by Liz Webb
SYNOPSIS ‘I lean in and whisper the question I have never let myself utter in twenty-three years.
Dad…did you murder Mum?’
Liz Webb’s sharply plotted debut novel is a dark family mystery set in contemporary London where a woman attempts to impose order on her own chaotic life and untangle the mystery of her mother’s brutal murder.
Hannah Davidson has a dementia-stricken father, an estranged TV star brother, and a mother whose death opened up hidden fault lines beneath the surface of their ordinary family life.
At 37 years old, Hannah is losing her grip on both her drinking and a cache of shameful secrets. Now the spitting image of her mother Jen Davidson, and the same age she was when she died, Hannah is determined to uncover exactly what happened to her mum, but soon the boundaries between Hannah and her mother become fatally blurred.
REVIEW
Hannah has returned to her family home to look after her father who is suffering from dementia. Having never fully recovered from the death of her mother, Hannah has struggled to lead a normal life and decides to use this opportunity to find out what really happened to her. Was it suicide or murder, and who can she trust as she gets closer to the truth?
The most interesting aspect of this story for me was the way Hannah used her father's illness as a way to connect with the past and go back in time to find out more about what happened. For her father, who was suffering from dementia, at times he felt like he was actually back living at the time his wife died. This gave Hannah the perfect opportunity to ask questions and to try and replay events as the memories were so vivid for him. I don't remember ever reading a mystery or thriller book before that used this idea and it definitely gave an uneasy feeling to the story. In a way, it was quite sad to read, but at the same time it was an interesting take on a murder mystery.
I loved Hannah as a character. She was obviously troubled but determined and sarcastic which took the edge off quite a dark story. The Daughter was an addictive and unusual domestic thriller, perfect for anyone who likes a bit of humour or black-comedy as well as more typical crime thriller fans.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LIZ WEBB originally trained as a classical ballet dancer but had to give up following a back injury. She then worked as a secretary at the British Library whilst going to night school at the City Lit to get into Oxford University age 23. After graduating, she worked as a stationery shop manager, an art model, a cocktail waitress, stand-up comic, voice-over artist, script-editor, and radio drama producer before becoming a novelist.
Liz Webb was a stand-up comic for ten years performing at clubs across the UK and at festivals in Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leicester and Cardiff. At the same time, she worked as a voice-over artist voicing many TV ad campaigns including The Times, Kellogg’s Just Right cereal and Organics hair products.
She also worked for fourteen years as a prolific radio drama producer for the BBC and independent radio production companies.
Liz lives in North London with her husband, son and serial killer cat Freddie. Follow Liz on Twitter @lizwebbauthor.
Thanks to @RichardsonHelen @AllisonandBusby and @LizWebbAuthor for my slot on the blog tour and the opportunity to read and review an ARC.
Fiction: Thriller / Mystery
Product format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-0749028756
Pages: 30 pp
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