Loved Jo Spain’s previous books & this did not disappoint.
I was a little distracted initially by so many characters however things all became clearer as the story progressed.
Excellent tale with lots of twists.

Jo Spain is such a wonderful crime writer. I devoured this book in 24 hours as I have done with all of her books. Six Wicked Reasons will have you hooked right from the beginning. There are so many characters that have the motive and means - but whodunnit?? A family full of secrets, lies and hatred.

The Lattimer Family in Ireland - what a dysfunctional family they are. Blessed with money but this does not mean that they are happy. Frazer and Kathleen had 6 children - James, Ellen, Kate, Adam, Ryan and Clio and they have all disappointed their controlling father. Frazer is not a nice man all, he is the father and husband from hell. His children all have their reasons for hating him. 10 years ago Adam disappeared without a word from the family home. He had been presumed dead - but now he has returned. This brings the family back together, with the exception of mother Kathleen who died 5 years earlier. This is cause for celebration and the family board Frazers best mate Danny's yacht for a party - and more revelations. But one family member will not survive the night?

Thanks to Netgalley and Quercus Books for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

Jo Spain is a crime author I love, and this, her latest, is a cracker of a read, set in Wexford and Spanish Cove in Ireland. It centres on the dysfunctional and damaged Lattimer family, the mother, Kathleen, from a wealthy family, and father, Frazer, a Scottish man who settled in Ireland, working as a lowly bank clerk until he married Kathleen, then quit to manage her large business portfolio of business investments. They have six children, Ellen, James, Kate, Adam, Ryan and Clio, all of whom have been a severe disappointment to Frazer. Ten years ago in 2008, Adam disappeared, despite intensive and wide ranging searches, he was never found, and presumed to be dead by many. A heartbroken Kathleen died, and the children scattered far and wide, with only Ellen remaining at the house, making a living as a online accountancy tutor. In 2018, Adam returns out of the blue having made a success of his construction business in France, claiming to have had a breakdown and depression that led to him running away all those years ago.

Frazer welcomes Adam back with open arms, inviting all his children back home to celebrate his return. James is a TV producer, once successful, a well known celebrity in Ireland, but now struggling to get his latest venture up and running. Kate works in her wealthy husband, Cheng Grant's upmarket hotel in Dublin. Ryan, an ex-drug addict has settled in Italy in a small town on the shores of Lake Garda. Clio has been living in New York, struggling to survive, hampered by her illegal immigrant status. Despite their misgivings, anger and resentments, all the siblings return to Spanish Cove for their first get together for years. They all embark for a celebratory party on Frazer's best friend, Danny's yacht, catered for by the Polish widow Ana, but are left reeling by Frazer's shocking surprise announcements. Frazer is recovered dead from the sea, in what is assumed to be an accident. DS Rob Downes, familiar with the Lattimer family, investigates what turns out to be a murder. As the trauma, secrets and lies of the dysfunctional family come to be slowly revealed, Rob is determined to find the killer.

Frazer is the husband and father from hell, a deplorable excuse of a human being, the only surprise is that someone hadn't finished him off years ago. He made his wife, sons and daughters lives a misery, directly responsible for many of their issues and traumas, I cannot imagine that many readers will feel any sympathy for him, and are much more likely to cheer at his demise. This is a fabulously entertaining read, full of intrigue and twists, tense and suspenseful, exploring the darkness, struggles, pain and hurt at the heart of a Irish family. A terrific psychological thriller that I recommend to those who love their crime fiction and thrillers. Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

loved this jo spain book !! kept me turning page after page ,a very in -depth look at a large family ruled by a horrible father .a very surprising twist near the end .

‘Six Wicked Reasons’ is Jo Spain’s latest standalone novel and, whilst we might wish for the presence of Spain’s much-loved Tom Reynolds rather than the less effective and less interesting character of DS Rob Downes to solve the crime, this omission impacts little on the overall enjoyment of this novel which feels rather like a contemporary homage to Agatha Christie. No train this time, however; rather, a flashy yacht.
Under the reader’s microscope in this story set in rural Ireland is the Lattimer family. They comprise a poisonous patriarch who dies early in the tale and his adult children who have been summoned to celebrate the return, after ten years, of prodigal son, Adam, presumed dead by most. Why he left gradually becomes clear as do all the reasons while his siblings, bar mousy Ellen, try to spend as little time at the familial home as possible.
Whilst there is no doubt that this is an intriguing whodunnit, Spain is also clearly interested in more than just creating complicated plot lines. Her writing invites the reader to consider how parents can affect their children long into adulthood, how coercive control works and why it is so damaging, why sibling jealousy arises and the desperate measures people will employ to escape their past.
Highly recommended. This will not only entertain readers as they piece together all the clues but also remind them of the cast iron links within families which, for some, can feel like prison shackles worn in a life sentence.
My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

This is a real page turner. I did not want to put it down. Quite a dysfunctional family with a manipulative father and weak mother.. Very well written with plenty of suspense throughout. Would definitely read her next offering. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it

A long lost brother returns home and the whole family gather at the family home. Where has he been and why did he wait until now to return.
Lots of questions to be answered.

Thanks to Netgally for a digital copy of this book

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish this book and have marked it as "did not finish" on Goodreads. I was very intrigued by the concept, and the idea that it was going to be similar to Big Little Lies, however I found the beginning to be both boring and confusing. I couldn't connect with any of the characters, and therefore didn't care who had killed their dad, and I was confused by all the back and forth between the past and the present.

3.5 stars
I have read several books by Jo Spain and she became one of the authors whose books I'd buy without reading the blurb. As expected, Sox Wicked Reasons was gripping, intriguing and twisty enough. This tale of a dysfunctional family, secrets and murder kept me turning the pages. However, it just seemed that the author was trying too hard to shock the reader by putting more twists and thrills, which compromised the quality of the story and made it far-fetched and unrealistic.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Quercus publishers for the ARC.

The Lattimer family, Jo Spain's subjects in this novel, would have to be one of the most dysfunctional in literature. The father, Frazer Lattimer is a masochistic narcissist who likes nothing better than to play psychological games and screw up the lives of his six children. With their mother dead, all but one of the children fled the family home as soon as they could but now Adam, who disappeared ten years ago and was presumed dead has reappeared and the others are summoned home to Wexford in Ireland.

At a Welcome Home party for Adam on family friend Danny's yacht, Frazer's body is found in the water after he had been struck on the head. With only the six children, Danny and Frazer's girlfriend on board (in an almost Agatha Christie-like scenario), the local Detective Rob Downes has his work cut out when he discovers that any one of the six had reason enough to murder their father.

This is slow burner of a psychological thriller with a long fuse but one that kept me glued to the pages as the plot is disclosed in two time lines - that of the events surrounding Adam's disappearance and the current time. The tension builds steadily as the characters of the children and all the truly horrible things Frazer had done to them is laid out. The ending was superb and the whole novel makes for a compelling read.

I couldn't put this book down. The story was gripping right from the very beginning. The characters, though flawed and unlikable, were excellently drawn. I loved the way the story was built up, slowly revealing secrets and lies. There were plenty of twists and turns in the plot that lasted through to the end of the book.
This is the first book by Jo Spain I have read and I can't wait to read all her other books. Highly recommended.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for an advance copy of Six Wicked Reasons in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book I want to see as a movie!! It is sooo well written and so captivating. I could've read this in one sitting (however a little baby prevents that!) it was so engrossing and I just needed to know what happened next.

I hadn't read anything by this author before but I definitely would again in the future. Her writing style is incredible, it never felt boring or stale, I never found myself skim reading. It flips between 'before' and 'after' and sometimes the past for all the characters. There was nobody that I didn't enjoy reading about - I loved how their lives had all started at the same roots but they'd ended up so different.

Adam returns home after being missing for 10 years causing all sorts of family drama and a murder that the detective is trying to solve by interviewing everyone who was there. There are so many twists and turns and I thought I had a hunch who the culprit was (although there was soo much to this story that I kept doubting myself) but then the STORY that went into identifying the culprit it just made the whole book for me. It's a little slow to get going but you're never not intrigued from the first page.

I really hope to have the opportunity to read more from this author in future.

I loved this book and couldn't put it down. From the first page the reader is drawn into a complex family drama, and it is a measure of the author's skill that we end up caring so much about what happens to each of the (frankly awful) children of the monstrous Frazer Latimer. The ending is satisfying but believable, and I will definitely be recommending this book as much as I can.

I read Six Wicked Lies in one day. The Latimer family had me from the start and a take of the prodigal son returning under mysterious circumstances is always a good way to get you hooked. I really couldn’t tell who the murderer was, I knew who I hoped it wasn’t but when I found out the whole true story, I was truly impressed. I’m dying for this to be a movie as it would have you gripped!!!

Oh my what a totally dysfunctional family this turned out to be and what a completely compulsive read it was, a real psychological thriller at it best drawing you in and building up the suspense. It’s written in past and present starting with the murder of the father (Frazer) of a family who are coming together celebrating the return of their brother Adam who had gone missing some 10 years earlier. But this is no ordinary family they all seem to have a damn good reason to want to see their father dead but who could it be !!
This is a real Agatha Christie type mystery with DS Rob Downes ferreting away determined to find the culprit and it’s written in such a superb way, the plot excellently crafted and the characters a great mix of suspects.
I loved the book it was clever and the proverbial page turner that is all that you want in a brilliant read. A book I can highly recommend for all lovers of mystery mystery thrillers, heaps of praise to the talented Jo Spain also for a wonderful read.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Quercus Books for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Six wicked reasons bjuder på fantastiskt bra läsning! Men det här är ingen actionbok, det ska sägas. Stämningen byggs istället upp långsamt men med stor skicklighet och precis när man tror att man har listat ut allt – då kommer vändningen. Jag kände mig tveksam till Six wicked reasons i början. Men plötsligt får man upp vittringen, och bam, jag är fast. Och det finns i allafall sex mycket goda anledningar att ge den här boken en chans.

Handlingen utspelar sig i på den irländska kusten, i Spanish Cove, där väggarna i familjen Latimers praktfulla fastighet döljer rysliga hemligheter. För tio år sedan försvann sonen Adam och alla trodde att han var död. Hans försvinnande tog hårdast på hans mamma, som dog av brustet hjärta. Men nu, ett decennium senare, har han dykt upp igen – till synes välmående och oskadd – och hans fem syskon kallas hem för att fira hans återkomst. Givet så klart, att det finns något att fira. Inte alla verkar dela den uppfattningen.

Saker och ting tar en ny vändning när deras pappa Frazier, mitt i firandet, hittas död. Och det visar sig ha funnits sex mycket goda anledningar att önska livet av honom.

Six wicked reasons planeras komma som en läcker smällkaramell runt julgransplundringen i början på det nya året. Då, när vintern känns som längst och man har gott om ursäkter att kura ihop sig i soffan med en härlig djupdykning i familjen Latimers komplicerade familjehistoria. När man kanske känner sig lite lagom mätt på sin egen.

Usually in a typical crime thriller there's a mystery at the start that has you intrigued and keep you reading, but with Jo Spain (The Boy Who Fell, Sleeping Beauties) the situation also invites the reader to have something of empathy or concern either about a victim or perhaps someone wrongly accused. With Six Wicked Reasons, Spain seems to take more of a risk and break from convention, choosing instead to present the reader with a victim who you don't much care about and six siblings of a wealthy family who you quickly find are just as difficult to like, each of them with a good wicked reason why they might have killed their father Frazer Lattimer.

The Lattimer siblings have all gone their separate ways and been mostly estranged from each other over the years, their lives (and personal enmities and problems) taking them in other directions. Something however has happened to bring them back together. Adam who had vanished 10 years ago has returned from the dead and their father Frazer Lattimer has invited Kate, James, Ellen, Clio and Ryan back home from far afield to the family home in the village of Albertstown, Waterford on the south coast of Ireland. The family put aside their differences, keen to know what has happened to Adam, but they suspect Frazer might have other reasons for the gathering related to their trusts and inheritance. During a supposedly celebratory boat trip however it appears that Frazer has been murdered and thrown off the boat.

The local police detective Rob Downes knows the family, knows that they all hate each other and he's convinced that their stories doesn't add up. As he interviews each of them, it's clear that they are all hiding something. Why has Adam suddenly returned? Is it really because he has just discovered that his mother Kathleen died 9 years ago - her death something that some family members believe his disappearance contributed to - and he has turned up to belatedly pay respects? The family inheritance, has definitely something to do with the anger and mistrust of each other and we can presume the death of their father. Downes himself has a history with the family and might not be a completely impartial observer either.

So there are a few little quirks in Six Wicked Reasons in addition to Spain's typically keen observations on Irish family and society, but it feels a little bit pedestrian for this author. The detective is presented with different accounts, we learn progressively about the backgrounds and back story of each that will presumably lead towards a motive for killing their father, and evidently such is the nature of the family that it could be any of them. There's nothing exceptional in any of the stories, but there are some sharp observations about the mix of wealthy families, money and alcohol. Being Jo Spain of course there are a few curve balls thrown in now and again; nothing spectacular, but enough to raise a smile that assures you that the author has this one under control and is going to get you to some interesting developments.

And, as unlikely as it seems, she might even make you start caring a little about these over-privileged screw-ups. Which, in the absence of conventional thrills and twists, is probably the strength of Spain's writing here in Six Wicked Reasons and it adds another dimension to her Tom Reynolds and other standalone thrillers in their exploration of different aspects of Irish society and its uncomfortable, sometimes dark secrets that are not openly talked about or even acknowledged. The situation with the Lattimers is by no means unique, there are indeed undoubtedly many dark secrets that still haven't been uncovered and there are still people who get away - metaphorically or otherwise - with murder.

Ooooo! I do love me a dysfunctional family and the one in this book is pretty much as dysfunctional as you can get!
Ten years ago, Adam Lattimer disappeared. This pretty much broke his already damaged family and, according to his siblings, also killed his mother as they feared he was dead.
Fast forward to the present day and Adam is back. His brothers and sisters all return to the family home in Spanish Cove, desperate for answers. But when they are all gathered together it's not just Adam's return that throws the family into chaos. Their father, Fraser, has a few things to divulge which overshadow things. And then tragedy strikes. But who could have dealt the fatal blow? And why?
It's hard to say much about this book as it is all so convoluted and interconnected. As the present day investigation into murder continues, we hear much from the past that adds colour and backstory to what is happening in the now. Suffice to say that every character has a reason, a motive, a secret...
This book is a bit of a slow burner as the author builds it all up layer by layer. Each of the characters' pasts are exposed bit by delicious bit. Fingers start to point in every direction as it becomes clear that all have a motive. But they are also all a product of a dysfunctional dynasty, even those who managed to escape its clutches... There is definitely a lot of past to wade through but the author keeps things on an even keel and manages to make it all come together at the end, albeit not quite the end I was wholly expecting.
This is definitely a character driven book and, as such, must contain strong characters to carry the story. In this respect the author has done a cracking job but also does not just rely on them to carry the story. Indeed, the story that she weaves around them is also deliciously well plotted and executed. It really is the complete package, demonstrated by the fact that I pretty much read from start to finish in only a couple of sittings, desperate to return to it every second I was forced to put it down when life dictated.
I think I said after I finished Dirty Little Secrets & The Confession that I need to read this author's series featuring Tom Reynolds. Well, although I haven't managed that yet, I am one step closer as I have Without our Blessing all ready to go. Hopefully that will keep me going until her next book is released.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Think of the most dysfunctional family you can imagine--and then double it! The six siblings of the Lattimer family are spread all over the world but when Adam, missing for ten years, returns to the family home, his brothers and sisters return to the family home seeking answers. Every one of them has skeletons in the cupboard and the revelations are fascinating. The novel is written from many different perspectives and in different time frames and is a tremendous read from start to finish.

More of a ‘slow burner’ than I’m generally comfortable with ‘Six Wicked Reasons’ was a novel worth persevering with.

In a narrative that jumps between past and present we are privy to the investigative talents of DS Rob Downes as he seeks to unravel events leading to the murder of the utterly despicable Frazier - a character that made me ashamed to be Scottish! Under the spotlight are Frazier’s nearest and dearest - all of who have reason to dispatch their nasty piece of work of a father!

Jo Spain’s talent is undeniable and she has truly nailed the slow burner psychological thriller genre.

My thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author for an advance copy in return for an honest review.