Book Review

From Chelsea Weibley at the Library

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

“Families are like fingerprints; no two are the same, and they tend to leave their mark.”

Beatrice (Nana) Darker has invited her family to Seaglass, her Victorian seaside house on a remote Cornish coast, to celebrate her 80th birthday. Nana is a best-selling children’s book author with Daisy Darker’s Little Secret being her most well-known. The title character borrows her name from Nana’s youngest granddaughter, Daisy. The family, plus a neighbor who is like family, all join Nana for her birthday. To say Nana is eccentric is an understatement. She has a clock in her entryway for every year of her life. Her family and guests need to punch time cards in a time clock when they visit. Her meals mix savory and candy. But everyone has come to celebrate and hear Nana’s Will.

When the 80 clocks chime midnight, everyone wakes to a scream. An ominous poem has appeared on the kitchen wall and Nana is found dead. One hour later, the next family member follows. Who is doing this? The family is full of secrets…is it one of them or is an outsider hiding at Seaglass?

The narrative is told from Daisy’s perspective in both past and present. She was born with a heart condition and died eight times during her childhood. Her heart condition made her childhood quite different from that of her older sisters and it seemed to also be the final straw for her father who left shortly after her diagnosis. The Darker family has not been together for years until this fateful night…

I really enjoyed this twisty locked room (or is it?) mystery on the remote Cornish coast. The Victorian house in the unforgiving setting was perfect. The family is not able to leave the house for eight hours due to the tides which made it feel all the more claustrophobic. I have liked all of Alice Feeney’s thrillers and Daisy Darker is no exception!

Check out Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney for yourself at the Library (https://catalog.lclibs.org/polaris/search/title.aspx…) or through the eLibrary at https://lclibs.overdrive.com/media/8724677.