Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney Narrator: Stephanie Racine
Published by Macmillan Audio on August 30, 2022
Source: Purchased
Genres: Thriller
Length: 10 hrs 54 mins
Pages: 352
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Audible
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The New York Times bestselling Queen of Twists returns…with a family reunion that leads to murder.
After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.
The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…
Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed.
With a wicked wink to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Daisy Darker’s unforgettable twists will leave readers reeling.
The setting of Daisy Darker is amazing. The family is gathered at Seaglass, a lovely (spooky) old Victorian on a tidal island, to celebrate Nana’s birthday. The house is isolated at high tide and there is no cell phone service. It’s a dark, stormy night, of course, and when the 80 clocks in the hall strike midnight, Nana is found dead in the kitchen, with a creepy poem written in chalk on the wall. The reader is sure it’s murder, even if the family isn’t.
The setting was the high point though. The family, while definitely eccentric, is not likeable. The story is narrated by granddaughter, Daisy Darker, Nana’s favorite, who was born with a heart condition. The narrator does a great job of telling us the story through Daisy’s voice. Events unfold hour by hour, in the wee hours of Halloween morning, with chapters from Daisy’s childhood interspersed throughout. The Darker family is hiding secrets and they are all going to be exposed before dawn.
Daisy Darker is one of those thrillers that’s all about the twist(s) at the end. The problem is that of the three main twists, none are actually surprising. One is spoiled by the blurb. Another was kind of obvious. The third caught me slightly off guard, but in an “oh, yeah, that makes sense” kind of way, rather than a “wow!” The motive seemed a little off to me too.
I will say though, that Daisy Darker grabbed my attention and kept it throughout. The claustrophobic atmosphere and people dying at regular intervals made it feel like a horror movie.
About Alice Feeney
Alice Feeney is a New York Times million-copy bestselling author. Her books have been translated into over twenty-five languages, and have been optioned for major screen adaptations. Including Rock Paper Scissors, which is being made into a TV series by the producer of The Crown. Alice was a BBC journalist for fifteen years, and now lives in Devon with her family. Daisy Darker is her fifth novel.
It is a great setting! It’s too bad the twists at the end weren’t all that twisty.
A lot of people loved it, so maybe I’m just being over-critical.
OOH, yes! Not even put off by the twists that fail to surprise, this is definitely a book I’ll be keeping a look out for. Great review, thank you