Daisy Darker - Alice Feeney

I heard about this book in late 2022 and always enjoy a good thriller, so it was quickly added to our list. I knew with the long wait times at the library that it must be good! It also seemed like a good book to read in the cold dreary month of February to help set the mood.

Daisy Darker tells the story of the Darker family through the eyes of the youngest daughter, Daisy. The matriarch of the family, Daisy's Nana, has invited everyone to her home for her birthday, which happens to fall on Halloween. Daisy's divorced parents, Frank and Nancy, sisters, Rose and Lily, and Lily's daughter Trixie, and honorary grandchild Conor are all there for the birthday celebration....or horror as we soon find out.

Nana lives in an old gothic house known as Seaglass on a tiny island. The only way to get there is a path down a sharp cliff or by boat. And when the tide comes in, it's virtually impossible to get to the mainland. Nana has also disconnected her landline and with the book set in 2004, cell phones aren't as widely used or as reliable as they are now.

Daisy is the first to arrive and slowly we are introduced to the rest of her family, who all seem horrible, except for Nana and Trixie. Frank is an orchestra conductor and he has been so consumed with his career that he barely saw the girls when they were growing up. Nancy is failed actress and has an obvious favourite child in Lily. Rose is a veterinarian who has never found happiness with people. She seems good at the beginning, but slowly you see the dark side of Rose. Lily is, to put it plainly, a brat who has never worked for anything in her life. She made Daisy's life miserable and only cares for herself. Trixie is Lily's daughter, but has somehow turned into a kind, loving girl. Conor is an award winning journalist who chased his dreams out of the small town and abusive household he grew up in. And then there is Nana, an author of children's books, with her most famous being Daisy Darker's Little Secret.

On the night before Halloween when everyone arrives, Nana serves a meal made up mostly of sugar, and reads her last will and testament. Everyone is expecting to get a big inheritance and they are all disappointed when she reads it. Trixie is the only one to gain from Nana's death, by inheriting the house. The rest of the family received small tokens that Nana used to show how she really feels about them.

Late that night after everyone has gone to bed, there is a loud crash and the family finds Nana dead in the kitchen. It looks like she fell off a chair at first. Then they notice the poem written on the chalkboard that implies a darker truth. The family retreats to the lounge where they find an old family movie playing on the tv. They were all soon remembering the past, and seeing each other in a new light. When they go back to the kitchen, Nana's body is gone, and a verse of the poem is crossed out.

Throughout the night, the family is killed off one by one. I won't go into the details of all the deaths, but it seems like someone is in the house with them and is slowly killing the Darker family. But why is this happening? And who could be in the house with them? The remaining family members can't trust anyone and yet they have to stick together if they hope to make it out alive once the tide goes out.

The book flips from 2004 to the past as Daisy remembers her childhood. Daisy was born with a heart defect and spent much of her life sheltered. She wasn't allowed to go to school or play like her sisters. There are many suggestions of a secret, and horrible event that resulted in Rose and Lily cutting Daisy out. The secret is slowly revealed as the night goes on.

I didn't figure out who was killing everyone and was surprised by the twists at the end (yes, there are more than one!). This was a very enjoyable book, though the ending was not quite as satisfying as we hoped. I did go back and read a few parts of the book again to see how the author had hidden the clues. In my opinion, it was very well done!

You might have noticed that this month we recommended another book, And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie. This book has a very similar premise, a group of people come together at a secluded house. One by one they are murdered until there is no one left. There is even a poem in this book as well that alludes to each murder. And just like Daisy Darker, I didn't guess the ending!

Both Jen and I enjoyed this book. But both of us were wishing for a different ending. As we were talking, Jen kept saying the same thing! SPOILER ALERT "Ghosts don't write books!"

But if you enjoy a good thriller with lots of twists and turns, this is a great one to try.

Until next time, have a drink, read a book, and be happy!