcile with his estranged daughter Caira. Heidi, his stepdaughter has become his main carer but she doesn’t like Joe any more than Caira does. Heidi and Caira haven’t got too good a relationship either. Perhaps unsurprisingly since Joe walked out on Caira and Marie, her mother and Joe’s wife, to live with Heidi’s mother. Moreover, when Heidi’s mum died, also of cancer, Joe stayed to raise Heidi. So why dislike him so much?

His sister, Kathleen, comes back from England to see Joe, Caira comes to see Joe, Heidi carries on and they all help with Joe.

Joe dies. They prepare for the funeral. The funeral directors are preparing the body but they find something of concern. The police are brought in. So did someone kill Joe? Apart from the Priest and the doctor only the family saw Joe. Why would someone kill a man dying from cancer?

As we read and find out about the various characters in the story we learn that, if Joe was killed, there are several candidates who could have done it. We understand why as we read devastating things from Heidi and Caira as they recall the past. How they were so badly damaged by Joe.

Claire Allan has written sensitively whilst unfolding a complicated story of experiences and dark, hidden secrets that are exposed as the characters remember what Joe did. The story builds to a tense confrontation between Caira and Heidi, revealing how their scarred lives have shaped their relationships with those closest to them and then a surprising admission is revealed. Can it really be true? When more devastating truths are exposed it leads to an appalling and deeply affecting conclusion.

A breathtaking and remarkable book from Claire Allan.

Thanks

Thanks to Sanjana Cunniah at Avon for the invitation to review The Liar’s Daughter by Claire Allan, join the BlogTour and providing an eCopy of The Liar’s Daughter via NetGalley.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC. Compellingly dark story that will keep you guessing til the very end.

This is a book I enjoyed. The premise was good, the plot better and the ending fabulous.

It portrays Joe who is the father of one daughter from his marriage and dad to another daughter of the women he moved in with.
We learn early on that he abused one of them. The trouble is, he needs her to look after him now that he’s on his death bed.

There’s a lot of consequences in this book while the author allows us to unravel the dynamics of this broken dysfunctional tainted family which I found engrossing.

It’s not perfect, there’s a flaw as it dipped my interest here or there but the story is too powerful for it to matter.

I have loved this authors previous work, so I’m always eager for her releases.

The Liar’s Daughter was a tense thriller dealing with sensitive subjects well.
Joe McKee is the pillar of the community, god knows how but he is, but unfortunately he has only a few months to live as cancer is killing him. His step daughter, Heidi, has made sure he is looked after calling in everyday to cook, clean and see to his basic needs but it’s getting too much for her and she’s contacted his sister and his daughter to come and help out and say their goodbyes but after only a couple of days of them all being there together, tensions are already running high due to past history between them all, Joe has taken a sudden turn for the worst and has died. The police are involved as there are marks on his body suggesting he was aided at the end, but who has done it and why?
This book dealt with a very sensitive subject well, it kept moving forward at a good pace and I enjoyed the fairly short chapters. The chapters were told from either daughter and were in the past or present, this was easy to follow and helped a great deal with getting to know why the characters were like they were.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

There's a claustrophobic vibe to the story from the beginning. It impacts intensifies, as the plot reveals its secrets. The suspense builds steadily to a shattering conclusion, as all the dark secrets are revealed, but will justice prevail?

A dark story of abuse, and unforgivable betrayal of trust. Joe is dying and he wants his family with him, but why are they so reluctant to come? Why does he want them to? Is it to share what time he has left? Or to ensure their continued silence?

Heidi and Ciara are both emotionally damaged, they share a bond of hate, mostly directed at each other. As the story progresses they have more in common than they realise. Told from multi-points of view, in the past and the present day. Mostly from Heidi and Ciara's but also Joe, Alex and Kathleen's. The reader becomes immersed in their anger and pain. The setting is beautifully described and the culture and traditions add an extra layer of tension in an already fraught and intense environment.

The plot is not overly complex, what draws the reader into this story is their empathy and in some cases disgust for the characters, who are both authentic and relatable. I guessed the twist, but the sense of dramatic irony, of knowing something the characters in the story didn't, gave the story an added twist, rather than spoiling it.

The last chapters are both emotionally draining and satisfying. It's not a story you enjoy but is one that you can believe in.

I received a copy of this book from Avon Books UK via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This is a multi-layered psychological story that is cleverly told. First, you feel sympathy for a character only to have the rug pulled from under your feet and then it's all turned on its head again. In fact, just about everyone has a motive in this book and just when you think you've worked it out, you find you are mistaken. It is only after Joe's death that the truth can emerge and it's a story of lies, cover-ups and grief. It's the story of a small, close-knit community and what goes on behind closed doors. Very clever but not pleasant reading as so many people are touched by the events in this story, a story that is all too closely reflected in real life.

Joe McKee lay dying. The last stage. He had a daughter and a step daughter. Ex wife, sister all around but the atmosphere was so dark, so heavy, so ominous that from the first page you knew that everything was awry.

For atmosphere you can give this book a hundred percent. For deep down anger and sadness and the inability to throw these feelings off was very hard to read about. I almost gave up mid way as the book made me angry and mad at family who were blind, and in the end not just blind but actually wicked.

Ciara and Heidi are the two girls involved and their story is told in alternate chapters. They detest each other, with and without reason. Despite being adults the feelings of animosity and hatred have not gone away. The story builds up to a crescendo between these two with plenty of emotion provided by secondary characters.

Round and round and round. Too much round for too little payout and too much to swallow (pedophilia).

Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

The Liar's Daughter by Claire Allan is another compelling and emotionally engaging read from an author who has remained a steadfast must read for me. I am always excited to get my hands on a new release from Ms Allan, and I was not at all disappointed by this latest offering.

Joe McKee has terminal cancer and it falls upon his stepdaughter Heidi to provide the bulk of his care, a task she undertakes begrudgingly. Following the death of her mother years before, Joe became her legal guardian, and Heidi makes no bones about the hatred that she continues to harbour for the despicable man. When Joe's biological daughter Ciara is informed of her father's health battle, she adds further fuel to the flames, bringing her long held resentments against not only Joe but Heidi, too, back into an already fraught situation. When Joe dies, suddenly and unexpectedly, aspersions are cast on the two daughters who so clearly despise him.

This is a gripping story that will keep you guessing up until the final pages.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC.

Well, The Liar’s Daughter is certainly a dark dark dark kinda story; it’s actually my first taste of this author’s work, and when it comes to my thrillers and crime reading, I like dark – the darker the better, in fact, so this has a thumbs up indeed from me.

Joe Mckee, highly regarded member of the Derry community and all round good and honest man is dying from cancer and with his final months ahead his family gather round to take it in turn to care for him…

However, Joe’s daughter Ciara and step-daughter Heidi know the real Joe and he’s anything but the doting and protecting father he should of been to them.

From the opening pages it’s clear to see that both Ciara and Heidi are damaged women. There’s certainly no love lost between father and daughters, yet what soon becomes apparent is there’s also no love between the two sisters. When Joe dies, the police begin to have doubts over whether his death was in fact from natural causes. Did someone/would someone of killed Joe – he was already a dying man anyway – did someone really hate him that much? There was five people in the house the day he died and the sisters certainly have motive to kill – but what other family secrets has he taken to the grave?

I would personally class The Liar’s Daughter more of an incredibly dark family drama. As I keep saying, it is extremely dark, and most uncomfortable, disturbing and emotional at times due to the subject of abuse and self-harm; it’s long lasting effects which are most apparent throughout. Handled with care and sensitivity, though, I believe these stories do need to be told, and Allan did that in her writing.

Being told by the perspectives of both sisters gave me a great depth into their personalities and who they were – both VERY different, however, when it came to their past life trauma they are without doubt linked together.

For me, I greatly enjoyed the clever ‘whodunit’ storyline. The mystery isn’t that itself of an already dying man’s murder – it’s the fact that you only have a handful of suspects and it has to be one of them – despite the bleak storyline this does create a little bit of fun mystery aspect to it. They all have motives; they all had ample opportunity to commit. Whilst everything sounded as it should be when reading, I always had that niggle that it wasn’t, of course it wasn’t, was it? Because someone was lying to me and HAD murdered Joe!

The Liar’s Daughter is a dark, chilling and emotional family tale about two daughters who despise their father. It’s a novel that will take you on a whole journey of feelings, from sadness and pity, to disgust, fury and horror.

Whoa, quite a different read involving a dead father, a daughter and step-daughter bound together in secrets.

Joe was supposed to be an upstanding citizen. He died. Police marked it unnatural and both the daughter’s seemed shocked. But were they really?

My third book by author Claire Allen, I was quite taken aback at the tough issues she had interweaved in the story. The characters were different and unlikable, especially Joe. He was quite crafty and evil, and only his daughters knew the real ‘him’. I hated him and was not surprised that somebody offed him.

Both Ciara and Heidi had their own lives, they seemed to be hiding their secrets. The writing told me their story both in present and past. They seemed to have had tough lives. I shuddered when I heard their final truths.

This was a murder mystery at the core with the truths slowly crawling onto the page. The suspense was slow, but quite stolrong in its motivation. It was easy to dislike everyone yet be interested in their secrets.

Tapping my kindle to keep the story flowing was all I did, the rest was done by the author whose ending made my vengeful heart scream in victory. How wicked could people be!! The end was totally justified. I felt vindicated.

Quite an evocative and emotional thriller which played with my mind completely.

I really enjoyed this book from beginning to end!it was super thrilling and kept throwing all kinds of twists and turns. This book has some subjects that could be difficult for some readers including child abuse. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

Heidi's stepdad's days are numbered. He's dying of cancer and wants to spend his last months with his estranged family.
But neither Heidi nor Ciara, his biological daughter, are happy to be anywhere near the dying man. They can't wait for him to die.
But when he finally does, much sooner than expected, it soon turns out that it wasn't his illness that killed him...

I have previously read The Apple of My Eye, which I loved, so when I reached for this one, my expectations were set fairly high.
And it was a good read indeed, I really enjoyed it, but I regret to say that neither did it have me at the edge of my seat nor madly turning the pages.
I was battling with myself all day whether it deserves 3 or 4 stars, and while it was a pretty gripping story, I think that the cons outweigh the pros.
For one, it's utterly unbelievable that Heidi was even legally allowed to stay in Joe's care, he was after all a stranger.
Secondly, Ciara's constant changes in demeanor didn't sit well with me. She was painted as an unlikeable person for most of the story, then she suddenly changed only to revert to her old self a the drop of a hat.
It also seemed pretty implausible that for all these years, never once did it cross her mind that Heidi might have been going through the same ordeal.
The ending, with its promise of friendship between the two women, felt unsatisfactory to me, especially considering how bad Ciara had treated Heidi in the past.
On the plus side, I was wrong in my estimation of who the killer was, so it was a surprise when it was revealed.
Overall it was a really good read, but because of the faults I've listed, I'm leaning towards 3 stars.

A really good gripping read. Parts of this story were hard to read. Joe had carried out some horrific acts in his life. Ciara and Heidis stories were heartbreaking in places. They had both been through so much. Everything was written about sympathetically and with empathy. I would definitely recommend this book and any other book by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Oooh, this was a dark, dark story. I have read one other book by Claire Allan, and this one was so much more different! Whilst I found the story a bit slow to get started, Allan creates an intense atmosphere that builds and builds throughout this “who dunnit?” narrative.

The subject matter is very dark and disturbing. The book I picked up after this was decidedly lighter to help brighten my mood! With themes of paedophilia, rape and child abuse, this is a book that you need to be in the right frame of mind to consume. Once you are prepared for this darkness, the story itself is completely absorbing. Although it took me a while to get into the narrative, I soon found myself racing to the finish, desperate to know the final revelations.

Set mostly in one house, Allan creates a very claustrophobic atmosphere. Coupled with the fact that several adults all have a seemingly obvious motive for murdering Joe, this atmosphere becomes fraught with tensions and paranoia. My compass was swinging permanently in trying to guess who was the culprit to the crime and I enjoyed how Allan gradually reveals motives and also the events of the fateful night.

Whilst this is a dual narrative story that switches between the dark past and the death of Joe in the present, readers are also presented with a story that moves between Ciara and Heidi’s perspective. This added another depth to the story, particularly as these women are so different in personality yet, linked by deep, dark traumas in their past.

The ambiguity of the title was clever. Not only does it refer to Ciara, Joe’s daughter, it also encompasses Heidi – whom Joe cared for when Heidi’s mother passed away. I liked this ambiguity because it meant that it was never clear who was the real perpetrator of the crime.

Set in Ireland, I enjoyed reading about different funeral traditions and the significance of the funeral wake. Indeed, I was even more surprised when I saw reference to Dylan Thomas’s poem, ‘Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night’ – a poem I often study with my students. At last! I have proof that it is not some dusty piece of text, but has been quoted in modern literature!

This was a good read and very pacey. The short chapters helped alleviate the intensity of the subject matter; I could easily take a break from the narrative before the negativity swamped me too much. That being said, it definitely did not take me long to sweep through this story, desperate to find the answers as much as the characters themselves.

With thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I didn't like this Claire Allan book as much as I've liked her other ones. It wasn't much of a thriller -the main secret is revealed right away- and while yes, there is a murder, it's kind of incidental to the story. The themes are very dark and disturbing and include child molestation, although no details are given, it is a major theme. This one was 2 1/2 stars for me.

This book grabs you by the scruff of the neck and throws you right into the chaos! I really enjoyed reading this book, it did keep me guessing, although I don’t see the bombshell coming. Thank you for letting me review this title