My thanks to Pan Macmillan for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Daisy Darker’ by Alice Feeney.

This was fantastic! Definitely a novel I would advise to read ‘cold’ for maximum impact.

It is Halloween and Daisy Darker arrives at Seaglass, her grandmother’s crumbling Cornish home. The house sits among granite rocks and is only connected to the mainland by a sand causeway. During the hours of high tide, it is in essence, a private island.

The Darker family is gathering for the first time in a decade for Nana’s 80th birthday. A fortune teller’s reading many years ago has led Nana to believe that she will not survive the day. Some members of her family have accepted her invitation only because they are keen to get their hands on her considerable fortune. As the hours of high tide progress, mysterious things happen…

‘Daisy Darker’ has a classic Christie-like premise and while I do not want to stroll into spoiler territory, I just want to applaud how brilliant it is.

I have read three of Alice Feeney’s previous novels and she quickly became a ‘must read’ author. On completion, ‘Daisy Darker’ has become my favourite of her novels. Indeed, it is also Feeney’s, as confirmed in her Acknowledgments. She also shares that she first had the idea for this novel in 2015 and it took five years to write. Given the intricate plotting, I can appreciate that.

Aside from all the great plot elements, Seaglass and the surrounding landscape was vividly described, which added to my sense of immersion in the narrative.

Overall, this is one of my top mysteries of 2022. Reaching the final page, I was tempted to turn to the beginning and read again. I can hardly wait to share my love of it with my bookish friends.

Very highly recommended.

I thought that I would love this murder mystery, because the premise was really promising. But in the end I only liked it, because I saw the 3 big plot twists coming early on. Thh creepy Cornish Island setting and the dysfunctional family members were superbly written.
If you don’t read that much thrillers/ mysteries I guess this novel will surprise you and make it a 5 star read for you.

Thank you NetGalley / Pan Macmillan for providing me with this novel in exchange of an honest review.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this exciting new spin on an agatha christie novel and then there were none

daisy and her family are all getting to together for their nana birthday in an isolate house built onto rocks that had seen better days, you could only get to this house when the tide was out otherwise you were there for the duration....

as predicted nanna had been told that she wouldnt see past her 80th birthday celebration so she meant this Halloween birthday to go with a bang....and when the first victim appeared nobody had a clue what was happening....

but the written poem left behind gave them all a big clue.....

what a wonderful new take on a classic book loved it....i was hooked right from the start

I really like Ms Feeney's writing and there are times when I have to reread a sentence as its really quite profound.
This story appears to be a contemporary take on the Agatha Christie "and then there were none" and works well on an isolated island. I wasn't completely convinced by the twist at the end and felt slightly disappointed at the way the story went, but would still recommend it.
Thank you to netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of this book

@currentlyreading__
Book 57 of 2022

Thank you to @netgalley, @panmacmillan and the author @alicewriterland for the e-ARC of 'Daisy Darker' ahead of its release on Thursday 18th August. It was this time last year that I read the amazing 'Rock Paper Scissors' and this year Feeney has followed up with a book just as haunting.

The setting for the book is Seaglass, a house "swollen with secrets and damp" on the rugged Cornish coast. The owner of the house is Nana, who on the eve of her 80th birthday, on Halloween, has invited her troubled family along to Seaglass to celebrate. The house is located on a tiny island which has slowly eroded over time and is "only accessible when the tide is out and is completely cut off from the rest of the world at all other times". If that is t a totally original and chilling location for a novel to be set, I don't know where is!

As the family arrive, they punch in on the antique wooden punch clock and daughter-in-law Nancy states that it's not normal. Nana's attitude is summed up perfectly with the retort "My dear, I'd rather be dead than normal." So joining Nancy is her estranged husband Frank, daughters Lily, Rose and the eponymous Daisy. Lily's fifteen year old daughter Trixie, kind, well-read yet precocious, is also in attendance to watch family videos, feast on a bizarre banquet and pass the time until the tide allows them to leave.

Characterisation, as is always the case with Feeney, is strong. My favourite is sister Lily, who is described at being totally self-centred, wafting her signature scent of Dior’s Poison since her teenage years whilst claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance “despite never seeking a job”.

The atmosphere is claustrophobic, macabre and strangely darkly comedic as we almost have a re-enactment of Cluedo as danger lurks for the Darker family. Menace builds through each chapter with the start making it clear just how many hours the Darkers have until they can leave. The images of the tide also makes us aware that the family are at the behest of nature (and some other agencies too).

Flashbacks fill is in on what happened during the 80s to bring the family to where they are now. The retro 1982 Christmas presents of Care Bears, View Master, Mr Frosty and Walkman made me nostalgic and raised a smile.

As with last year’s RPS, Feeney delivers tension but a twist you won’t see coming. This is an eerie tale and one which will stay with me for a good while.

#bookstagram #bibliophile #bookworm #book #booknerd #bookstagrammer #kindle #instabook #reader #bookobsessed #instareads #currentlyreading #bookchat #bookish

So many words to describe this book - bizarre, macabre, dark yet comical at times but most importantly brilliant! I’ve heard so many good things about this book and after reading it I have to agree. A must read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

A locked room murder mystery.. set at Halloween.. where a family member ends up dead every hour? Sign me up!

A brilliantly written, chilling, twisty, and wild ride; this is the fourth of Feeney's books I've read, was a highly anticipated 2022 read and I can confirm it was just as outstanding as those I’d picked up previously. We all know Feeney is the utter queen of the plot twist and.. she's done it again. 

So, picture a gothic house, on a remote seaside island, surrounded by stormy seas that cut off access to the house each night. Add to that a really rather dysfunctional family, endless dark secrets, and some eerie occurrences and this book gave me MAJOR Addams family vibes!

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 - 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 - 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯, 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴.‘

Alice Feeney is such a talented psychological thriller writer - this was definitely different to her normal style of writing, and I can see why its received such different reactions. Compared to her previous work, this was slower paced, and more focused on character development, with a more descriptive writing style. The poetry interspersed throughout the chapters was creepy and creative, but I did get slightly annoyed that the entire family poem was repeated every time there was an amendment and ended up skimming each repetition. Nevertheless, the signature crazy twists and unique spins remained and I was still utterly hooked from the very first page. Perfection 👏🏼

The ending was *chefs kiss* absolutely JAW DROPPING. There was an element to the ending that I did not see coming, whatsoever, but it was perfectly executed and blew my mind. And can we lastly just take a second - the author's note at the start?! Um what?

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫: Thank you to both the publisher and author for my eARC in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

A psychological thriller that plays with your mind. With echo’s of Agatha Christie you have the claustrophobia of an island only reached at low tide. A killer on the loose and a family with very big secrets. A great paced story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Characters that have all that is good and bad about people make up this dysfunctional family. “I was born with a broken heart” is a great first line that sets the scene for what follows.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I feel Alice Feeney's new novel "Daisy Darker" will be a love it or hate it kind of book. Personally I loved it and here's why.

Set on the secluded Cornish coast sits the Darker's family home, Seaglass. The house is cut off by the tide for eight hours making this a perfect and atmospheric setting for Feeney's clever locked room mystery.

There is a sense of foreboding from the outset when you realise that the guests are sitting ducks unable to leave. I thought I had solved the mystery early on but kept changing my mind with each twist in this intricate plot. A couple of my early theories did turn out to be correct, others were not. The guessing and coming up with theories is why I love reading mysteries.

This is a slow burner of a thriller as it has a lot of back story. I didn't feel that the pace dragged though while I was enjoying the nostalgia from the '80s during the flashback sections. The cliff hangers at the end of each chapter and the promise of revealing a secret kept me turning the pages.

I loved the cast of characters, most of which were horrible but that's kind of the point. Daisy and Nana are the only lovable characters, not counting Poppins the dog (who does make it to the end unscaved, Yay! )

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller, likes trying to work things out and was around in the 80s.

REVIEW: Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
 
RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Genre: Locked-room Thriller
Pages: 352
 
PUB-DATE: 18th August 2022

First of all, thank you @netgalley and @panmacmillan for sending me this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review! I couldn't believe it when I was approved!

As my bestie pointed out a few days ago: @alicewriterland and her trickeries! And yes, just as we’ve come to expect by this subtle author, this book is full of deceptions. Feeney practically fools us from the very first chapter, until you’re no longer sure what you’re reading.

Daisy Darker is in every way the protagonist of this book. She is first introduced to us when she arrives at Seaglass, an old Victorian brick house on an island in Cornwall. She comes to celebrate her grandmother's 80th birthday with her siblings, mother and father. Her nana is none other than the equally rich and famous children's author Beatrice Darker.

As everyone gathers around the table to celebrate, Nana informs them that she has made a new will and will leave them nothing. Shortly after, the tide rises and cuts them off from the mainland and then .... murder strikes.

I immediately noticed some similarities with a very famous book by Agatha Christie. It is one of my favourites, but I won't say which one so as not to spoil the fun for those who haven't read it yet. While I enjoyed the creepiness and shocking family dynamics in this book, the similarity to Christie's book (which is named towards the end) also made it very predictable.

There are some paranormal elements that I don't usually like much in a thriller, but in this story, they work very well.

Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed it and enjoyed being able to buddy read it along with 12 other wonderful bookstas. The writing is excellent, with some memorable quotes which I have highlighted on my kindle!

This was excellent!
This is Alice's best work to date.
It is intriguing, keeps you on the edge of your seat and has lots of interesting family secrets just waiting to be spilled.

I took off a star as the plot twist is not something I'm particularly drawn to in books and took away from the overall enjoyment for me.

Yet again Alice Feeney manages to develop a complicated plot to keep the reader intrigued. To live on an island which is cut off from the mainland for many hours each day is unsettling in itself, but to be the only family living on that island is even stranger.
As midnight strikes and strange things begin to happen and the causeway is covered with the tide the time ticks down. I did find the repetition of the poem a little bit annoying but as usual the main reveal was aa surprise.
Not my favourite Alice Feeney book but definitely compulsive reading.
Three and a half stars rounded up to 4 stars!
Many thanks to Netgalley/Alice Feeney/Pan Macmillan for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

💔BOOK REVIEW💔
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#DaisyDarker by @alicewriterland

⏩for book cover & synopsis

‘I was born with a broken heart’💔

This book, well let’s just say it’s surprising…. Quite a slow but not boring story, takes you on a journey between the past and the present life of Daisy Darker, her broken heart and the complicated web that is the Darker family.

Creepy, surprising and unique, I loved everything from eccentric Nan to the family members who were more complicated than the human brain. Seaglass was the perfect setting for the meeting of all that is light and dark in the complex world of the Darker family. The cast of characters are well played, I didn’t guess the ending (and what an ending it was) and well saying anymore will give away all the secrets so that’s it from me!

With thanks to author #AliceFeeney @panmacmillan and @netgalley for allowing us to read this one early!

RELEASED: August 18th

-EMILY

@the_book_girls_1

I wasn't expecting this to be such a creepy story but the very first page created the chilling atmosphere that continued through the book with the disturbing family poems!

I love Alice Feeney books as I know there are always some great twists coming. This was another great locked room thriller. The old house Seaglass was such a great setting and so atmospheric. I particularly loved the 80 clocks on the wall in the decrepit Cornish house.
I loved this dysfunctional family and delving deeper into their past. They all made good suspects and we all so dislikeable that the murderer could easily have been any of them!
I totally wouldn't have guessed this one if I hadn't been reading as part of a buddy read
I did find it slightly far fetched in places but overall an unputdownable book. Alice Feeney continues to be an autobuy author for me.

A page-turner with a MAD twist!

Daisy Darker starts off subtly. Slowly. Yet, the mood from the very start is sublimely spooky and the suspense just keeps intensifying.

Daisy, a fragile girl a with a congenital heart defect, visits her Nana (a children’s author and artist) on the eve of Nana’s 80th birthday, which, according to a palm reader – and Nana’s firm belief – is meant to be Nana’s last.

Daisy isn’t the only guest in Nana’s house, Seaglass, which sits on a small peninsula and gets regularly cut off from the mainland by a high tide. In fact, Nana has invited her entire family to read out her will. A gallery of characters gather: Daisy’s 2 sisters, her estranged parents, a niece and a family friend.

This is an insular mystery thriller, with the entire plot taking place during 1 night; a night that’ll bring many shocking and macabre surprises to the family members and the reader.

The isolated setting is presented in a fantastically creepy way, but also in the loving voice of Daisy, for whom Seaglass is the only place in the world she ever felt at home. We fall in love with the house from the 1st pages of the book.

And then, the characters! Each of them 3-dimensional and flawed in a very individual way, although Nana is certainly the quirkiest one, with her 80 clocks, clocking-in cards for guests, crafts bizarre recipes… But not everyone is there to enjoy Nana’s feast. Death lurks in the recesses of Seaglass.

An homage to Agatha Christie and a nod to Alice in Wonderland, with a bit of found footage thrown in – this book is pure treasure.

Daisy Darker
I was intrigued about Daisy Darker and it seems this is definitely a love it or hate it kind of book. I loved it. I loved the secluded setting and I definitely want to live at Seaglass, the beautiful old house where the story unfolds. Daisy Darker has a broken heart. Surgery has repaired it many times but Daisy is still treated by the Darker family as if she were broken. As is a family tradition the family gather at Seaglass for Nana’s 80th Birthday - which happens to fall on Halloween. A fortune teller in Lands End told Nana she would die when she was 80…unfortunately Nana’s life might not be the only one in danger.
I loved the ‘Agatha’ nod in this book, the grossly unlikeable characters and as I have mentioned the setting of the rugged Cornish coast. I couldn’t put it down. I absolutely loved it and though some parts are a little far fetched it didn’t dampen the story at all for me.

Daisy Darker is filled with trepidation as she arrives at Seaglass, her Nana’s crumbling Cornish house perched atop a tidal island. The Darker family haven’t all been in the same place at the same time for over a decade, and when the sea closes in they will be marooned together for eight hours.

But not all the Darker family will be alive to watch the tide go back out, and those who are will be forever changed…because one of them is a killer.

This story had great potential; a Christie-esque murder mystery starring a dysfunctional family and an atmospheric setting. I felt the first half of the book held promise but then somewhere towards the middle I started to roll my eyes a little.

There was so much scope for huge character development, but Feeney seemed to keep the protagonists very predictable and cliched, and quite one dimensional. I began to lose interest in their personal issues because there was no way of relating to or empathising with them.

Then came the “twist”, again very predictable. There were many clues throughout the entire book about how this was going to turn out that I was definitely not shocked. In a thriller, forgive me but I like my twists to thrill me!

All that said, it was an easy and enjoyable read. I think I just had higher expectations.

I normally enjoy Alice Feeney’s writing but I really didn’t like this book. The beginning of the story seemed rushed and confusing. Unfortunately I didn’t finish it.

Wow this was a great little book . Very well written and built the tension up gradually . Very interesting disfunctional family but fascinating story . I did not expect that ending at all . Definitely 5 ⭐️ stars from me . Look forward to reading more from this author

Daisy Darker was born with a broken heart. She died the day she was born, and many times since.

Named after a flower that is often picked, trampled and made into chains, she knows she has always been invisible compared to the other flowers in her family bouquet, the beautiful and beloved Rose, and the poisonous and pale Lily.

Today she is returning to her ancestral home, Seaglass, for her Grandmothers 80th and possibly final birthday. And when the tide comes in around the little island, they will be trapped together until the sun rises. But then at the stroke of midnight, when the Darker family should all be in bed after Nana Darkers controversial will reading, there is a scream. A scream that ensures when the tide finally returns and washes away the night, that nobody will be the same when they leave … if they leave at all.

"There are as many different kinds of clouds as there different kinds of people and, like people, they all float and drift as they please, being one thing one minute, transforming into something quite different the next. Unrecognizable in the blink of an eye."

Daisy Darker is undeniably Feeneys' best work yet. In this ghostly, eerie tale, you don't need to worry about the ghosts of the past and the hidden secrets under the stairs, it's the living you need to fear.

This locked-house mystery is addictively compelling - we slowly receive our clues, in poems, in VHS tapes, in the books Nana published, in blood and death. It's a mystery where you think someone might have all the answers, they just need to be willing to accept them. At times I had multiple suspects and suspicions, at times I had none, until I realised I'd fallen prey to Feeney and her masterful misdirection once again and saw everything in the unforgiving morning light not a moment before she intended me to.

The setting was stunningly vivid, entirely set in a crumbling manor on a crumbling island, and pulling us in deeper to smell the salt in the air and feel the cold wind on our faces. But inside that old manor was a cast of characters like no others - intricate family dynamics weaved into a complex tapestry, each character carved out into something unique with their potential for darkness distinct; jealousy, anger, rivalry, insecurity. And all of this combined with the conflicting love they felt for one another created an atmosphere that was unnervingly suffocating and claustrophobic.

A truly multi-faceted tale that spans lives, time, and death itself - this book is just further proof that Alice Feeney really is the Queen of the dramatic twist.

I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review.

CW: Gore/Blood, Death, Alcoholism, Divorce, Illness, Sexual Assault, Injury.