Its all about the illusion of perfection in this haunting novel.

I received an ARC of Paula Daly's The Trophy Child in exchange for an honest review. This book was different than the other two books that I have read by Daly, but equally as good.

We start by meeting Verity Bloom, who is the daughter of Noel and step daughter to Karen. She seems to have a lot of spunk. She hasn't been doing well in school and not long ago hit her step mom Karen. Karen doesn't seem to care for Verity. Noel, Verity father, is a doctor and works overwhelming hours, but still finds time for women and alcohol.

Karen believes in pushing her children to the max so they can succeed in life, but often pushes to hard. Bronte (daughter of Karen and Noel) a young girl, is enrolled in everything because of Karen. If there is lesson or vocation someone her age can do Karen has her enrolled.

Joanne's investigation starts when Bronte goes missing overnight. She goes missing from a park and doesn't show up until the next afternoon. She won't tell anyone where she has been but is adamant that she "fell asleep" in a shed. Several days later, Karen goes missing. The police find her vehicle near the lake and several days later they find her body.

This story goes into the investigation of what happened to Karen. Also contains some romance and some great twists. I'm an avid reader for books similar to this one and totally didn't see the ending coming till I read it. Can't wait for more books by Paula Daly!!

Really good read and easy to follow story line. Always enjoy reading paula dalys books . Look forward to reading more from this author.

The story concerns Noel Bloom a gp working in the Lake District and his family. He is married to Karen a tiger mother of the worst kind to their daughter Bronte. He has a daughter, Verity from his first marriage to Jennifer and Karen has a son from a mysterious liaison she had before we meet her in the story. When ten year old, naive, Bronte disappears from the local park whilst Verity is supposed to be looking after her the family is obviously distraught and Karen goes into meltdown. The police get involved in the shape of DS Joanne Aspinall who has already met Noel under different circumstances. She is involved in a case of drug peddling by a local small time crook but she is unable to track him down. She is soon involved in trying to trace Bronte but the Bloom family all seem to have something to hide.
This was a satisfying read which kept me guessing right to the end when all ends are tidied up and we learn what happened to Bronte and the family. A lesson to all pushy parents who fill their childrens' days with activities and study and who don't let them have a free minute to play with friends or just kick back.

I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and independent review.
Karen is a stereotypical pushy mother and her attention on her youngest daughter is to the detriment of her son and stepdaughter, and even her husband. She is not a likeable character. Noel, her husband married her when she fell pregnant. His ex -wife is in a home with MS and their daughter lives with her father and stepmother.
When a murder happens all the individual stories unfold, with each interlinking. A well written nicely paced thriller. One of the major strengths of the book was the depth of the characters.