Book review: Daisy Darker' our top pick for best thriller of 2022

Book review: Daisy Darker' our top pick for best thriller of 2022New York Times bestselling author Alice Feeney's latest mystery, Daisy Darker', is packed with horror, drama and a shocking twist

by Carmen Coetsee

31-10-2022 22:53

in Books

Daisy Darker' is bestselling author Alice Feeney's fifth novel. Image via Twitter @alicewriterland

Even though 2022 has given us some great thrillers and mysteries, our top spot goes to Alice Feeney's new novel, Daisy Darker. Filled with mystery, murder and one unforgettable family, this novel is a must-read!

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Feeney is not new to the world of bestselling thrillers. Her first four novels sold millions of copies across the world and has been translated into 25 languages.

Her latest novel, however, is her best by far. In Daisy Darker, Feeney tackles the darkness that lurks behind seemingly perfect families and the terror that lurks behind white picket fences

FEENEY'S DAISY DARKER' ECHOES AGATHA CHRISTIE MYSTERY DAISY DARKER has been out in the US for one week & I am so grateful to everyone who has shared a picture or kind review. This is just a small selection, I love them all, thank you. pic.twitter.com/P8jwDpinIo

Alice Feeney (@alicewriterland) September 6, 2022

Feeney's storytelling resembles the style of the mystery queen herself, Agatha Christie. Daisy Darker is a modern twist on Christie's famous And Then There Were None novel, but Feeney tells an even darker story.

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As an avid thriller and mystery fan, I am pretty good at guessing the endings of mysteries. It takes a lot to truly catch me off guard, but Feeney's mystery caught me by complete surprise. As good as the twist was, the other elements in the novel like Feeney's beautiful writing and her unbelievable characters were what really cemented this book as a 2022 favourite.

ALSO READ: The Eye of the Beholder': Dark mystery with a South African twist

DAISY DARKER' FAVOURITE QUOTES DAISY DARKER is published in the US today and I'm so grateful to @tjenkinsreid for these very kind words. pic.twitter.com/9kq7uOlMwL

Alice Feeney (@alicewriterland) August 30, 2022

We spend our youth building sandcastles of ambition, then watch as life blows sands of doubt over our carefully crafted turrets of wishes and dreams, until we can no longer see them at all. We learned to settle instead for flattened lives, residing inside prisons of compromise.

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All families have their own private routines and secret language, and all families know how to hurt each other.

We make moments with our families. Sometimes we stitch them together over time, to make more of them than there were. We share them and hold on to them together as if they were treasure, even when they start to rust.

The trouble with little white lies is that they sometimes grow up to be big dark ones.

DAISY DARKER': SYNOPSIS Great to see #DaisyDarker by @alicewriterland included in the @DailyMailUK s latest psychological thriller round-up ahead of its release later this month Fans of Agatha Christie's classic And Then There Were None will savour this https://t.co/8bhkKV6i8I pic.twitter.com/FjaaGhYE2k

Pan Macmillan (@panmacmillan) August 7, 2022

The New York Times bestselling Queen of Twists, Alice Feeney, 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. 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.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR You'll never be a writer, they said, but today my fifth (and favourite) novel DAISY DARKER is published in the UK. Forever thank you to everyone who made this dream come true. pic.twitter.com/bCvmy1fWHL

Alice Feeney (@alicewriterland) August 18, 2022

According to her website, Alice Feeney is a New York Times bestselling author and journalist. Her debut novel, Sometimes I Lie, was an international bestseller, has been translated into over twenty languages. Her novel His & Hers is being adapted for screen by Jessica Chastain's production company Freckle Films.

Rock Paper Scissors, her fourth novel, is also being made into a TV series for Netflix by the producer of The Crown. Her latest novel, Daisy Darker, has also become a bestseller worldwide.

Daisy Darker is published by Pan Macmillan Publishers and is available from Exclusive Books stores for R348.

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