Introduction

*INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* "Alice Feeney is great with TWISTS and TURNS." ?Harlan Coben

The NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR of Rock Paper Scissors returns with a locked-room mystery when a family reunion leads to murder in a delightfully twisty and atmospheric thriller, as seen on the TODAY show.

â??A dysfunctional family meets Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None with a truly gasp-inducing twist. This is the book you've been looking for.â? ?Catherine Ryan Howard, bestselling author of 56 Days

Daisy Darker was born with a broken heart. Now after years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darkerâ??s entire family is assembling for Nanaâ??s 80th birthday party in her crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. When the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.

But at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member followsâ?¦

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 goes out and all is revealed. As seen on the TODAY show and picked by Book of the Month, Daisy Darker's family secrets and Alice Feeney's trademark shocking twists will keep readers riveted.

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Discussion Questions

1. Who did you predict the killer to be at the beginning? How did your prediction of the killer morph as the story progressed? I had Conor pegged from the begging! But then, as all of the red herrings continued to pop up, I became more focused on Nana’s agent as a suspect.
2. Which of the family members was your favorite? Why? I thought Trixie was such a cool teenager. She wasn’t afraid to be her own person, and stood strong in contrast to her mother.
3. What was the draw of the isolated island location? How did it contribute to the story? The locale was everything. Aside from being integral to the plot (no one could get on or off), the isolation fostered extreme camaraderie between its inhabitants over the years.
4. Longevity of relationships was the name of the game in this tale. How do you think relationship longevity contributes to the success/failure of relationships in real life? There is something to be said for sharing years with a person, even more so if they were formative, childhood years. There is a closeness that time alone can provide.
5. Daisy cherished Trixie. Discuss how this adoration contributed to the plot. Daisy was very close to Trixie, and from the beginning of the novel, the reader was left to see them as a close-knit team.
6. Sister relationships! How can you compare/contrast your own sisterly relationships to those of Daisy and her sisters? There has definitely been more than one time I’ve been vexed with my sister, but as of yet, we’ve never resorted to murder and/or cliff-tossing. Sister relationships, like any family relationships, can be very multi-leveled and complicated, but can also be extremely close.
7. Secrets were such an integral part of this story. What were the secrets that most impacted the Darker family? Oof! Where to start?! There was the huge secret that Daisy’s sisters killed her, but also other secrets–that Trixie was aware of all that was happening, what happened before Daisy died, that Nana was aware of all the misdoings…and so much more.
8. Along the line of secrets, do all families have secrets? What secrets have impacted your family? My family must be very boring, because I can’t think of any secrets that affected us. Decades ago, there was the slight question as to whether my great uncle actually married his partner, or just lived with her in harmony to the end of their days…and this was as salacious as my family line ever got.
9. Talk about Seaglass. It was not only the name of the home, it was a tangible asset of the setting. What was the significance of sea glass? In recent years, I have so enjoyed looking for sea glass at Jersey Shore. I love the symbolism that for it to be truly refined and beautiful, it takes so much tumbling and so much time.
10. “Don’t waste your life wishing to be like someone else, decide who you are and be you.” was sage advice from Nana to Daisy. How can you apply this advice to your own life? Isn’t this what we try to impart to our kids all of the time? Be your own person. Be your best self, your own self, and love who you are.


From www.themomoftheyear.net

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