The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood is a topical and controversial psychological thriller with some unsavoury characters and big red herrings.
Book Blurb: Apologies for the general email, but I desperately need your help.
My goddaughter, Coco Jackson, disappeared from her family’s holiday home in Bournemouth on the night of Sunday/Monday August 29/30th, the bank holiday weekend just gone. Coco is three years old.
When identical twin Coco goes missing during a family celebration, there is a media frenzy. Her parents are rich and influential, as are the friends they were with at their holiday home by the sea.
But what really happened to Coco?
Over two intense weekends – the first when Coco goes missing and the second twelve years later at the funeral of her father – the darkest of secrets will gradually be revealed…
My Review: wow. This book ticked all the boxes for me personally. A group of extremely unlikeable characters, a mystery regarding 3 year old twin Coco disappearance unravels over a 15 year period told from the very unreliable narrators of this story. A realistic depiction of divorce, step parents and truly dysfunction families but with an underlying sadness. Fabulous book. Highly recommend it.
About The Author: Raised by wolves, Alex Marwood passed her formative years in the lands beyond the Arctic circle, developing pack skills, excellent night vision and an ability to survive on raw protein. Ideally equipped for a life on Fleet Street, she then became a journalist.
Her first novel, The Wicked Girls, was published by Sphere, in 2012, and achieved widespread acclaim and word-of-mouth bestsellerdom. In 2013 it was shortlisted for an ITW award, and included in Stephen King’s Ten Best Books of the Year list. It was published by Penguin in the US in 2013, and is shortlisted for an Edgar Allen Poe award.
The Killer Next Door, described by The Sun as “nasty, compelling and original”, was released as an ebook in 2013, and will come out as a paperback in June 2014.
Alex herself is a figment of the imagination of the novelist and sometime journalist Serena Mackesy. If you’re interested in a more truthful biog, an FAQ and other books, visit her website
