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Goodreads Synopsis

The New York Times bestselling Queen of Twists returns…with a family reunion that leads to murder.

After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.

The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…

Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed.

With a wicked wink to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Daisy Darker’s unforgettable twists will leave readers reeling.

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For the past year or so, I’ve been reading a lot of Agatha Christie. A group of my bookish friends decided we wanted to read all the Hercule Poirot books and it’s been interesting picking up all these classic mysteries. My favorite Agatha Christie novel, however, still remains And Then There Were None. I loved the atmosphere, I loved the twists, and I especially loved the reveal. When I started seeing reviews for Daisy Darker that compared it to my favorite Agatha Christie, I knew I was gonna want to read it!

This novel follows the reunion of the Darker family on the 80th birthday of their matriarch. They all gather at Nana’s secluded mansion by the sea to celebrate… and things go downhill from there. Nana is found dead and the Darkers start getting picked off one by one. Who is killing this family? And, more importantly, why?

This book was a freakin’ ride! I love a mystery/thriller that jumps right into the conflict and this book certainly delivers there! You are swept into this mystery from jump and spend the book as on edge as the people stuck in this mansion with a killer. I was immediately pulled into the story and loved all the little nods to the mystery master, Christie. I can see why this is compared to And Then There Were None, from the setting to the poem to the atmosphere. Speaking of which, Alice Feeney does an excellent job of establishing a perfectly eerie and unsettling tone that compliments the story perfectly!

I also loved the character work in this book. Daisy is a fascinating character, as well as the rest of her messed up family. And they were all really messed up. I wanted to fight pretty much all of them at one point or another, except for Daisy and her niece, Trixie. But a character that can get me that riled up is the mark of a well-written character in my book. I liked that fact that this was a dual timeline because you got to learn more about motivations and what makes each person tick. And it made the reveal at the end that much more impactful.

And the reveal! I will say, I did guess what the twist was about halfway through the book. But then the way the author crafted the story had me second-guessing myself until the actual reveal happened and I LOVED THAT! Usually, if I can guess the twist, I don’t enjoy the book as much, but there was something about the way Alice Feeney wrote this that I didn’t mind at all. In fact, I yelled “I KNEW IT” at my very confused husband and then pumped my fist in the air 😂 So even though I knew it was coming, it was still a thrill.

Overall, this was an absolutely captivating mystery with very clear nods to And Then There Were None that I thought were pulled off well. I loved the atmosphere, the characters, and the twist and turns. I thought the author did a fantastic job of hooking me from page one and keeping me invested, even after I figured out the twist halfway through. If you’re looking for a mystery that gives off immaculate creepy vibes and will have you enjoying the ride throughout the book, I think you’d enjoy this one!