4.5 stars

It took a bit for me to get into this one, but oh man!! I couldn't put this down for the last half of the book. It's been a while since I've read a mystery that had me so stressed and on the edge of my seat!

The characters were all so untrustworthy and honestly that ending I didn't expect at all - I had a totally different thought!

This is one of Miranda's best yet!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to @simonschusterca and @netgalley for the arc of Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda in exchange for an honest review. This publishes April 9/24.
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Hazel Sharp inherits her father’s house after he has passed away. She is back in her childhood neck of the woods with all the townsfolk she grew up with. The town of Mirror Lake is experiencing a drought and as lake levels drop, there are new revelations to be made about circumstances that happened years ago - all of which affect Hazel and her family.
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My first book by this author, and I quite enjoyed how quickly I became absorbed into Hazel’s story. It starts off the typical thriller way of having that unsettling feeling and you know that with this many characters the possibilities of the person responsible for causing havoc is going to keep you guessing. Not a typical thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat- more of a suspenseful mystery, where you’re always trying to connect the dots between characters and events. A bit slow for my taste, and not one I will likely remember, but a decent choice for an easy read. Overall - fine!

DNFed/paused at 15%

Starting off so slow and I can see the whole suspense of the events up until this point but I just have zero connection to any of the characters so far.

Mirror lake holds many secrets and as the town undergoes an extreme drought the lakes secrets are revealed.
I love a good mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seat, the clues keep piling and you still can't guess it. So good. The suspense just keeps building and building and I loved that high tension thrill.
Can you solve the mystery? I couldn't. That last chapter 🫣

Alright, obviously, if Megan Miranda wrote it, I'm going to pick it up and read it. I have yet to be disappointed by anything of hers. This book is no different.

We have a family brought together by their grief at losing their father, and the only daughter, also the only one who left their hometown, is brought back to the people and family she left behind. But there is something calling out to her from the small town. People and places that she can't seem to let go of, or they can't let go of her.

I love the way that this book is written, we have clues dropped along, floating in the story, and each piece can be interpreted in a different way, depending on your perspective. Our characters are secretive and don't want to disturb anything that has been left to lie.

I really enjoyed this read and of course will recommend to anyone who wants to twisty thriller. Remember, the lights Hazel!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster CA for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for my honest review. Daughter of Mine will be available to purchase on April 9 2024. This title will also be available to purchase from most major book dealers and at your local library soon.

✨ Publication date: April 9, 2024✨

Daughter of Mine is a psychological matter thriller by Megan Miranda. This is my first book by this author but definitely not my last!

Hazel Sharp returns home to the small town of Mirror Lakes to bury her father, the beloved Chief of Police. Hazel left years ago only coming back grudgingly for family obligations.

Hoping to leave Mirror Lakes and the past behind, Hazel gets dragged back again after finding out her father left her the house. Not to her and her two brothers Gage and Caden, but just her.

As Hazel tries to figure out the cryptic messages her father left behind, the two and half month drought is sending its own messages. After two cars are pulled from the lake in Hazels back yard, pieces keep falling into place.

You see, Hazel is not Gage and Caden’s sister by blood. Her mom married their father and took off a few years later. So why did she get the house? And why is the car her mom was meant to leave in at the bottom of the Lake?

This is a sllloowwww burn, but totally worth it! The chapters are structured around the date, time and drought details which adds to the anticipation of the story. The story is also structured in such a way that the culprit could be multiple people individually or working together.

I really liked this authors writing style, this is a 4+ star for me and I highly recommend adding this to you tbr!

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#NetGalley #meganmiranda #daughterofmine

Suspenseful with unexpected turns and twists.

This book was full of secrets hidden for years that were beginning to come to light. Every time I believed that what Hazel was discovering might point to a suspect, I found myself lost again in the pages that followed. The plot focusing on the Holt family was very engaging and intriguing.
 
Perry Holt, a father and respected detective, dies. His death brings his daughter back to town after many years of absence. To the family's surprise, it is Hazel who inherits the family home. And she wasn't even his daughter. Why did he leave this house to her and not to his sons? The climax begins when a second car is found in the water behind the Holt’s family home. It belonged to Hazel's mother, who left Hazel behind with the Holt family.
 
This book surprised me. I was intrigued with the plot, and constant suspicions, drama and secrets. The pacing was perfect, and it was hard to put this book down.

This book had the makings of a good plot but I am not a fan of amateur detective and that's what this became at a certain point. I felt like the plot moved along really nicely to a point and then it became quite chaotic and at a certain point I wasn't sure which realizations were happening and felt almost "too stupid" to understand the connections. Perhaps I wasn't able to keep the multiple characters separate in my mind and that was the issue but it became offputting to finish the story out.
As a big Megan Miranda fan back in the day I just feel the books are all following this type of experience lately.

It’s been a few years since I last read a Megan Miranda book (since I predominantly read fantasy these days) so I was curious to see how it would go switching gears. I went into Daughter of Mine blind, and now having read the plot summary, I would highly recommend doing so as well. I think this one was best to go in with zero plot expectations to just let the story unfold. As it is a thriller and deals with some darker subject matter do be sure to review the content warnings on Storygraph if you have any concerns.

I was instantly intrigued by Daughter of Mine and while it is a slower paced thriller, I couldn’t put it down. I really enjoyed the family dynamic in this one which was definitely one of the standouts to the plot. As secrets and truths start to reveal themselves I found myself needing to know more. The family dynamics and relationships are much more complicated than they initially seem. Hazel was an interesting main character and I enjoyed learning more about her as the story unfolded.

I really loved the setting of this one. I really could picture the Holt family home on Mirror Lake. Weather plays a fairly large role in the story. I loved how the drought and the number of days that passed added tension to the story until the rain finally came. It really added to the atmosphere of the story.

I really enjoyed this one. It is definitely a slower thriller but one that I also found to be quiet and tense which was just as powerful.

Thank you to @simonschusterca & @netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Daughter of Mine is out May 9th!

⭐4/5 stars⭐

A slow burning, creepy small town thriller.

Hazel returns home after her father’s passing, he has left her his house, her, not her two brothers. But why would he leave it to only her? Long ago Hazels mother left her, disappeared without a trace. The story is she conned the family and ran away, but as Hazel returns home in a drought and cars are being found in the drying up lake she begins to question everything. In a small town, where everyone knows everyone and everyone knows, or is, the police, will the truth ever come to light, or it is all better left buried?

I definitely enjoyed this one. A slow burn slow go where sometimes I even questioned if Hazel was just being over dramatic and turning nothing into something. The creep level was definitely there, as I live alone and found myself questioning the creaks in my own home. A really enjoyable ride with undertones of family connections.

Daughter of Mine is a captivating domestic thriller with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end. Hazel returns to her childhood of Mirror Lake following the death of he much loved and respected father. She unexpectedly is the sole heir of her childhood home much to the surprise of her two brothers. This is a tense filled novel that explores the themes of : what is a family, can you ever go home, childhood memories and trauma, sibling rivalry, and the idealization or condemnation of parents. Although I found the pacing a little slow at times, I appreciate the multiple layers of this well plotted mystery. I loved the creepy isolated atmosphere of Hazel’s childhood home and the feeling that she was not alone or something sinister could be lurking around the corner. Megan Miranda does an admirable job of the exploration of family dynamics, and small town living.

I recommend this if you enjoy:
-small town mysteries
-past and present storylines
-family drama and dysfunction
-secrets and lies with a trust no one vibe
-tension filled and creepy atmosphere

My rating: 4 out of 5

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for this eARC that will be released April 9 2024.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. I love how the story hooks you from the starts and just brings you into an a world of secrets and twists . The atmosphere of this book was just amazing and the intrigue kept the wheels in my brain turning non stop until the very end. Every time you think you have figured it out, something comes up making you doubt everything you’ve thought so far. It was definitely a quick read and the build up was perfect. This was my first book by Megan Miranda and it will not be the last.

Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda

Megan Miranda is an auto buy author for me. I don’t read a ton of thrillers, but I always love the atmosphere and characters in her books. This one was one of my favourites.

Hazel returns to the small lakeside town she grew up in after her father dies. She’s shocked to learn that her dad left the house to her alone, not her brothers. As she spends more time in the house, her feelings of being watched become more and more intense. As secrets of the past begin to rise to the surface, literally as cars long gone in the lake are discovered, the people she grew up with become more and more suspicious.

I loved the paranoia level and general setting and atmosphere of this one. It was the perfect amount of creepy for me. I also really loved how the layers of the situation were revealed, just enough to keep me engaged and on the edge of my seat. I appreciated the delicate relationships and how they changed over time, there was great wisdom in some of the lines.

The ending felt a bit rushed and scattered, but that’s what I expect from thrillers so although it was a bit of a let down it didn’t really take that much away from my enjoyment of the book.

Thank you to @simonschusterca for my early copy! This one is out on April 8th.

I loved this book. Thank you for the ARC. The atmosphere was so intense I could feel the tension. The scenes were detailed and paced well. A redemption book for Megan Miranda!

Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda
4 stars

When Hazel unexpectedly inherits her childhood home, she returns back to her small home town. To her surprise, her brothers were excluded from their father's will, and he left everything to her. But that's not the only surprise - because of a drought, the water level in the lake has dropped, revealing secrets from years past.

My thoughts:
Written in Megan Miranda's signature style, this book is not short on twists and turns. It kept my attention, even though the pace seemed a bit slower at times. Everyone's a suspect and no one can be trusted. If you liked Megan Miranda's past books, I think you'll really enjoy this one as well.

Hazel returns home to the mysterious Mirror Lake after her father’s unexpected death. He has left her his house in his will, much to her brothers’ chagrin. Mirror Lake is currently in a drought, which is leading to a low level of water in the lake. Two abandoned cars are found, and Hazel’s world is turned upside down when what she thought she knew about her family is revealed to be totally wrong.

Thank you to @simonandschusterca and @netgalley for my review copies! I thought this thriller was so atmospheric and paced well. Hazel was a reliable narrator which I liked for a change and I thought all of the people lurking around Mirror Lake were perfectly suspicious. The writing style kind of reminded me of Amy Engel with how dark it was. I didn’t see the twist coming and I thought the suspense building was perfect.

I loved this action packed, cleverly plotted, and suspenseful read! The family dynamics and twists kept my eyes glued to the page. The ending was shocking because I never saw it coming.

A twisty thriller about family secrets, grief, missing women and a serial killer make for a fast-paced small town domestic suspense that was great on audio. I haven't always been a fan of this author but I really enjoyed this latest offering! There are lots of red herrings but things come to an atmospheric head as the truth is finally revealed and three siblings torn apart from loss finally learn how to forgive and heal from their past trauma. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5

Oh mannn. This one just didn’t have my attention. It was very, very slow. I was expecting so much more action. I liked the mystery aspect of it but I just wanted to be hanging on the edge of my seat. There were little moments that were suspenseful but it was very short lived.

“When Hazel Sharp, daughter of Mirror Lake's longtime local detective, unexpectedly inherits her childhood home, she's warily drawn back to the town-and people-she left behind almost a decade earlier. But Hazel's not the only relic of the past to return: a drought has descended on the region, and as the water level in the lake drops, long-hidden secrets begin to emerge...including evidence that may help finally explain the mystery of her mother's disappearance.”

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for a DRC. Daughter of Mine is available April 9.

This was a slow, tense thriller, Hazel the main character is home but uncomfortable, you can feel her discomfort. Her father passed away and her brother’s do not seem supportive. Miranda writes some complicated characters, there are layers to the story and she reveals each layer and a new part of the character very carefully.

The house is left to Hazel and her brothers are upset, then a car is found submerged in the lake behind her home. Hazel begins to question her mother’s disappearance; no one seems credible in this town anymore. There were so many small parts to this story, so many different things happening, but they perfectly clicked into place.