Daisy Darker had died eight times before she was thirteen – congenital heart defect – the first time at her birth in 1975. She is internationally famous because her grandmother Beatrice Darker made her the eponymous heroine of her first illustrated children’s book, although, as she says, she is not the fictional character, nor anything like the fictional character. However, in this book she is the narrator and everything we learn is from her perspective. Her grandmother, always referred to as Nana, lives in a gothic styled Victorian mansion on an island off the Atlantic coast of Cornwall for eight hours a day, and for the other sixteen in the same house at the end of a slender causeway. It is now 30 October 2004, Halloween, and Nana’s eightieth birthday. The whole family, Daisy’s father and mother, her two older sisters, her niece, and their sort of adopted brother, have assembled to celebrate. During the evening we learn a bit about Daisy’s childhood, and how the family dynamics work. To say that this is a dysfunctional family is to seriously underrate the adjective. One of Nana’s foibles is to acquire a clock for each of her birthdays, all of which are chimers. At midnight, all eighty clocks announce the time, which ensures that everyone, although they all have retired to bed, is awake to hear a terrible scream. Rushing to the kitchen they find Nana on the floor, a gash on her head and a pool of blood and brain tissue adjacent. Phones don’t work, the causeway is underwater and the boat has disappeared, so they are all trapped on the island for the next six hours. And one by one they die.
The story moves quite slowly at first, but the pace picks up and minor deficiencies are only detectable in hindsight. It goes without saying that the plot is basically Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None”, so the thriller element is somewhat diluted and we are left with the mystery element: who is doing this, why are they doing it, and how are they doing it? The latter applies not so much to the methods used as to the apparent fact that things happen even when everyone seems to be together. The plotting of the murders is quite tight but, on its own, it doesn’t make the story stand out, and the broad details of the resolution aren’t that difficult to work out. The social psychology, the dissection of the family history, is strong; these people are unpleasant, stereotypical in some ways, but real. They do things for solid, albeit solipsistic, reasons. This characterisation is deeper than Christie’s and helps pull the book up above the norm. Daisy is clearly an analytical philosopher with excellent observational skills, and a fine user of poetic and metaphoric language. It is this that tips my rating up to 4.5, rounded to 5.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

Daisy darker by Alice Feeney.
Daisy darker is of to her nanas house for for her 80th birthday. The whole family is there. They are also going to hear the will too. But soon her nan is found dead. Can they find out who the killer is before another body turns up?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was surprised with who the killer was. Definitely recommend. 5*.

This immensely enjoyable locked-room style whodunnit from Alice Feeney is Christie-esque in style but with dark, claustrophobic undertones that add a delicious layer of unease. With its creepy setting, dysfunctional family cast, and ever-increasing pile of bodies, it’s an armchair sleuth’s delight.

It’s the eve before Halloween, and three generations of the Darker family are gathered together to celebrate Nana’s eightieth birthday. They’re at Seaglass, the crumbling house on a tiny private island off the Cornish coast, which at high tide is completely cut off from the mainland.

As nasty, barbed remarks fly around over dinner, it becomes clear that there’s some unpleasant history amongst them. Bitterness, jealousy, derision and disdain abound. Apart from Nana, narrator Daisy — her youngest daughter — and granddaughter Trixie, they’re a wholly obnoxious bunch.

The tide is high, there’s a storm raging outside, and everyone has gone to bed. Then midnight strikes, there’s a scream, and the first bloodied body is found.

What unfolds, as the night progresses and the body count rises, is in equal parts gripping and entertaining. There are twists and shocks aplenty; ugly, dark secrets laid bare. Feeney’s writing is fluid and beguiling, and wrapped up in short, punchy chapters that force you to read at breakneck speed.

I especially appreciated the use of poetry as a narrative device. These were pointed and clever (if ultimately, perhaps a little repetitive) and added an extra frisson of menace to the story.

I admit to guessing the biggest twist behind Feeney’s smoke and mirrors quite early on, so there was no huge, gasp-out-loud moment for me as there has been in her other books. I was also a tad disappointed in the ending.

That said, there is much to admire in the way Feeney has developed her craft, and I look forward to reading her next book.

Only a handful of thriller authors can consistently catch me off guard these days and after finishing Daisy Darker, I can confirm that Alice Feeney remains one of the very few.

In Seaglass, an isolated coastal cottage cut off from the world by the ebbing tide, the Darker family reunite for the first time in years to celebrate Nana's 80th birthday. Tension, secrets, and lies permeate the cracked walls. When disaster strikes at midnight, the family are forced to confront their pasts and each other. As the hours tick by, it seems no one can be trusted. Because Seaglass is home to more than just old secrets. It's also home to a killer.

This is probably my favourite Alice Feeney novel to date. It's creepy AF, filled with untrustworthy characters that make it near impossible to know who's telling the truth, and keeps you on the edge of your seat right up to the very last page. Similar to Girl on the Train, it's one of those novels with few characters, so you know someone is to blame but you're still completely caught off guard when the twists start unravelling. This, to me, is the sign of a truly great thriller writer. The best part for me was the motives - they were rock solid which is something I often find lacking in the genre, making the twists less believable and inauthentic. This was the complete opposite.

In true Feeney style, there was an abundance of highlight-worthy quotes that made the copywriter in me insanely jealous (how do people even come up with these crazy good metaphors?) It made the book even more devourable, which is certainly the word I'd use to describe this novel.

All in all, her best one yet. A top recommendation to those that find thrillers lacking substance these days - believe me when I say Alice Feeney will never let you down.

Alice Feeney comes through again with another locked room mystery, always a joy to read her work and the twist was as per usual with her as surprising as you’d expect!

4.5 stars

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Pan Macmillan and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Daisy Darker lived on borrowed time since she was born with a "broken heart", which gave out a number of times.  No one thought she'd live long.  Daisy's older sisters Rose and Lily tormented her, but she still loved them.   Her parents weren't much better.  The family was never close.  The only one that pulled them together was Nana.  Daisy's happiest memories were times she spent with her grandmother, and Nana seemed to feel the same.

Their grandmother's 80th birthday brings them all back together.  The crumbling mansion sits atop a cliff beside the Atlantic Ocean, and can only be accessed when the tide is out.  So, for 8 hours on Halloween, the family will be stuck together, not able to escape their secrets and lies.

When the first of them dies, they are stunned, but when the next one dies, suspicions arise.


My Opinions:
First, I am immediately scheduling her other books into my TBR pile.  I  really enjoyed this authors writing style (although I must say that I got a little sick of the repetitive poem).

Second, there is a description of a meal they had, and I absolutely wanted to be sitting at the table with them!

Okay, about the book.  It felt a little like "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie, but even darker. It was a creepy read about a very dysfunctional family, and I really did not see that twist coming.  Some of the twists were easily predictable, but Daisy was not.

Bottom line, I highly recommend this book, and will be looking for her older ones!

https://lynns-books.com/2022/08/16/daisy-darker-by-alice-feeney/
5 of 5 stars
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Seriously, a top ten contender

I loved Daisy Darker. In the past few weeks I’ve not really read a lot. I think I mentioned in another post that this isn’t a slump so much as a lack of time and then feeling too exhausted to settle down to blog or even pick up a book. Daisy Darker definitely stopped that tiredness mid-track. I picked this one up and was immediately intrigued with the storytelling voice. There’s an almost ethereal feel to the way the narrative is delivered and this is strengthened by the unusual setting and the dysfunctional family that we are introduced to. Feeney starts out with a captivating hook, she then lets us run on the line enjoying the freedom to explore the remote setting and the histrionics of the Darker family before reeling us in to a climatic and dramatic grand finale.

Daisy’s nana is the head of the Darker family. Her 80th birthday fast approaches and with it the strange prediction she was told many years ago that she wouldn’t live beyond that age. What a prediction! The entire family seem to have completely become immersed in this belief and this definitely adds to the drama. Nana lives on a remote island connected to the mainland by a causeway that is flooded for the majority of the time and only accessible twice a day at low tide so once the family arrive for the birthday celebrations they’ll be basically stuck together for a good few hours. Now, throw in the expectation of a Will being read and someone finding out that they are to become the main benefactor. What could possibly go wrong??

Let’s take a look at the family. Daisy is the main character. She was born with a heart problem that at the time was not so easy to treat, in fact her heart stopped beating and was revived on a number of occasions during the course of the story. The family took the news of Daisy’s condition badly. Her mother Nancy, a beautiful but rather vapid failed wannabe actress, feels overwhelming guilt which combined with the affrontry that she also seems to feel at such an occurrence leads her to both mollycoddle and push Daisy away at the same time. Daisy’s father is mainly noteable by his absence as he travels the world with his orchestra. Daisy’s two sisters, also named for flowers are Rose, the eldest sister, incredibly intelligent and motivated, and Lily, the middle sibling, a bit lazy and usually trying to cause trouble. That leaves Connor, now a young man who met the family when a boy and spent so much time with them that he’s like a brother – although, not to everyone! Finally the youngest member is Lily’s daughter Trixie who comes across almost as vulnerable and inexperienced as Daisy. Nana (or Beatrice) is a successful author, terribly eccentric but at the same time managing to come across as more grounded than all the rest of the family put together. I loved her character.

Anyway, I’m not going to discuss the plot at all because that would lead to spoilers but instead just talk about what worked so well for me.

Well, this, in Agatha Christie fashion, is a locked room style mystery. It’s told in an almost whimsical fashion and I can’t deny that in my mind’s eye I was painting one of those beautiful but hazy pictures of an idyllic existence, long lazy spells on the beach and a childhood spent rambling around inside an unusual and gothic home. On top of this the writing is just beautiful. I could very easily see myself picking that book up and starting it over as I enjoyed the style so much.

There’s also a magical realism that is blended into the story so well that, again, I feel like I should read this again just to see what I missed along the way.

Added to this is the wonderful setting, the captivating tales from the family’s past and the fact that the story takes place, not only in such a perfect setting but also on the night of Halloween – and, during a storm no less. Okay, it’s just deliciously over the top but I loved it. The characters act irresponsibly, they wander off alone and you’re always reading with your heart hammering in your chest when they do so because you’re never sure if you’ll see them again. We have little poems about each character which really does highlight their flaws in the most dramatic fashion and to be honest – read these properly rather than skirt over them as they are important.

I don’t know what else I can say to entice you to read this book. Please?? Pretty please?? For me this was absolutely captivating. I loved every minute of it and although I may have had the odd quibble here and there the overpowering feeling of enjoyment was so intense when I finished that I don’t think they warrant an inclusion here.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

My rating 5 of 5 stars

Another twisty story from the master of unusual storylines. This is my third book from Alice Feeney and I really enjoy her extraordinary and peculiar stories. This time she introduces us to the Darker family. They are not close but they assemble for the eightieth birthday of their matriarch Beatrix Darker. She thinks that this will be her last birthday and all family members are hoping to inherit some money. There is not much love between the family members. Every one of them is weird and eccentric, at least one of them shows psychopathic streaks. Daisy, the youngest grandchild of Beatrix, is our main narrator. At first she seems to be a nice person. But there is something off about her, too, and she is an unreliable narrator.

The Darkers are one of the most unusual and also despicable families I ever encountered in a book and I enjoyed immensely reading about them. The twist worked for me although I almost guessed it. There are quite a few red herrings but also clues and towards the end I got an idea what was going on. I like Feeney’s writing and she surprised me again with a unique story. I am looking forward to her next book.

⭐️ 4 ⭐️

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC, in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Alice Feeney is such a fabulous storyteller, and Daisy Darker is another thoroughly addictive, hugely entertaining read. I was hooked from the beginning and honestly couldn’t put it down. I love Feeney‘s fluid writing style, it’s always engaging and highly readable.

Seaglass, the large, isolated house on the remote Cornish coast where the story is set is beautifully described and I could picture everything about the house, the landscape and the inclement weather vividly in my mind’s eye.

I loved a locked-room mystery and could feel the claustrophobic sense of atmosphere in the house. As with all Feeney novels the tale is extremely twisty, although I did think the twists/reveals were fairly predictable and guesed all but one of them quite early on. This slow-burning, character-driven story is nicely paced and tautly plotted but I did find the repetitiveness of the poem unnecessary.

Feeney is high on my list of auto-buy authors and although not my favourite, Daisy Darker is still a brilliant read.

I’ve heard a lot of great things about this author, so when I heard she had a new one coming out I was very intrigued. Daisy Darker is a dark, creepy and tense read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Firstly I think it’s fair to say that the Darker family is highly dysfunctional and I’m very glad they aren’t mine. I don’t think there was a single member I liked, though I did feel very sorry for Daisy and the sad, lonely childhood she endured. Her family’s treatment of her was awful, especially the bullying she experienced from her sister’s that no-one seemed to care about. I found myself not feeling a lot of sympathy for them and was almost glad that they were getting their just deserts.

The setting of the Island based Seaglass house was an interesting one. I started off loving the fun, quirky nature of Seaglass and was wishing I could visit in in real life. However this quickly changed as the murders started happening and the very quirkiness of the house helped create a sinister, creepy atmosphere. The island location also helps create a closed room scenario which helped rack up the tension as the family realise they are trapped on the island with a killer.

Overall I loved this book and can’t wait to read more from her in the future. The story is very fast paced and very gripping so I soon found myself hiding away from the kids desperate to read a little bit more. I had lots of theories about who could be behind the murders and though one of them was correct I think it shows the strength of the author’s writing that I wasn’t able to narrow it down more. The ending was brilliant, dramatic and unexpected. As mentioned above I did guess part of the ending but has no idea it would unfold so darkly or dramatically. It’s definitely an ending that has stayed with me long after reading.

Huge thanks to Pan Macmillan for my copy of this book via netgalley. Highly recommended by me!

I love Alice's Feeney's previous book so I completely snapped the hand off the person offering me a review copy of this, her latest offering. Even with the bar set so high, I went into it with absolutely no trepidation as, well, I just knew I'd love it just as much.
And, I was right...
So... We have a family, the Darker family, descending on a small tidal island, to the home of the Grandmother, to celebrate her 80th birthday. Her foretold last if you believe in that stuff. Nana makes no bones about her possible imminent death so, on the eve of said birthday, she spells out her will...
That done, with varying backlash, excitement, and disappointment, anger, and greed, they all away to bed. But, on the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages (eye-roll) there's a scream. Nana is found dead. With a poem on the wall referencing all the remaining family...
An hour later, there's another body. But with the tide against them for another few hours, the storm still raging, no landline, and no mobile signal, they are trapped. On an island. With a killer...
The only question left is how high will the body count go before either the tide allows them to flee or the killer is revealed...?
I has an absolute blast reading this book. The characters are all larger than life, and mostly twice as ugly - character-wise not necessarily looks-wise. And the whole thing had a bit of a golden era Agatha feel to it. But a feel is all there is, the plot etc is all the author's own.
I loved the flashbacks in the form of videos. I loved the poems. I loved the plotting, the secrets, the lies, the family squabbling. The dysfunction. All wrapped up in a murder or two, or three, or...
And a divisive ending which reflects the tone of the "family" wonderfully. And which I absolutely loved...
And Seaglass itself also being almost a character in its own right. So wonderfully described and the perfect setting for the story being told.
All in all, another winner from an author now fully firmly cemented on my watch list. Roll on next time... My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I have loved Alice Feeneys previous books so was looking forward to this one.

I was not disappointed.

This book had me hooked from the.start. It was dark and atmospheric and really chilling.

Loved it

Oh this was creepy. The highly dysfunctional Darker family gather to celebrate Nana's 80th birthday on Halloween. Nana had a prediction years before that her 80th birthday would be her last. Nana is a best selling children's author who became famous when she published "Daisy Darker's Secret" when youngest grandaughter Daisy, living with a hereditary heart condition, was a child. Gathered together are her son and his ex-wife, Nancy, and their children: Rose, the eldest a vet who keeps to herself; spoilt, selfish Lily, with her daughter, good as gold and young for her years, Trixie and youngest daughter Daisy. Joining the fun is Connor Kennedy, a waif adopted by the family many years before when his mother died and his dad couldn't cope. What happens during this stormy night stuck in a big old house cut off from the mainland by tides until the causeway clears, is the stuff of a real Halloween horror story. As the bodies mount who is the murderer? And why? The family all have secrets and all had their part to play in a major dark secret that isn't revealed until the end. I didn't see it coming, and was left in shock. Gripping and a great read. #netgalley #daisydarker

I could not wait to read Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney, she is one of my favourite authors and let me tell you this novel did not disappoint.

We meet the dysfunctional Darker family, they meet for a reunion for Nana's 80th birthday party. We have dad, mum, daughters Rose, Lily and Daisy, Trixie - Lily's daughter and Conor the boy from years ago that basically was brought up by Nana and the Darker family at Seaglass. Seaglass is the large home owned by Nana and where the Darker family return to celebrate.

Things do not go to planned from the start as after a slightly unusual reunion dinner, they wake to find Nana dead in the kitchen. This sets off very unusual and disturbing pattern that carries on throughout the night.

So this is not a straight cut novel, the chapters are narrated by Daisy, the youngest member of the Darker family. She has a sad and hard childhood, never been to school and died many times due to her having a heart condition aka "broken heart". Daisy talks us through the many events that the Darker family have been through and it makes for a dark and disturbing read with a huge twist (that I did see coming) but is such a good turn in the novel that it made me want to re-read the whole book again.

Thanks to NetGalley, Alice Feeny and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this amazing read in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Daisy Darker starts off with a lot of potential. The claustrophobic atmosphere and complicated family dynamics are ripe for an interesting thriller. For me, the majority of the characters were quite one-dimensional and the twists while interesting in theory didn’t hold up to much scrutiny – can’t go into spoilers so I’ll just say one character’s motivations never made any sense to me even after all the big reveals. It read to me as a case of needing a character to do something without making it seem like a natural conclusion in their development.

This was an easily digestible, quick read that was entertaining but not one I had much investment in or would reread.

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.

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