A HIGHLY ANTICIPATED, BEST BOOK OF AUGUST SELECTED BY * POPSUGAR * ENEWS * LIFESAVVY * CRIMEREADS * AND MORE!
From the author of The Winter Sister and Behind the Red Door, this “masterpiece of gothic suspense and horror, filled with dark family secrets and stunning twists” (Michele Campbell, author of It’s Always the Husband) follows a family obsessed with true crime as they gather to bury their patriarch—only to find another body already in his grave.
At twenty-six, Dahlia Lighthouse is haunted by her upbringing. Raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she is unable to move beyond the disappearance of her twin brother, Andy, when they were sixteen.
After several years away and following her father’s death, Dahlia returns to the house, where the family makes a gruesome discovery: buried in their father’s plot is another body—Andy’s, his skull split open with an ax.
Dahlia is quick to blame Andy’s murder on the serial killer who terrorized the island for decades, while the rest of her family reacts to the revelation in unsettling ways. Her brother, Charlie, pours his energy into creating a family memorial museum, highlighting their research into the lives of famous murder victims; her sister, Tate, forges ahead with her popular dioramas portraying crime scenes; and their mother affects a cheerfully domestic facade, becoming unrecognizable as the woman who performed murder reenactments for her children. As Dahlia grapples with her own grief and horror, she realizes that her eccentric family, and the mansion itself, may hold the answers to what happened to her twin.
Generally when you think of the term “family plot,” you refer to an area in a cemetery that has been bought by ones family for the burial of its various relatives. Well this is what I imagined The Family Plot by Megan Collins was going to be about. Boy was I wrong! The Family Plot took on a whole other meaning, in this case it also means a dramatic plot line involving various family members. It did take me a while to get into this book but please stick with it. About 60% into it is when I was really invested and it became clear that it was a keeper. Megan Collins is a master at keeping the suspense alive!
Two Girls and a Book Obsession 