Unfortunately, this for me was a DNF. I found the subject matter rather difficult to read - I can understand why many enjoyed this book, the writing is very strong, the characters believable and the plot moves quickly but this simply wasn't for me. I would however recommend to anyone who feels that they could persevere through the difficult subject matter.

I loved my first experience with Claire Allan's psychological thrillers last year and I've been looking forward to read more of her work ever since... I was going to read her thriller debut Her Name Was Rose next, but of course I couldn't say no to reading her newest story The Liar's Daughter first when the opportunity arose. I admit I was sold as soon as I read the blurb and guessed there would probably be something dark and ominous about this psychological thriller.

The Liar's Daughter is by no means an easy read and incorporates difficult topics including child abuse, manipulation, cancer and mental health. Especially the first is trigger warning worthy, as it plays a big role in the story and can be hard to stomach in points... That said, I think that Claire Allan did an excellent job both describing and shining a light on the effects and consequences on the victims even years later. Shame, fear and manipulation often force victims to stay silent about their suffering and this story shows just how much it can destroy a life as well as affect those close to the persons involved. I do have to say that I wasn't a fan of any of the characters though and that includes Ciara and Heidi, who should be easy to feel sympathy for. Joe McKee is of course the true villian despite him being on his deathbed, and he definitely will not win your sympathy (quite the contrary!). Ciara's partner Stella is probably the most easy to like, although she doesn't really play a big role in the story as a whole.

Unlikeable characters aside, there is no doubt that The Liar's Daughter is a super engaging, quick and intriguing read. I literally started and finished it in less than a day! The prose is easy to read and you will find yourself flying through the pages as you want to discover if your guesses turn out to be right. I have to admit that I found the plot to be quite predictable and I guessed a lot of the plot twists really early on. It might just be that I've read too many thrillers in recent years, but it did put a minor damper on things... As a whole it was still a very entertaining read though.

The Liar's Daughter is one of those psychological thrillers you will find yourself reading in record speed despite a somewhat predictable plot. Some parts are quite uncomfortable, especially those related to child abuse and Joe's character in general, but the situation is well described and used to help shine a light on the problem instead of just looking for a way to 'spice up' the plot. If you are looking for a quick and engaging psychological thriller and don't mind some troubling moments and heavy elements, The Liar's Daughter is an excellent choice.

Love everything by Claire Allan, and her latest book did NOT disappoint. It is twisty, thrilling, compelling and will not let you put it down until the last page. Highly recommend for a great thriller!

Thank you to netgalley in exchange for this arc.

Heidi and Ciara are stepsisters. Ciara has a special kind of hate for Heidi. She is always bulling and tormenting her. Heidi has always been a quiet, introverted person. No w they are grown. Heidi is married with a baby girl of her own. Ciara is living with her partner Stella.
The only thing Ciara and Heidi have in common is Joe. Joe the stepfather that raised Heidi after the death if her mother. Joe the father that left Ciara and his wife for Heidi's mother. Such convoluted relationships breed hate and disdain amongst them all.
Joe has cancer, he is dying, he doesn't have long to live. As always Heidi is the one that has stuck by his side. She is the one caring for him. Not that she wants to, but due to a distorted sense of having to.
When Joe finally dies, to everyone's relief. The burial and wake should be small details.
The coroner's report states differently.
Joe was smothered. Which of the people there took the opportunity to finish a sick and twisted old man's life?
Great and surprising ending. How well do you know your friends and family?

2.5 stars. A suspenseful, atmospheric read, about a horrible old man on his deathbed and the lives he had ruined. However, it was not difficult to guess what the secret the daughter and stepdaughter were hiding. The question about how Joe died kept me on my toes, but there were limited possibilities and one of them turned out to be true.

The psychology of abuse is complex, though I wasn't completely convinced about Joe's ability to manipulate, and his daughters' compulsive needs to keep his secrets. I also found it hard to get my head around how <spoiler>one could leave their preteen granddaughter to be brought up by a strange man, even if he's her stepfather</spoiler>. Overall, I wasn't convinced about the setup/background, though I liked the writing.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

The ‘good’ man is very ill with cancer, and in his illness he is attended by his family - in good Irish fashion. He has cancer and has only months to live so they are gathered - his daughters, one by second marriage and one by the first are there to look after him. The husband and baby of the second daughter are there too as the baby is still being breast fed; and the sister arrives from England. All to say the last things they needed to him before...
But it is not a happy family.
In good traditional Irish family sagas there are dark secrets and they start to ooze out - and then he dies, and the police come calling and more emerge from the dark Irish boglands it seems. The text feels like you are wandering in a dark misty bog, where there is no solidity to your footsteps - the foreboding that there is something really wrong oozes from the book in a delightful fashion.
This is not a book to read if you want to be cheered up. This is a book that re-emphasised for me, the insidiousness of the way the Roman Catholic church offers forgiveness and sanctuary in return for a few prayers, no matter how heartfelt they are, your sins are forgiven if you only tell the priest in confession. Well I don’t believe that. It gives people too easy a way out of their deeds. And yes, our ‘good’ man had many sins to be forgiven and he thought becoming religious in his older age would help...
The style has the right quality for a book with this storyline and draws you in, and the characterisation is well done.

This book was a DNF for me, I'm afraid. I got as far as 35% and realised that I really didn't care about any of the characters or what happened, or who killed Joe. I had an inkling of the back story, but really I found it a bit boring with the back and forth stories with not much happening in each chapter. I do like Claire Allan's books and have read them all so far, with Apple of My Eye being my favourite. Unfortunately though this missed the mark for me.

Strictly speaking, this novel is a “whodunnit” but it takes an unusual form. The deceased is not the victim: the suspects are his victims. Claire Allan has done a lot of research for this novel, but I believe it also draws on her journalistic experience of reporting what happens in secret in the real world -as it finally comes out, usually in court. So, in this novel, quite a lot has to happen before ANY of the characters admit what actually has happened, even when they are not to blame. They also spend a lot of time focusing anger and blame in the wrong directions -and this tallies very well with my own knowledge of what abuse victims do: not through any fault of theirs, but as a consequence of the manipulation they have invariably been subjected to. Manipulation leaves its own scars and since abuse almost never occurs without manipulation of the victim, investigators need to understand that even when the victims come forward and attempt to tell their story, their actual abuser may still be holding the reins and what comes out at first may be skewed to their advantage. This is not the same thing as fabrication -even though victims may have been prosecuted for perjury- and a wise investigator would persist awhile and try to untwist things rather than dismiss the whole story as false, if some bit of it does not ring true.

This book is at times confusing, because it is painting an accurate picture of victims not being able to communicate what has happened, even to each other. This book also paints a picture where the manipulation and emotional and psychological abuse that accompany sexual abuse do more lasting harm than the sexual abuse itself.

This is a very good book, but reading it is not a picnic and it is not as entertainment that I recommend it.

Two girls attend Joe”s funeral. His daughter and his step daughter. However, neither of them mourn this pillar of the community. What has happened to make them hate him so much.
Claire Allan has tackled a very difficult subject of Child abuse in a very emotive way. She lays bare the impact that it has on the emotions of those left in its wake. A clearly written book that kept me turning the pages.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

A huge thanks to Avon and Claire Allan for the opportunity to read and review The Liars Daughter. I am an avid fan of Allan and she has delivered again with this new book. The book focuses on childhood abuse and the long lasting effects for years to come. Joe Mackay is dying and his two daughter are expected to rally round to provide care in his final weeks. What neither estranged sister know is that Joe abused both of the girls. When Hoe dies unexpectedly from unnatural causes the police must untangle this messed up family to find out what happened in Joe's last hours. This book will take you on an emotional rollercoaster.

I really enjoyed this book, a story of family and secrets and lies. Well drawn plot and characters, and I enjoyed the styling of the chapters being dedicated to one of the characters. This was my first novel by this author, and it certainly won’t be my last.

Heidi Lewis does not like her step father, Joe McKee, in fact she tries her hardest to avoid him whenever she can. Now though he is dying and she just knows it will be down to her to nurse him to his untimely end. Step sister Ciara doesn't want anything to do with him or Heidi but is sure that to ignore everyone at this time would be unacceptable. The tension in Joe's house is reaching breaking point when Heidi's husband Alex goes upstairs to get their daughter after her nap and finds his father in law dead far earlier than his terminal diagnosis would have had them believe. The wake is arranged and then the police arrive.

This is a book about secrets told from the point of view of both Heidi and Ciara as well as Joe to start with. It is obvious why Joe's relationship with his daughters broke down but that doesn't mean there isn't a story to be told. The isolation of an unhappy childhood is well described as is the trauma which can continue into adulthood and colour every aspect of a life beset by tragedy.

This wasn't an easy read but it shouldn't have been. Although fiction there seemed an authenticity about the situations the main protagonists found themselves in and how they reacted. That said it did seem as if the author couldn't decide whether to write and whodunnit or a family drama which was a shame.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys family based drama with a bit of mystery added.

This is a difficult book to rate, as while I enjoyed parts of it, it didn't really do much for me either.

This is a thriller set in Ireland. Joe, a pillar of the community of the community has died. You follow Hedi, his step daughter and Ciara, his daughter, who definitely aren't feeling sad with their dad's passing. They know the real Joe, who wasn't a good man. However, the police don't think his death was caused by natural causes, making his daughters have a very good motive for killing him, but did they do it?

It took a while to get going. I would have expected things described in the synposis to happen earlier than they did.

It then did pick up and I started to enjoy it but then it went down hill again and started to become quite boring and dull.

While it does fall into the thriller category, it is more of a mystery with a family drama element. The whole book focused a lot on the meaning of family.

I really did enjoy the writing of this book, just like I have her other books previously. However, I did not enjoy this one as much as her other books.

Overall, a well written mystery centered around family but it didn't blow me away

TW: rape and child abuse

This is my last book of 2019 and my first book from Claire Allan but, it won’t be my last.
The Liars daughter is a dark psychological thriller about complicated relationships and child abuse. This is a very difficult subject and the author has written in it in a subtle way.
Joe Mckee is upstanding member of the community. But he is dying of Cancer. He is trying to get his family together for the inevitable. But his daughter and Stepdaughter are estranged. They can’t stand being in the same room as each other. So, when Joe dies, there is a sense of relief between them and they just want to sort the things out and sell the house. But when the police arrive, they discover that there is foul play. The girls are beside each other and the story continues regarding the girls and Joe who is not the pillar of the community that everyone thinks he is.
Although this is a difficult subject matter regarding abuse, mental health, paranoia. I thought this was brilliant. It was well written gripping thriller that I couldn’t put down. It showed shockingly how someone will keep secrets to the grave for someone they loved.
Thank you NetGalley and Avon for a copy of this book.

I could not put this down - if I didn't have to work, I would have finished it in one day. I liked how chapters were dedicated to each character and how the present & past were shown. I was shocked with the twists at the end - I didn't see those coming at all.

I did not enjoy this book. This book would probably be closer to 1.5 stars. I hated the characters and could not wait until the end. If I could, I would have suffocated each and everyone of them (not the baby). Even Stella, just because there must be something wrong with her for being Ciara's partner. I guessed who was behind Joe's death, although it really could have been any of his family members because he was truly an evil monster. I still don't understand why Heidi was left with a stranger? Foster care would have been better. I hated the way everyone treated her. She is the person I least hated throughout the book. I just wanted her to speak up and not let Ciara and Kathleen walk all over her. I felt like even her husband, Alex, wasn't in her corner. Stella was even able to support Ciara, even though she was horrible person. I hated reading about Ciara. She could have helped Heidi, but instead was a awful to her and did everything in her power to break her down. I'm not sure how Heidi and Ciara could ever be friends. Kathleen was no better because she also knew what was happening.

I do look forward to reading more books by the author because I loved "Forget Me Not."


I received a complimentary copy of this book from Avon Books UK through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I'm honestly finding it difficult to review this. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings. Is the book well written? Yes. Is it engaging? Most definitely. I read it in a single sitting (stretching several hours). Did I find it enjoyable? Well... no. Enjoyable isn't the word for it, given the subject matter. In places, it's fair to say it was a difficult read. But, then, it was supposed to be; again, given the subject matter. I will say that I found the characters realistic and relatable, and I think Claire handled the hard themes in a sensitive manner. I would not have picked up such a book if it had been written by someone I didn't know, but I trusted Claire and have no hesitation in saying I will read her next book as well.

Joe is dying of cancer and wants to make peace with the daughter he left and the step daughter he raised. When he passes the police soon become involved as his death isn’t what it seems.

I was a huge fan of Claire’s last book but this one didn’t pack the same punch as her previous ones. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Having read all of Claire's previous books I was really eager to start reading The Liar's Daughter. This book is by far the stand out read of all of Claire's books and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Joe McKee – pillar of the Derry community – has died. The community and close family begin to grieve that their beloved Joe has left them, however Joe’s daughter Ciara and step-daughter Heidi feel relief that he has finally left them in peace.
We see the lies that everyone has held close to their chest start to slowly unravel as the police investigate the nature of Joe's death. Mental health, troubled childhoods and complicated family dynamics are explored and as a reader you start to feel every inch of the tension and emotions that are woven through this suspenseful page-turner

Trigger warnings for self harm, mental health and sexual abuse.

If you are wondering what to read in 2020, look no further than Claire Allan’s new thriller “The Liar’s Daughter. I was so caught up in the storyline, I read it all in one sitting. Right from the start she draws you in and you need to know how it will end. I felt the characters emotions and could imagine their pain and suffering. I definitely will be looking out for Claire’s next thriller as they never disappoint.