“The problem with little white lies is that they sometimes grow up to become bigger, darker ones.”

 

Perfectly ominous and spine-tinglingly atmospheric.  

 

Family drama + a locked room + hourly murders???  Yes, please!  And as an added bonus, my family seems perfectly (well, mostly) normal after getting to know the Darkers.  

 

Agatha Christie is the OG of locked room mysteries with good reason.  I reread Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None during the pandemic and enjoyed it every bit as much as the first time.  Needless to say I was a bit skeptical about this retelling.  

 

But I should’ve know that if anyone could make this work, it would be Feeney!  

 

The Darker family home has always been a welcome respite, even when cut off by the tide.  But when the celebration in which they’ve come home turns murderous, the isolated location becomes an eerie setting for a real life game of clue.  Daisy was born with a broken heart.  Just how will it fare under these circumstances?

 

Feeney’s ability to write brilliantly cringeworthy characters and build a foreboding atmosphere is second to none and kept me completely enrapt to the final reveal.  

 

Any potential critiques of the book… {There were a few far-fetched plotlines. And I did figure out part of the “who-dun-it.”} …were easily diminished by the uniqueness of a plot that honored Agatha Christie.  

 

Set on Halloween, this is the perfect book to get you in the mood for all things spooky!

 

The audiobook was skillfully narrated by Staphanie Racine. Her depiction embodied the mood of the text and was exactly what I wanted from this spooky read.  

 

Many thanks to my partner @macmillan.audio for the #gifted l-arc!