This was an absorbing story about a large Irish family with a dominant father. who held tightly on to the purse strings an treated all his children harshly. He is killed and thrown overboard at a party to celebrate his engagement to a new woman. All the family had reasons to wish him dead but which of them killed him.? A very complex murder mystery with a couple of great twists in the tail. Fascinating conclusion.

An amazingly intricate woven tapestry of a highly dysfunctional family with the murder of the patriarch at its centre. This book is extremely well written with a sharp eye for detail. I really enjoyed getting to know the Lattimers through the story and couldn't have guessed at the ending. A brilliantly plotted story.

The story of a maladjusted family of parents and their 6 very different children set in Ireland between 2008 and 2018 essentially. Back in 2008 a son, Adam, went missing only to reappear 10 years later to, apparently, find his mother dead from cancer and grief of his disappearance/supposed death. Upon Adam's return Frazer, the father, demanded that all children reconvene at the family pile in Ireland which, of course they do albeit reluctantly, as there is still a lot of money involved. All have reasons to hate their father, he is a thoroughly manipulative unpleasant person. He becomes the dead body. The writing is good and keeps the reader on their toes - there's a lot happening. Each chapter is from the point of view of one of the family members alternating with "after" chapters where thy are all questioned and re-questioned by the police trying to sort out the murder. Although making the book a bit bitty at times, for once it adds to the tension and "works". No-one is quite who they seem and the police gradually drag out a lot of family background to a satisfactory, not quite what you expected, ending. Whilst I found all of the characters fairly unpleasant it was, nonetheless, a good read. Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is so much more than a whodunit by an already successful author. The book begins with the dead body of Frazer Lattimer being pulled from the water and brought to shore after a family party. He is a widower with 6 children who for various reasons hate or dislike their father. No child is born into the same family, there is constant change as each new member arrives. The mother who loved all her children has been dead for a few years now and Frazer is a demanding, controlling father who dominates all his children to some extent. His behaviour over the years with respect to his wife and his children are gradually exposed in a backward and forward time format. Add to that his behaviour just prior to his death and a selfish, manipulative and cruel character is portrayed. We also gradually learn how each of his children have battled and survived such an upbringing and how each have developed and you have a fascinating well-told tale which culminates in a surprising climax.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Jo Spain/Quercus Books for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is one well plotted psychological thriller/mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed this read, starting it one afternoon and finishing it the next afternoon. So many characters, with different personalities, brilliantly written.

The Lattimers seem to have it all, wealth, status, class and each other. But do they really? Frazier the father, Kathleen mother, and six children, James, Ryan, Kate, Adam, Ellen, Clio. All different and all dysfunctional in their own way.

As the story begins Adam who disappeared 10 years earlier has returned home, his mother Kathleen had died years earlier after Adam had gone missing, believing him to be dead. The family had split. But when Adam turned up back home all of them were called back to the family home by Frazier, it wasn’t a request more a demand. Clio flew home from New York, where she had overstayed her stay, Ryan came back from Italy, James and Kate lived in Dublin so not too far to travel, Ellen still lived at home with her father.

Tensions are high, all of them wanting to know where Adam had been for 10 years, why hadn’t they heard from him? Blaming him for the death of their mother. But Frazier told them all it was a time to celebrate, his homecoming and that Adam would explain to all of them at the same time.

Frazier plans a party on a boat, but 9 of them go out on that boat and only 8 come back alive. The story is told from the points of view of all the brothers and sisters, and in between chapters as each person is questioned by Detective Rob Downes.

Part two of the book is told from a few years back and the present, bringing in some more plot twists, but still with the brothers and sisters. You really felt for some of these characters, what they had been through, misunderstandings, deception. The father was a very strict man, the mother was the loving one, but they had all struggled after her death, she had seemed to be more of the glue that kept the family together as much as she could. The father not so.

The story keeps the reader guessing all the way through to the end, giving a couple of clues in the last few chapters, but you don’t know for certain what happened until the end. A great read.

I would like to than #netgalley and #Quercus for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

Just wow ! I loved this book and devoured it within hours . Jo Spain is a fantastic author and this book will keep you hooked and that ending .. .....just fab

Sartre insisted that the celebrated line from his 1944 play Huis Clos (No Exit), “L’enfer, c’est les autres.” was forever misinterpreted, but the idea that hell is other people has stuck, despite the protestations of the Great Existentialist. Some, like Jo Spain in her latest novel Six Wicked Reasons, would suggest that, to mix and match poets, Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell could be condensed into an overpowering tenth – Family.

The Lattimer family, patriarch Frazer, sons James, Adam and Ryan, daughters Ellen, Kate and Clíodhna – Clio - have assembled at the family home in south east Ireland overlooking the waters of Spanish Cove in the Irish Sea, so called because of its earliest recorded casualties – a Spanish galleon blown adrift from the Armada and then shattered on the hidden rocks.

Something has gone badly wrong. With the family gathered aboard a luxury yacht moored just off-shore, and apparently partying, Frazer Lattimer has been hauled from the water, as dead as any Spanish sailor, with a mortal wound to his head. Now his children are huddled on shore, wrapped in space blankets, being interrogated by a member of the local Garda Síochána. And, of course, one of them must be the killer. Mustn’t they?

Readers new to Jo Spain’s novels will welcome the apparently straightforward back-stories of Frazer Lattimer’s children, and their motives for wanting him dead. Those who know that the author is The Mistress of Misdirection will suspect, correctly, that this is only the start. But, for the record, I give you the Lattimer children. James is a big media name, with TV screenwriting and production credits on his CV. Lives in Dublin, of course with ex-model wife and step daughter. Adam – now there’s a tale. He now lives abroad, making money for fun, but he disappeared ten years earlier, broke the heart of his late mother Kathleen, and has now re-appeared, equally mysteriously, and it is his return ‘from the dead’ which has prompted the reunion. Ryan, alas poor Ryan. Drug addicted as a teenager, he has somehow survived industrial intakes of pharmaceuticals, and now lives in Italy, just about getting by as an odd-job man.

Ellen Lattimer is the female equivalent of the Prodigal Son’s brother. Remember, the bloke who stayed at home while his brother was out on the town, giving it all away? Ellen has stayed at home, cleaning, cooking, dusting – and paying for the upkeep of the house. She is prim, joyless, and what Private Eye used to call “tight-lipped and ashen-faced.” Kate, on the other hand, has spread her wings and learned to fly. Having overcome a teenage weight problem which caused her to be known locally as King Kong, she is now svelte, lean and lovely. Also, married to a filthy rich Chinese businessman with a chain of luxury hotels. Clio, though has been in the wars. Summoned from a dingy bedsit in downtown New York to attend the family gathering, she is the most volatile of the children, the antithesis of the line from the old hymn which described Our Lord as “slow to chide and swift to bless.”

As an amateur wordsmith I can only guess at Jo Spain’s writing technique; her prose is so assured, so fluent and has that sense of flair that cannot, surely, be the result only of endless hours of editing. No matter how long you spend polishing a piece of coal, you will never transform it into a gem stone. Six Wicked Reasons is a diamond, multi-faceted and reflecting both the light and the darkness of the human soul. It is published by Quercus and is out on 16th January.

This book was so boring and dull...

I really didn't connect with the writing style of this book. I'm not sure what it was about it but I really struggled with it.

I also got overwhelmed with the amount of characters. There was a lot and it was hard to follow who was who. I also didn't like any of them either which didn't help.

I struggled with the different timelines. This book jumped all over the place and it was difficult to follow.

I'm struggling to find any redeeming features of this book. I found it painfully dull, it wasn't engaging and I couldn't care for the characters.

Unfortunately this book was not for me but if you like domestic thrillers about dysfunctional families you might enjoy it.

TW: suicide, depression, addiction, miscarriage and murder

I thought this was really well-structured: I loved the way the author alternated between the events of the evening and the police interviews after the crime; that was really effective and well done. Ultimately though, I felt that there were too many point of view characters: I couldn't tap into the mindset of any of them because we flitted too fast for me to invest. It was tough to get into, but overall a good read which kept me guessing.

The plot of Six Wicked Reasons centred on the well-off Lattimer family who live in Ireland. The patriarch of the family is Frazer who was married to Kathleen. They had six children Ellen, James, Kate, Ryan, Adam and Clio. Frazer is unkind and cruel to all of the children in different ways. In 2008 Adam disappears and cannot be found despite extensive searching. Kathleen is distraught and dies a year or so later when Adam is presumed dead. The rest of the family disperse to Dublin, New York and Italy except for Ellen who stays at home and hope to inherit the family mansion when her father dies.

It’s now 2018 and Adam has suddenly reappeared. Frazer insists that all the siblings return home to find out where Adam’s been and to celebrate his homecoming. None are keen on coming and, once home, their fears are confirmed as family relationships clash and there is much fighting and drama.

The book is mainly written in the two time frames which wasn’t so bad in the first half but got confusing in the second half when there were also chapters about the years in between 2008 and 2018. Chapters were often headed ‘present’ which meant 2018 but then the next one would say ‘june’ which meant June 2008. I read at least two chapters assuming the wrong timeframe and had to reread. I find it hard to mark highly because of that and also that I didn’t like any of the characters. All six children had a reason to kill their father and all made odd choices.

With thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Six Wicked Reasons is another page turning standalone thriller from the keyboard of Jo Spain and it is a book that hooks you from the first to the last page.

The story is told from the viewpoint of a number of characters which is not a favoured method of mine but in the hands of this author it works very well indeed

Definitely recommended

Wow, What a read! Meet the Lattimer family- dysfunctional doesn’t come close” A brilliantly written book that flits between the past and the present and more importantly the truth and the fiction.
Wonderful, twisty, turny plots and characters that you’ll love, despise, cry for and empathise with. Uniquely clever plot that keeps you gripped from the off. The author has done it again with another breathtaking standalone.

This latest from Jo Spain combines two of my favourite themes: a family gathering from hell and a twisty detective story. Add to these a setting in Ireland and I'm hooked from the start. It is the second one I've read by this author which involves complex plotting and it's to her credit that she manages to keep the various threads, characters and timelines untangled - but you will need to keep your wits about you till the very end.
It's another gripping read from an author at the top of her game, and I look forward to catching up with all her others.

Having read previous books by Jo Spain, I was excited to read Six Wicked Reasons. A murder mystery told from different POVs, I found myself getting somewhat confused and found it hard to jump from past to present (which is unusual for me). I have never DNF a book so I kept with it, I found it slow to move and just didn’t keep my interest. Having loved her previous books, I was disappointed I couldn’t get into this one, I know I am in the minority, however, I have to give my honest opinion. Unfortunately, this was not for me but suffice to say there are plenty who loved it.

It's amazing how Jo Spain continues to write these wonderful mysteries. As always keeping you guessing until the last few pages. The insight to each family member and keeping track of who's who, just makes me want to read the book so quickly. Already looking forward to more from Jo

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for this ARC.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. It took time for me to get used to the characters, and who they were. It is about a very unhappy family who have a lot of secrets from one other. Adam returns home after 10 years to the shock of his family who believed he was dead. The dad, Frazier demands his children return home for a weekend for a reunion and has his own surprises in store for them. The book covers family relationships, deceit, lies by omission and control. I thought the story flowed and read well, and all six siblings having good reason for wanting Frazer dead. The book moved from past to present and was told in turn by different characters. It had mostly likeable, believable characters who have many issues with their father from childhood. There were quite a few twists in the book which didn’t really wow me. I really found this book hard to put down and read it in less than a day, and it certainly held my interest from beginning to end. Think I would look at reading another book by this author. 3.5 stars

Unfortunately this book was a DNF for me. I found the narrative a little confusing, and overly long. I realise I am in the minority as most people have given it 5*. Once I put the book down I didn't rush to pick it back up. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book as I am huge fan of Ms Spain's books, having previously read The Confession and Dirty Little Secrets and enjoyed both immensely.

This is a murder mystery, told in different voices - each a sibling in a very dysfunctional family. Kept me hooked till the end.

Having enjoyed previous novels by Jo Spain, I was keen to read her latest and, am pleased to say, it is an interesting read. Like others I have read by her, it is very character led and unfolds slowly, allowing the reader to discover why, and how, people are involved in events.

In 2008, Adam Lattimer disappeared from the family home, leaving his mother heart-broken and leading, his siblings felt, to her death. In 2018 he suddenly returns and father, Fraser, gathers his children home – well, all except for Ellen, who never left. Arriving are Kate, who is now married to a wealthy hotel owner, James, a TV producer, who is struggling to repeat his early success, Ryan, an ex-drug addict, who now lives in Italy, and Clio, who had outstayed her visa in New York.

This is a story of an unhappy family; each member of whom have their own secrets. It is also, of course, of how the family reunion leads to murder and of the investigation into who is responsible, led by a detective who knows the family well. Hints of Christie in this one, but a solid, well written crime novel. I received a copy of this from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Fantastic novel with a gripping storyline. Loved the way that the characters developed throughout towards the eventual reveal