Well, that was weird. I had read a recommendation for this, and read the blurb, and then there was the reference to Christie's book (which I've never read). It sounded like just the thing, but I'm underwhelmed. I thought the author was pointing me in a particular direction the whole time and...nope not going to say more. I will say that the only likable character in the entire book is the dog, and I'm glad no one killed her off. And all those fortune-cookie aphorisms practically every paragraph! I was getting pretty tired of that. I did keep reading it though and I did like how the flashbacks got more and more sinister. Great sense of place too. But in the end ... meh. I'm going to put And Then There Were None on my list, though.
Not very exciting -- wish I'd skipped this one instead of paying $$ as my book of the month.
I adored every minute of Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney on audio, perfectly narrated by Stephanie Racine. This is my kind of thriller - smartly written with little gore.
Set in an old gothic home on a tidal island, three generations of the dysfunctional Darker family gather on October 30th to celebrate the family matriarch's 80th birthday the next day ... Halloween. At the stroke of midnight, the family is shocked to find a dead body, but the death appears to be accidental. The real panic begins at 1:00 a.m. when a member of the family is found murdered, thus beginning the pattern of a tragic event happening at the top of every hour. Plus there's no way to get help since the tide in is and there's no phone service.
I loved the incredibly strong sense of place in this novel. I could see Seaglass and all its quirky furnishings - the wall of 80 clocks (one for every year of Nana's life), the punch in/out board for visitors, the chalkboard wall, etc. The poems describing each family member were so well done - I'd love to know more about the author's process of creating them. I also enjoyed the clever uses of wording with the Darker family last name. I correctly guessed the killer but (of course) didn't anticipate the big twist. I'd love to share the 90's movie that also used it, but that's too big of a spoiler.
Alice Feeney is now an auto-read author - I plan to read Rock Paper Scissors this fall. Many thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advanced listening copy of the audiobook. I highly recommend adding this to your spooky season reading list.
