Whoa, quite a different read involving a dead father, a daughter and step-daughter bound together in secrets.

Joe was supposed to be an upstanding citizen. He died. Police marked it unnatural and both the daughter’s seemed shocked. But were they really?

My third book by author Claire Allen, I was quite taken aback at the tough issues she had interweaved in the story. The characters were different and unlikable, especially Joe. He was quite crafty and evil, and only his daughters knew the real ‘him’. I hated him and was not surprised that somebody offed him.

Both Ciara and Heidi had their own lives, they seemed to be hiding their secrets. The writing told me their story both in present and past. They seemed to have had tough lives. I shuddered when I heard their final truths.

This was a murder mystery at the core with the truths slowly crawling onto the page. The suspense was slow, but quite stolrong in its motivation. It was easy to dislike everyone yet be interested in their secrets.

Tapping my kindle to keep the story flowing was all I did, the rest was done by the author whose ending made my vengeful heart scream in victory. How wicked could people be!! The end was totally justified. I felt vindicated.

Quite an evocative and emotional thriller which played with my mind completely.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley and publisher, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.

All my reviews can be read here

No one deserves to be taken before their time. Do they?

Joe McKee – pillar of the Derry community – is dead. As arrangements are made for the traditional Irish wake, friends and family are left reeling at how cancer could have taken this much-loved man so soon.

But grief is the last thing that Joe’s daughter Ciara and step-daughter Heidi feel. For they knew the real Joe – the man who was supposed to protect them and did anything but.

As the mourners gather, the police do too, with doubt being cast over whether Joe’s death was due to natural causes. Because the lies that Joe told won’t be taken to the grave after all – and the truth gives his daughters the best possible motive for killing him…

Publication Date: January 2020