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Review: Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

Daisy Darker Alice FeeneyAbout the book:

(blurb from Pan MacMillan SA):

Daisy Darker’s family were as dark as dark can be, when one of them died all of them lied and pretended not to see…

Daisy Darker is arriving at her grandmother’s house for her eightieth birthday. It is Halloween, and Seaglass – the crumbling Cornish house perched upon its own tiny private island – is at one with the granite rocks it sits on. The Darker family haven’t all been in the same place for over a decade, and when the tide comes in they’ll be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours. When the tide goes back out, nothing will ever be the same again, because one of them is a killer . . .

 

My thoughts…

“Daisy Darker” was my first Alice Feeney book – and it will not be my last!  Is that enough of a glowing review? Maybe, but let me tell you more.

Is it a classic whodunit or is there something more sinister at play?  This was the first question that popped into my mind within the first couple of chapters.  A family reunion, everyone getting together to celebrate the family matriarch’s 80th birthday.  It is a dark and stormy night, and soon, when the tide comes in, no one will be able to reach the gothic family home, Seaglass, for a good couple of hours.  A sinister and atmospheric, don’t you think?

“Being in a storm here, on this tiny island, feels like being on a rickety old ship in the middle of the sea, one that will surely sink if the waves get too high.”

This book is dark and moody, but at the same time really quirky (I LOVED the repetition of the poem and the variations thereof).

Alice Feeney is a master storyteller, and I have so many favourite quotes from this book!

“The only nobodies in this world are the people who pretend to be somebody; the people who think they are better than other people because of the way they choose to look, or speak, or vote, or pray, or love.”

“Childhood is a race to find out who you really are, before you become the person you are going to be. Not everybody wins.”

“Families are like fingerprints; no two are the same, and they tend to leave their mark.”

“Nana taught us that the devil is not a fictional man with a red cape and horns; he’s the voice inside our heads that tells us to do things we shouldn’t; he’s the eyes that pretend not to see, and the ears that pretend not to hear. He’s you, he’s me, he’s all of us.”

“When you know you can’t make long-term plans, it’s easy to let yourself make short-term mistakes.”

“She is a walking frown. The soundtrack of her life is little more than a series of moans stitched together into a symphony of negativity, which I find exhausting to listen to.”

And I can go on, and on, and on!

I adored the quirky details in the book – like the map of Seaglass. Who doesn’t love a map in a book?

What I enjoyed:

  • Agatha Christie-inspired plot
  • Dysfunctional family
  • Remote location
  • “And then there were none”
  • Unique and enthralling

One of my favourite books of 2022!  A gem!  A solid 5-star read!

Disclosure:  Thank you to Pan MacMillan SA for my review copy.

 

The details:

Release date: 18 August 2022

Paperback

352 pages

Buy the book:  https://www.panmacmillan.co.za/authors/alice-feeney/daisy-darker/9781529089813

 

About the author:

https://www.alicefeeney.com/

 

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