"Stories change a little each time they are told, even when they are as rehearsed as ours. Like children, they grow and evolve into something new, something with ideas of their own. Stories are also lies and we're all storytellers in this family."

Daisy Darker isn't famous but her name is. Her grandmother, a beloved and successful children's author, named a character after her. Nana has always loved Daisy better than her two other sisters. Daisy's own mother felt guilty for giving birth to a daughter with a congenital heart defect that will likely cause her to die young. But guilt isn't the same as love.

Daisy's two older sisters, Rose and Lily can be kind or cruel. Daisy's father would rather spend time travelling with his orchestra than with his family while her mother is more at home in her garden than with her children.

When Nana invites the whole family to her remote seaside home to spend her eightieth birthday with her, they all come with secrets. And "the trouble with white lies is that they sometimes grow up to become big dark ones."

No one in her family really wants to talk to Daisy, except her beloved niece, Trixie. Daisy did some unnamed bad thing some years ago and since then, she's pretty much been ignored. But when someone begins to hunt the family members, Daisy needs to solve the mystery before she becomes the next victim.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did Alice Feeney's 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'. This locked room mystery is clearly partly inspired by one of my favourite mysteries: Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None' but I felt like the finesse was missing. I was disappointed by this book and didn't enjoy the twist in 'Daisy Darker' at all. It felt more silly than groundbreaking. What I did love was the setting and the vivid descriptions of the ocean and the remote house. It felt like I was there. It's just a shame I didn't like the plot quite as much.

Let me start my review by saying that I’ve read and enjoyed all Alice Feeney’s novels and Daisy Darker is my favorite so far. It is chilling, dark, and suspenseful and I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I read it in one day and, even though I started to figure out a bit of truth towards the ending, there were so many more twists and surprises until the last page that I still had a unique and gripping reading experience.

The Darker family is not what you would call close or affectionate. You would probably call it dysfunctional – with capital letters. Its members are very complex and self-centered, their insecurities and jealousies making them despicable and vengeful towards each other. I can honestly say I didn’t like most of them.

The story is told from the perspective of Daisy, the youngest daughter. Daisy Darker was born with a broken heart. When she was a child, her heart would suddenly stop beating and she was rushed to the hospital where she was quickly revived. Her life expectancy was not very long and her family didn’t seem to care about it. She had a lonely childhood where her older sisters bullied her, her mother resented her, and her father was never around. The only person who ever showed her love and care was her grandmother who wrote a children’s book called after her that sold millions of copies around the world.

The Darker family hasn’t been all together in years, but they reunite to celebrate Nana’s 80th (and probably last, according to a fortune-teller) birthday at Seaglass, the family home on a private small island in Cornwall. A will is read, making many family members unhappy, but, as a storm rage outside and the tide is high, no one can leave the house, and, perfectly-inspired by And Then There Were None, a mysterious and spooky poem appears, old video tapes are watched, and, at every strike of the clock, one of them dies. Who, among them, is the killer? And who will survive?

With Agatha Christie vibes, complex and multi-layered characters, high level of tension, and more twists than I expected, Daisy Darker is a remarkable and gripping read!

Not sure what to make of this book, certainly a mind twister. I had so many thoughts about it and I’m still not sure what to make of it

This was definitely more of a murder mystery than a psychological thriller and it reminded me repeatedly of the Christie novel And Then There Were None. Except that was a lot better and that didn’t have the irritatingly awful plot twist. Without leaving a spoiler this is my least favourite type of twist and as soon as I got to it I barely had the interest to keep reading. Not a fan.

I’m a big fan of a Murder mystery, especially one with a nod to the master, Agatha Christie. Alice Feeney certainly didn’t let me down with this intriguing and spooky tale.

Beatrice Darker, eccentric children’s author, is turning 80 in her isolated house, Seaglass, which sits on an island off the Cornish coast, connected to the mainland by a causeway. Daisy Darker has travelled to Seaglass to celebrate her grandmother’s birthday. There she is joined by the rest of her dysfunctional family. But as the evening progresses the celebrations take a darker turn!

I loved the isolated and creepy atmosphere. The vivid descriptions of the setting really brought Seaglass to life, and we’re almost poetic in places.

The characters were mostly very unpleasant and I loved to hate a few of the family members.

I really enjoyed the way the events of the evening were intertwined with flashbacks and memories which both helped the story progress and also added to the sense of suspense and intrigue.

After reading Rock Paper Scissors, I was expecting a killer twist. Again, Feeney didn’t disappoint. Although I did guess one of the twists quite early on, I certainly didn’t guess the culprit or the motive for the mystery.

Overall, this is a twisty and atmospheric locked room mystery that had me hooked from the start to the finish.

I really wanted to love this book as I enjoyed Rock Paper Scissors but unfortunately I struggled to get into this one until near the end.

Reading other reviews, most readers have loved it so I am sure it will do well.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #PanMacmillan for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for my copy of this.
Love Alice Feeney books, His and Hers and Rock Paper Scissors were brilliant so knew I had to read this.
I must admit it took a while for me to get into it and remember who people were, even though there isn't many characters I wasn't really engaged with it.
I felt really sorry for Daisy and how much of an outsider she was treated like.
The shocks kept on coming with each chapter and about half way through I was literally like really?! Is this really happening it doesn't seem real?!
But then near the end it starts to make sense and I did not see the ending twists coming!
It gets you thinking and you cannot trust anyone throughout the whole book.
I did think the characters could have been explored a bit more to get you invested in them as I didnt really like any of them!
But overall an addictive read!

Alice Feeney does it again. This was absolutely brilliant, a read in a sitting book. I read this as a buddy read with 2 others and we spent the whole time going backwards and forwards with - could it be x, could it be y, how's this happening, why is this happening. We got half way to figuring it out, although I'm not sure how much credit we can take when we suspected everyone at some point in the novel!
I loved the twist, I kinda felt that I should have seen it coming and it made me want to go back and reread the book to see if it was obvious once you knew. I NEVER reread books!

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher & Alice for the ARC.

A fast paced thriller, difficult to tear yourself away from. Well written and expertly crafted.

wow I don’t really know where to begin with this one ! It is not what I normally read and It wasn’t what I was expecting at all , this book had it all , it was beautifully written with a really poignant message throughout. And what a twist at the end !! The narrator was excellent, extremely entertaining, the best I’ve listened to for a long time.

Oh man I didn’t really enjoy this one too much if I’m honest.

An homage to Agatha Christie, Daisy Darker and the rest of her family are invited to her Nanas house to celebrate her 80th birthday. The house is on an island so once the tide comes in they will be trapped there for 8 hours overnight. The family are a horrible bunch who don’t like each other and one by one they start to die. Who can survive until dawn, who is the killer and why? Does anyone really care?

I found this book incredibly irritating from the childish writing(I had to check that I wasn’t reading a childrens book despite the subject matter) to the wafer thin and annoying characters, to the ludicrous and laborious story which, from the offset you knew you were going to have to wade through to get an answer right at the end.

I mean there was no tension here at all. No suspense. A murder on the hour, which by the way no one seemed to be anymore than mildly upset about, despite it being a close relative that was dead. Flashback sequences that felt more torturous than the murders themselves. Having to spend time with these vacuous, narcissistic characters was no fun at all.

The twists at the end were at best inventive and at worst ludicrous. The problem is the whole book is set up for the twists at the end. You realize this from very early on. You are waiting and waiting and waiting for the clock to get to dawn so you can finally find out the answer to the mystery(which like the characters you don’t really care about.)

I realise I’m an outlier here and the book is well reviewed but I found it an insult to the reader to have to swallow this. I don’t even mind a silly story if it’s well done but this honestly felt like it was written by someone in their early teens for a readership in the same age bracket.

Awful awful stuf.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley.

Alice Feeny is a master at creating suspense and Daisy Darker is spectacularly suspenseful. I adored this. It’s great fun, horribly gruesome, extremely surprising and utterly gripping. Peopled with believable characters, this is an Agatha Christie-style story in which only one of a limited group of people could possibly be the perpetrator. The Darker family has gathered to celebrate Halloween and Nana’s 80th birthday—her last, according to a palm reader some years ago. Also at the celebrations, rather surprisingly, is Conor, an honorary member of the family. The family is secluded at Nana’s island home, cut off from civilization by the tide for the next eight hours. And then the celebrations start going tragically wrong after Nana decides to reveal the contents of her will.
Daisy was born with a ‘broken’ heart which meant childhood heart surgery and a limited life expectancy. Her father has been largely absent from her life, her mother seems totally uninterested in her and her two sisters are both pretty ghastly – one a narcissist and the other damaged. The only two family members Daisy loves are her wonderfully zany Nana and her niece, Trixie. I adored eccentric Nana – just wait until you read about her utterly bizarre recipes.
Short, snappy chapters, headed with ominous reminders about how many hours remain before the mainland can be reached, add to the suspense. This story is packed with intrigue, fascinating side themes, crazy food and loads more. Recommended.

I really enjoyed this book right up until the end - WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ENDING? The writing is beautiful, feeding into the dark, foggy atmosphere of the book and the murders that happen, the characters interesting and I really wanted to see who was doing all of that.
Now I wish I didn't because the twist was out of this world weird and frankly ridiculous.
I still love the book (mostly) and I would still recommend it if you're happy to discard the last 5% of this book. It was easily gonna be a 5 stars... until... whyyyyy

I love a locked room mystery so couldn’t wait to get stuck into the latest book by Alice Feeney. Daisy Darker is an thrilling read that I couldn’t get through quick enough and although I somehow managed to guess one of the twists quite early on, I still enjoyed every last page.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Oh Daisy Darker I so wanted to love you.
I hate to say it but I was left feeling slightly underwhelmed by this 🙈
I think I've come to the conclusion that locked room thrillers aren't for me, and my main reason for this is lack of pace. The whole book takes place over the space of about 12 hours, meaning we have to wait about 80% of the book for the big reveal. Don't get me wrong, I was shocked, I immediately wanted to flip back to see what I'd missed, but it takes a long time to get there.
This was a buddy read over a week and we both ended up reading pretty much the second half of this in one sitting. On my behalf, that was probably more down to the need to know more than being completely and utterly invested.
I'm struggling to sum up my feelings towards this, and I wanted to love it which is probably making it a lot harder than it needs to be.
I'm stuck somewhere between His and Hers (didn't like) and all of Feeneys other books (loved).
3.5⭐️

Daisy Darker was a decent psychological thriller that had me guessing all the way through, I’m glad I didn’t read any spoilers though as your definitely better off coming in blind with this one.
Daisy Darker when we meet her is on her way back to “Seagkass” her grandmothers home on a private island near Cornwall. Daisy has always loved this house and can’t wait to see her grandmother, parents, siblings and niece. Her grandmother is celebrating her eightieth birthday but has been told by a fortune teller that this will be her last so in preparation her grandmother tells them what they will get in her will. Whilst grandmother reads the will the tide comes in and there is no way to or from the island for eight hours, unless by boat but the storm outside stops that. What could happen in eight hours at the house Daisy loves?
The book seamlessly passes between two timelines, there is no confusion and the characters were not all likeable but were well developed and believable. The mystery carried well throughout the book and finding out why no one really spoke to Daisy anymore was a brilliant twist.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this one isn’t for me, I’ve tried numerous times to get into it but I just can’t seem to. It might just be me, I may revisit this one in the future but for now it’s a DNF. Hopefully everyone else is enjoying it!

If you are seeking a twisted, page turner and mind blowing thriller, look no further than Daisy Darker.

I must admit I haven't read the author's previous books and when everyone was so excited about her new release, o had to see for myself why the hype.

Did it live up to it? Yes, it has. And it is probably one of the few books that I would actually reread. Because I almost never reread. For me, most of the stories are read, done and dusted. But this one is way too intriguing, from the grandma and her gothic lifestyle on an island, to every single one of the family members and the main characters.

Told from Daisy's perspective, the story takes us on a journey that made me want to listen faster and faster with each chapter. I was so engrossed with the story that I did not know when it has actually finished. Especially after that unpredictable twist.

A rollercoaster ride overall that various readers will enjoy.

🆓📖 Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy through NetGalley

Definitely to be recommended to anyone who enjoys family dramas, mysteries, and is happy to be surprised. A very good read, with some interesting twists. There is a definite sense of the Agatha Christies about this novel.

With thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan for an ARC.

Summary: Daisy Darker is headed to Seaglass, her grandmothers secluded Cornwall home for her 80th birthday. It’s the first time in years where the whole family have been together. As the tide traps them in the old house for the next 8 hours something happens and it seems they’re stuck in the house with a killer…

Thoughts: Flew through this in an afternoon and it was a proper good thriller read! There were a couple of parts that I saw coming but still lots of great twists and turns. It’s one of those twists that now I know it I really don’t want to spoil it for anyone else so I’m not going to say loads more. It was an addictive read, well written with enough to latch onto in terms of each of the characters despite it being relatively short.

Recommend: Fab thriller to add to your TBR soon! Feels like the perfect autumn read