From the beginning of this book I was hooked. I love a story about people trapped in a location and the drama that ensues. Daisy Darker is very well done and similar to And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, but it is still very different and a fantastic read! I liked the present day and the flashbacks. Great character development and pacing and an overall great read! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a wonderful job adding to the tension and stress of the book!

Alice Feeney has quickly become one of my favorite mystery authors and Daisy Darker did not disappoint! It's wonderfully written and atmospheric. It centers on Daisy and her dysfunctional family who meet for their grandmother's 80th birthday on Halloween. It's a locked room murder mystery that takes place in a secluded family house on an island. Each person is a suspect and twists and new developments abound. I listened in rapt attention to the audiobook which was masterfully narrated by Stephanie Racine.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing this audiobook ARC.

Overall I really enjoyed Daisy Darker and I would recommend it. I will say thought it had a slow start. It took about half way through the book before I really got invested in the story.
It did an excellent job though of constantly making me think. Alice Feeney is so good at making you hate a character but still feel fully invested in what happens to them. That’s something I feel like a lot of authors struggle with but she did it beautifully. The twist at the end was really good. Not too predictable or too far out of left field.
The audiobook narrator also did an excellent job. I had an easy time distinguishing which character was which by her voice.
I’m excited to read Alice Feeney’s backlist titles and I one hundred percent recommend Daisy Darker.

I really enjoyed this one and the twist at the end was so good it made me want to reread it again. I was unfortunately approved for the audio arc after I had already read my physical book of the month so I can't judge the audio.

This was my first Alice Feeney book, and I can confidently say it won’t be my last.
This book was creepy ride with a shuddering twist. If you told me you saw the end coming, I would definitely not believe you.
The narrator for the audio version was perfect- her melodic voice enhanced the atmosphere of the book.
I highly recommend picking this up around Halloween (the whole book takes place on this holiday), or when you’re in the mood for a spooky mystery.

My new favorite Alice Feeney book!! This domestic thriller is set on a remote Cornish island as a dysfunctional family reunites for Nana's 80th birthday only to find members start dying as the hours pass. Perfect for spooky season, this book has lots of twists I didn't see coming and is told from the perspective of one outcast daughter. I loved the audiobook narrated by Stephanie Racine. This book is perfect for fans of The sixth sense! Much thanks to NetGalley, Libro.fm and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Right off the bat, I felt like this book would be perfect for spooky season readers.  It’s set on Halloween night on an isolated island off the Cornish coast where the tide makes leaving impossible for the entire night.  This is a quirky retelling of Agatha Christie’s 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦 with an unpredictable twist.  Very Gothic; very claustrophobic; very, very good.  Alice Feeney @alicewriterland is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. 
 
 
I was thrilled when @macmillan.audio sent me an advanced copy to listen to, and I think this format was perfect for this particular book.  I liked it so much that I chose it for my @bookofthemonth August selection. 
 
Read if you like…
✨Atmospheric isolated settings
✨Family drama
✨Slow burn locked room thrillers
✨Whodunnit mysteries with Clue vibes
✨Books with a Halloween setting
 
My thanks to Macmillan Audio and @netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this book before its publication date. 
 
@flatiron_books

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

"There are much cleverer ways to end a person than killing them." - Nana
I have read all of Alice Feeney's book and am overall a big fan of her writing, slow burn mysteries, and atmospheric settings. I loved the short chapters, small cast, clever zingers, creative characters, and solid mystery overall. I also loved Seaglass House and the mysterious island - and it was so helpful that the book included a floor plan of the house, to better understand the flow of it. There are so many very specific scenes that I keep revisiting since reading this including grandma's wall of 80 clocks and how she makes everyone punch into an old factory clock when they visit so she can track when you were last there.

I love how Alice Feeney lays down so many breadcrumbs to some well developed twists. I guessed two of the three big twists but one I should have seen coming! It read like a slow family drama and I loved the way this was told with the flashback scenes.

Alice Feeney power rankings5. I Know Who You Are
4. Sometimes I Lie
3. Paper, Rock, Scissors2. Daisy Darker
1. His and Hers
This is reminiscent to And Then There Were None and more recently Nine Lives. What other books have you read that have very similar trends/themes to classics?

Agonizing to listen to the screechy narrator and the story just was not that compelling.
I had high hopes but they were dashed.

Five bright and glowing stars for this awesome twisty thriller! Alice Feeney surpassed my expectations with Daisy Darker. This might be her best book yet, in my opinion. It was suspenseful and full of twists and unexpected revelations. I loved Stephanie Racine’s performance of Daisy Darker. Her narration of the audiobook provided just the right combination of spookiness and dread. The setting was perfect! It was Halloween and the entire Darker family had gathered together at Seaglass, Grandma Beatriz’s old crumbling Cornish home to celebrate her eightieth birthday. Daisy had the honor of narrating the events as they unfolded in both the past and the present.

Seaglass had always been a place Daisy Darker loved visiting. She was the first to arrive for the celebration of her grandmother’s eightieth birthday. Long ago, a fortune teller had predicted that her grandmother’s life would end on that very day. In light of that, the Darker family felt compelled to gather together for this celebration, even though they had avoided contact with each other for the last ten years. When all had arrived and settled in, Daisy’s grandmother felt it the right time to share the contents of her Will with all present. All of the members of the Darker family were outraged and disgusted about what Daisy’s grandmother said about them and left them.

As the hours passed and they all began to count the hours until they could leave, a deadly mystery started to unfold. At the stroke of midnight, Daisy’s Grandmother was found murdered in the kitchen. The family was trapped inside the house until low tide occurred. They were cut off from the outside world for eight agonizing and terrifying hours. Like clockwork, a member of the Darker family was murdered as the clocks Daisy’s grandmother collected struck the new hour. Who was murdering the Darker family one by one? What secrets were each of the members of the Darker family harboring for all these years? Would someone be able to solve the mystery before it was too late?

Daisy Darker was fast paced, well written, and my most favorite mystery I have read this year. I loved the ending and never saw it coming. Daisy Darker was about a dysfunctional family, murder, getting what you deserved, revenge, and lots of secrets. It was told in alternating chapter between the past and the present. I really enjoyed Daisy Darker and highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Alice Feeney for allowing me to listen to this audiobook through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is for sure my favorite Alice Feeney, which says a lot bc she is a freaking master story-teller. When Daisy Darker's family gathers for one more big birthday gathering, things start to go awry. I won't say much more, except that you've GOT TO READ THIS ONE.

I saw this advertised as “A dysfunctional family meets Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None” and was immediately intrigued! I’m always here for a messy and murderous family reunion and this atmospheric locked-room mystery was definitely entertaining!

I do find it a bit hard to review though as I did really enjoy a lot of aspects of this book, but there were certainly a few that I did not. I found it to be quite clever and unique, and I really enjoyed the flashbacks and Daisy as an unreliable narrator. I was hooked pretty early by the concept but lost a bit of interest through the middle and found it a bit too slow for my liking. However, Feeney is the absolute Queen of twists and shocking revelations and she undeniably delivered just that with this one!

I definitely think it’s worth checking out and the clocks ticking, this ones out on Tuesday!

3.5 stars rounded to 4 for goodreads

Daisy Darker is the story of, well, Daisy Darker and her incredibly dysfunctional family. There's Daisy's father, who cares more about music than his children, and her actress mother, who refuses to go by anything other than Nancy and doesn't have the same love for all her children. Then there's the eldest Darker child Rose, a veterinarian and workaholic and the vain and self-centered middle child, Lily. Rounding out the family is the sweet and quiet Daisy, Nana's favorite, who loves to read and suffers from a heart condition that has tried to kill her more than once. They've all gathered at Seaglass, Nana's house, which will be locked in for 8 hours once the tide comes in, to celebrate her 80th birthday. Among the guests are Trixie, Lily's smart teenage daughter and Conner, the-formerly-abused-child-now-turned-reporter who Nana took in. When the family discovers Nana dead at midnight, they fear there's a murderer among them, especially after the next Darker body is found shortly therafter.

This is my first Alice Feeney book. I've got others on my list, but I haven't gotten to them yet, so I was glad when I got approved for this ALC. In the acknowledgements, Feeney says among her books, Daisy Darker is her favorite. It's easy to see why. The rich atmosphere of Seaglass oozes off the page, and most of the characters are really terrible people, who we just can't help but hate. There are twists o'plenty at the end, and I'll admit that I didn't see most of them coming, but when I think back, all the clues were there. I guess I just wasn't paying close enough attention. I enjoyed this book a lot and really felt for Daisy, the poor broken-hearted Darker, who was stuck with such an awful family.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. I definitely highly recommend this audiobook as Stephanie Racine really brought each of the characters to life with her amazing narration.

This was one of my highly anticipated books for this summer and I loved every minute of it! This is a locked room mystery very similar to And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. In fact, the book is even mentioned in Daisy Darker.

I love the way Alice Feeney played with Christie’s concept but made it unique. I guessed one of the twists about half way through the book but continued to second guess myself throughout. I did not figure out other twists revealed at the end and I was very satisfied with the ending.

This is the second book of Feeney’s I’ve read and I need to move her backlist up my TBR because her writing is propulsive and her stories are so intriguing.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for an ALC through NetGalley! The audiobook narrated by Stephanie Racine (who also narrated Feeney’s other books) is perfection.

What a fun story! The Darker family is trapped on an island where someone is killing people off one by one, but they don’t know who. Most of the twists were predictable, but there were a few that caught me off guard. This was a slow build, but it did pick up. There were so many secrets from each character, that it made it fun and kept me on my toes. I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator was great! If you are a fan of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, you will enjoy this too. I love stories about dysfunctional families, and this one did not disappoint.

Pre warning if you get spooked moderately easy - don't read before bed!! There is a very quick scene that consists of animals getting killed, however I feel it's written more so in a way to bring awareness to animal abuse and how we need to do more to stop it. But just a heads up, it's in the first half of the book. I listened to this book so i can't reference the pages. Once i receive the book i will update this review to include the pages.

If you are gearing up for spooky October, add this book!

Alice Feeney is becoming one of my favourite thriller writers. It did take me a little bit to get into this book but once I hit the 50% mark i didn't put it down.

I enjoyed the back and fourth and learning about the earlier years. I was getting a "clue" type vibe in the beginning but i did not see that ending coming at all!

Once I hit the 90% mark I wasn't sure I could handle anymore! I guess the book wanted to anger me, spook me and make me cry! I don't think a thriller has ever hit me so hard emotionally!

If you like thrillers with a good twist you will really enjoy this book.

Happy Reading!

Thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC!

Daisy Darker's family is gathering for Nana's 80th birthday on a remote tidal island in Cornwall.  Family secrets and long buried resentments resurface as Nana's dead body is found in the early hours of early hours of the morning.  The family is cut off from the mainland, no cell phone or landlines, and help can't reach the island until morning.  As the bodies begin to pile up over the course of the night, everyone wonders - Who will be next?

Alice Feeney is the queen of twisted tales. She's proven herself worthy of a binge read and I always anticipate her next story. I do enjoy listening to her books via audiobook - narration is never an issue. In this case it was the story that didn't work for me. Feeney took a familiar tale - And Then There Were None and injected her own cast of unlikable characters. We merely scratch the surface of the characters so its hard to care what happens along the way. The big twist/reveal was fine but ultimately it was a bit of an eye roll. I also didn't need everything explained to me in a tidy bow. This was my least favorite of her books and I hope she returns to what she does best.

I enjoyed listening to this book because the British narrator gave it a greater sense of authenticity. The story follows a similar note to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, where the various members of the Darker family are picked off one by one. The killer isn’t revealed until the very end along with a plot twist that many astute readers/listeners would have seen coming.

Excellent book! At first I was thinking that this plot was typical in stories, but I was wrong with the twists involved! Be sure and give this one a read if you like mysterious thrillers. You won't be disappointed.