Book Review: The Liar’s Daughter by Claire Allan

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…

Joe McKee is popular in his Derry community. He is also dead.

Arrangements are being made for his traditional funeral. He is being remembered as a nice man and the grief is felt strongly amongst friends and family.

For his daughter, Ciara and his step daughter, Heidi however, there is a whole different set of feelings. They both hold a secret that could pull the whole family apart.

Not long after Joe’s death, the police arrive. They don’t believe Joe’s terminal cancer killed him.

The horrible truth will emerge and the people with the strongest motive to kill him… are his daughters.

The Liar’s Daughter is told from the point of view of Joe, Heidi and Ciara. I found the structure of this novel compelling. I loved how it was told in both the present with flashback chapters to the past. It really gave the plot a chance to develop whilst keeping a terrific pace and a sense of suspense and building tension.

The allegiances I had throughout the book changed a lot and I think I ended up suspecting each character at one point or another. It did have me on the edge of my seat pretty much all the way through.

The further I got into the novel, the more I felt for Heidi and Ciara. I did find their relationship frustrating at times as there was a lot they could have gained from each other but as in real life, it’s hard to get over past resentments and prejudices, especially when emotions run as high as they do through the novel .

I don’t want to reveal much more about what happens. There are some very disturbing themes but these are woven with much care into the narrative.

This book is the kind of physiological thriller that I adore. It’s a rollercoaster full of love, hate, anger, empathy, resentment and redemption amongst the characters and it has an ending I didn’t see coming.

An incredible novel and not the last I will be reading from Claire Allan.

I thank Claire and Avon for the ARC copy. The Liar’s Daughter was released by Avon Books on eBook and audio on 23rd January with a paperback release due in August. Click to view the book on Amazon UK.

About Claire: 

Claire Allan is a Northern Irish author who lives in Derry~Londonderry.

She worked as a staff reporter for the Derry Journal for 17 years, covering a wide array of stories from court sessions, to the Saville Inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday, health and education and human interest features.

She wrote her first novel in 2006, to mark her 30th birthday and it (Rainy Days and Tuesdays) was subsequently published and became an instant bestseller in 2007.

Claire wrote seven further women’s fiction novels between 2007 and 2015. In 2016 (when she turned 40) she decided to change genre and try her had at domestic noir. Her first domestic noir novel, Her Name Was Rose was published by Avon/ HarperCollins in 2018 and became a bestseller in the UK, Canada, Australia and was a USA Today bestseller.

It was subsequently nominated in the Dead Good Reader Awards in 2019.

Claire has followed up on the success of Her Name Was Rose with Apple of My Eye and Forget Me Not.
Her next novel, The Liar’s Daughter, was published in 2020.

She is working on a fifth psychological thriller at present.

Claire still lives in Derry with her husband, two children, two cats and a very spoiled puppy.

Say hi to Claire on Twitter – https://twitter.com/ClaireAllan

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Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.