Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

Often late to the party, I’ve heard of Daisy Darker so many times but even thought I’ve read Alice Feeney, I have only just picked up this book to read.

The first Alice Feeney I read was Rock Paper Scissors which gave me a taste of how twisted her stories can be. It’s not for everyone having so many twists and turns in the plot, or how dark the plot can be, but if that’s your thing then you’ll like Alice Feeney.

The next book I read was Beautiful Ugly which is a more recent book. Again with lots of mind bending twists and turns. The ending was a little strange, but I enjoyed it.

Then I read her latest book, My Husband’s Wife which again stretches the imagination and is full of twists and turns.

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

The Blurb (on the back of the book)

Isolated on their private island in Cornwall, the Darker family have come together for the first time in over a decade. 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. Nothing – because one of the family is a killer . . .

As the leaves of autumn fall, Daisy Darker arrives at her grandmother’s house for eightieth birthday celebrations. Seaglass, the Darker’s ancestral home, is a crumbling Cornish house perched upon its own tiny private island.

Every member of the family has their secrets. Nana, alone for so long. Daisy’s absent father, Frank. Her cold-hearted mother, Nancy. Her siblings, Rose and Lily, and her niece, Trixie, full of questions and without a father of her own. Daisy has never had an easy relationship with her family, but some secrets are much darker than others. This will be a gathering that some of them won’t remember.

My Review of Daisy Darker

I think this is my favourite Alice Feeney so far despite it being the oldest. Things that are common with her books are, they are, they are really intriguing and pull you in so much that it’s hard to stop reading, they are full of many twists and turns that you don’t know where it’s going, they have complicated endings sometimes feeling rushed.

I didn’t get this so much with Daisy Darker, apart from being unable to stop reading, it took me two days to almost finish and I just had the ending which I got up early to read the next day, I was desperate not to be disappointed.

There were many plot developments, but with all the characters being stuck in the same house on an inescapable island it was maybe not so twisty. It was obvious that death was going to come for them all, but it was difficult to find out why.

Clues were left in the form of VHS cassettes, a lovely old fashioned touch, and showed the childhood of the Darker children. The three girls, Daisy, Lily and Rose were all quite different and the Daisy’s sisters were not very likeable, but then kid’s can be like that. In the story they have grown up but still don’t seem very likeable. Meanwhile Daisy seems to have retained her childlike charm. She fills in the short video stories with the truth of what went on behind the scenes. The girls also spent their childhood with Connor the son of an alcoholic.

Now, on Nana Darkers 80th birthday, which also happens to be Halloween, they are all brought together on the Island to her home called Seagrass. Daisy’s parents are long divorced and have a history to be told as well as the girls and Connor.

Nana made a lot of money writing and illustrating children’s books but her publisher hasn’t heard anything from her for a while. It is hinted that she has written a new book revealing all the family secrets and someone rips apart her studio, possibly in an attempt to find it.

Things start turning strange at Seagrass when nana is found dead in the kitchen. They don’t really know if she’s been murdered or had an accident, but when the deaths keep coming we realise that something strange is going on. One by one the family meet their demise and no-one really knows what’s happening. They keep watching the video tapes for clues, but they are missing the point.

I was worried that ending would disappoint but it really didn’t. I don’t think it was a rushed as some of her later book endings. Yes, there was a lot of explaining to do, but it was relatively uncomplicated because the story told itself.

I will get around to finishing off the rest of Alice Feeney’s books.