The Family Plot by Megan Collins
At twenty-six, Dahlia Lighthouse is haunted by her upbringing. Growing up in a remote island villa deep in the woods and isolated from her true criminal parents, she is unable to get past the disappearance of her twin brother Andy at the age of sixteen.
After several years of absence and after the death of her father, Dahlia returns to the house, where the family makes a gruesome discovery: Another corpse lies on her father’s property – Andy’s, his skull was split open with an ax.
Dahlia blames the serial killer, who terrorized the island for decades, for Andy’s murder, while the rest of her family reacts in disturbing ways to the revelation. Her brother Charlie invests his energies in setting up a family memorial museum that highlights her research into the lives of famous murder victims; her sister Tate promotes her popular dioramas depicting crime scenes; and her mother appears on a cheerful domestic facade and is no longer recognizable as the woman who performed murders for her children. As Dahlia grapples with her own grief and horror, she realizes that her eccentric family and the mansion itself may have the answers to what happened to her twin.
Reasons to read: This is a creepy thriller about a family obsessed with true crimes who gather to bury their father – and already find a body in his grave. Real crime or thriller readers and even fans of unusual family dramas will want to take up this book. It’s a psychological thriller with an explosive start that will captivate readers.
