I’ve really enjoyed Claire Allan’s previous books and she’s one of those authors whose books I want to read without knowing very much about them. I actually think, after reading The Liar’s Daughter, that she’s getting better with every book.

This is the story of two women: Heidi and Ciara. Ciara is Joe McKee’s daughter and Heidi is his stepdaughter. As Joe lays dying each woman feels compelled to return to help care for him, despite the fact that there is no love lost between any of them at all. I had a really good idea about why this was, and I wasn’t wrong, but the unfolding of this dark tale of twisted relationships still moved me emotionally.

It’s not an easy book to read because of the subject matter, and I imagine it wasn’t an easy book to write too, but Allan has done a brilliant job at portraying not only what the women have been through but also the knock-on effects of it, of how they both felt alone and how they dealt with their inner demons.

Joe’s death wasn’t a natural one in the end and part of the story concentrates on what happened to him. However, the larger part focuses on how those around him dealt with his life and his death. It’s such a sad story to read and I found it absolutely compelling from beginning to end.

With the exception of the odd flashback scene, almost all the action takes place in Joe’s house as his family gather before his death and then deal with the aftermath. This makes for a quite claustrophobic setting, and given that there are only a few people there, almost a locked room mystery as to the nature of his death.

The Liar’s Daughter is a powerful and absorbing story and a triumph for the author.

Claire Allan is back with a sensational new thriller that is sure to chill readers to the bone and keep them reading all through the night: The Liar’s Daughter.

Joe McKee was a pillar of the Derry community. Loved, respected and admired by everyone in town, the news that he was terminally ill had shocked and saddened every single person who knew him and when he had succumbed to his illness, his friends and family were deeply saddened that cancer had taken this much-loved man so prematurely. The entire community is reeling from this tragic loss and everyone is grieving and mourning a man who had done so much for Derry. However, there are two people who are not the slightest bit sorry that Joe is dead. Two people who know the real Joe McKee and who lived with the dark demons that consumed and overwhelmed him: his daughter Ciara and stepdaughter Heidi. Joe was meant to love and protect his children, but Ciara and Heidi had to endure untold horrors at the hands of a man who behind closed doors was worlds apart from the man revered by the entire Derry community.

As the mourners gather to celebrate his life and mourn the loss of this great man, they are left gobsmacked by the shocking news that the police are treating Joe’s death as suspicious. Joe was a man whose life had been claimed by illness and it is preposterous that the police cannot see that, but as doubts start to be cast about his last few days, everyone in Derry starts wondering who was the real Joe McKee? What secrets has he taken with him to his grave? As the twisted and tangled web of lies and deceit begin to unravel, it soon transpires that Ciara and Heidi might have just had the best possible reason for killing him…

Just what part did Ciara and Heidi pay in Joe’s demise? Did he die of natural causes? Or were the secrets of the past so sinister that murder was the only option?

Claire Allan is on top form once again with The Liar’s Daughter. A top-notch thriller that grabs a hold of readers from the very first page and keeps them on the edge of their seats throughout, The Liar’s Daughter has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster and plenty of shocking secrets and jaw-dropping revelations to keep the pages turning from dusk till dawn.

Terrifying, captivating and impossible to put down, The Liar’s Daughter is another winner from the fantastic Claire Allan.

I've pretty much read all of Claire Allan's books and I can safely say without any doubts that this author never disappoints she writes complete page turners and this for me was the best of them all! I read this in 2 sittings at break neck speed of was just so compelling i had to know how this would all unfold and it definitely gave me hard core Agatha Christie vibes it's just a sheer fast paced whodunit, perfection!

The story begins with the death of Joe Mckee, a man who appears to be a pillar of the community expect his daughter Ciara and step daughter Heidi seem not to sad about the fact that there father is dead and so begins the clever, fast paced page Turner that is often hard to read yet just as hard to put down story of a man who hides his evil well.

Heidi was just such a strong character i loved her fighting spirit although she appears not as strong as Ciara i felt like she was, she had dealt with so much at such a young age i just really felt for her the most she was so brave! I had an idea of whodunit all the way through and I was right in the end but it was such an excellent ending i won't forget this book for a long while.

Honestly this was just so well done, I was so angry at times reading this and at other points it totally made me cry, cannot rate this high enough.


I voluntary reviewed this book Thank you so much to the publishers who sent me a ecopy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Liar’s Daughter is a powerful, emotional thriller which has stayed with me long after reading.

I have to admit I wasn’t expecting this to be as much of an emotional read as it was. The author has written about a distressing subject with compassion without ever over dramatising things. Some of the scenes were really heartbreaking and very poignant which made them hard to read at times.

This was a bit if a slow build though there was enough mystery and intrigue to want me to keep reading. I was very glad I did as the pace soon picked up and the many twists kept me firmly gripped. I liked how the author kept me guessing until the end, where the huge twist had me gasping in shock which I always love!

Huge thanks to Sanjana from Avon for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. If you like gripping, haunting thrillers then you’ll love this book.

A very emotive and powerful story told as always, brilliantly by this author. Not a subject that everyone wants to read about but the author wrote it in such a way it was hard to put the book down.

The Liar’s Daughter is the kind of thriller that I absolutely love to read – and I did absolutely love this book! The first thing that pulled me in was the easy narration which was first person. You jumped between the two main characters but you could really tell that each was different and unique which is always good. On top of that, the words just hooked me straight in. The story pulled at my curiosity and had me itching to continue reading and find out what was happening.

I flew through this book in the end. I think it took me about two days to read in the end because I simply could not put the book down. This may not seem like much but I am the kind of person that often takes a week to finish a book because I get distracted or want to read a different book. So the fact that I didn’t is a good testament to how much this book was addictive and intense.

The atmosphere in the book was truly incredible. You could feel the tension between all of the characters. I was thrown off on who did it just once but my second guess was on the money – which may seem like a bad thing but it also added to the suspense while you watch the characters try and sort through everything that was happening.

If there are four people in the house when a murder occurs – who can you trust? This is essentially how this book played out and the lack of trust between the characters was so fascinating to read. I would highly recommend this book if you like claustrophobic type thrillers!

This book is about the very dark subject of child abuse. About grooming and shame and the impact it has on the victims even years later. How it infects with its poison.

It is about family dynamics and jealousy and also has a mystery running through its core. The characters are raw and written with such emotion you will feel pity, love and hate for them. Joe was such a monster I think I would have killed him myself if someone else hadn’t beaten me to it.

This is very much a character driven book with a slow pace rather than a fast paced thriller. But in this case that is a massive compliment as you are drawn into their lives and the writing is so exquisite I was sad when it had finished even though the ending was utterly perfect. For such a dark subject that is very rare.

I loved Claire’s book Her name was Rose but this is in a different league. She really knows how to capture families and all their quirks and foibles and draw them out until you are completely hooked in their stories. I know abuse is a subject many readers try to avoid but this has been written in such a delicate manner with tender loving care that I hope they just give it a try.

The subject matter is one I am never comfortable reading so straight away this put me on the back foot. I thought too many time that things would never have happened like they did in the story and especially the premise that a young girl would be left in the care of a man not related to her after her mother died.
So all in all I was disappointed with this book. It was classed as a thriller but it wasn’t and although there was a murder it wasn’t a main part of the plot.

Despite owning a few Claire Allan books, this is the first one I have actually read... and it’s a difficult one for me to review. Whilst there was good aspects to the book, I didn’t particularly enjoy it and it felt a bit flat to me.

Set in Derry, Joe McKee is a pillar of the community is dead. The story is told from the point of view of Heidi, his step daughter, and Ciara, his daughter. They are not sad about their dad’s passing as they know the true Joe McKee.

This story took a while to get going and despite the different points of view making the reading quicker, I found myself a bit bored at times. The story touches upon hard hitting issues, in particular child abuse and pedophilia, and this could be triggering for some. Whilst there were certain twists and turns along the way, it’s hard to categorise this as a thriller - it didn’t feel thrilling enough for me!

Something tells me I will never stop enjoying stories about dysfunctional movies and hoo boy, is this a dysfunctional family.

Joe McKee is dying and he wants nothing more than having his family around him. His sister Kathleen, his daughter Ciara and Heidi, the daughter of a woman Joe used to live with. But Ciara and Heidi would much rather be as far away from Joe as possible. As much as Joe appears to be liked by the Derry community, Ciara and Heidi know the real man behind the mask. And then Joe dies but doubt is being cast over whether his death was due to natural causes. Or did someone help him on his way?

I must say, this was a bit of an uncomfortable read. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what caused the tension in this household. I was constantly wondering what I would have done had I been in Heidi’s or Ciara’s shoes. Could I put my own life on hold to take care of a dying man who failed to protect me? Or would I simply walk away and leave him to his own devices?

This is not a fast-paced story but the slower pace really works here and I still ended up reading this book in one sitting. If there’s anything Claire Allan does well, it’s writing an addictive page-turner and The Liar’s Daughter is definitely that. Not only do we get this incredible insight into the psychological impact of the dark and disturbing secret Ciara and Heidi have been carrying around with them, but there’s also the mystery surrounding Joe’s death to solve. My attempts in trying to figure things out were constantly muddled by a cast of quite unlikeable characters. It could have been anyone, it could have been no-one. I just didn’t have a clue and was left guessing until the end, desperate to find out.

With tempers flaring and paranoia rearing its ugly head, the suspense and tension build up to an almost unbearable level. As I said, this is an uncomfortable story to read but it’s also immensely gripping and I flew through the pages as if my life depended on it. The Liar’s Daughter is a dark, powerful and twisty psychological thriller that will keep you glued to the pages.

Loved the writing style by this author. I felt emotionally connected to the characters . Had me guessing the whole way through. Full of secrets and lies. Loved it. The topic is a very sensitive topic so it was dealt in a very sensitive way.

Atmospheric, claustrophobic and intense... So cleverly compelling I had to rush through to find out what happened!

Claire Allan is a favourite author of mine so I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to read this talented author's latest novel, The Liar’s Daughter. This is my third book by this author, having previously read Her Name was Rose and Apple of my Eye both of which were outstanding five-star reads for me, and I was not disappointed. There was a lot for Claire Allan to live up to!

The Liar’s Daughter is a compulsive and digressive thriller that has been well put together, with malice, deviousness and deep-rooted secrecy at its core. It brings to life an incredible family account of mistrust, paranoia and suspicion. It is a book containing themes of paedophilia, child abuse and rape, and the reader is categorically and unequivocally made aware of how these affect the lives and relationships of various family members. It is also a divulgence of desperation, and all the different layers of hatred.

This book has many of the components that make a really good story: from the mood and undercurrents to the very clever writing and the experience of family secrets and incredibly tense relationships.

For myself, the one thing that made this a memorable read was Claire Allan’s ability to regularly send me off course. Set mostly in one house in Ireland, this is a dual narrative story that switches between the dark past of Joe, and his death in the present. Readers are also furnished with a story that moves between Ciara and Heidi’s perspectives. This added depth to the story, particularly as these women are so different in personality. Claire Allan managed to create so much suspicion and mistrust through her story-telling and there was an overpowering sense of menace that emanated from the pages of this addictive read which is brimming with mystery. Another of my favourite aspects of this novel was the fluidity of the writing. The details and twists of the plot were brilliantly executed and every chapter left me with a compelling need to read on.

The Liar’s Daughter is a supreme accomplishment, mixing general fiction with a chilling, sharp slice of thriller, culminating in an emotive and justifiable ending. I absolutely adored every chapter of this pacey novel and I would certainly recommend it.

With thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book.

I spent most of this book feeling really angry which, I think,is what the author intended. I hope so anyway. Without giving away too much there were only two characters who had any redeeming features. It was an enjoyable enough read although I thought it was a bit predictable. I worked out the ending pretty early on.
What spoiled this book for me was the fact that some parts were ridiculously far fetched and showed Northern Ireland off in a very bad light. Priests haven't been all fire and brimstone since about the 1950s and there is no way Social Services would have allowed a ten year old girl to remain in the care of a man who was no relation to her, no matter what her mother may have wanted.

I read this book in a single day. I absolutely could not tear myself away from it, so caught up was I in the intricacies of the relationships going on between the pages. I hadn’t expected this, as the subject matter of the book isn’t the easiest of topics to read about, but the author deals with it very sensitively and the plot itself was full of tension.

I have to say, the vast majority of the characters in this book are unsympathetic to say the least, save the main protagonist Heidi, who had me on side from the start, and her husband, Alex, who seemed to be the only genuinely sane and undamaged soul in the whole book. However, this antipathy towards almost everyone else paid off throughout the course of the novel as the mystery surrounding Joe’s death unfolds and we, the readers, leap from one character to the next in our pursuit of suspects.

The author does a magnificent job of unfurling the information piece by relevant piece to keep our perspective on the story changing from chapter to chapter and tweezing out the stress unbearably to the end of the book. Just when we think we know what is happening, there is another subtle twist in perspective and we have to rethink what is going on.

This book made for an uncomfortable but gripping read, dealing as it does with the worst in human nature and the lasting damage that does to everyone who comes into contact with it. The author is skilled at straining every nerve of the reader through the structure of the book and the prose and I defy anyone to be able to put this book down for long before needing to go back to it and end the tension. One for people who likes their thrillers with some bite.

This is an emotive and powerful read; since the first page you’ll be absorbed by this story and their characters. Ready to discover “The Liar’s Daughter”?
I was surprised from the beginning by this story, how it is possible that two daughters hate so much their father, Joe McKee, that after discovering that he is dying they don’t want to take care of him. This is much more than resentment, something much deeper and it has been setting for years… From the title of the book the reader can get a clue, but what kind of clue? Why so much hate?
The story is told between the two daughters, Heidi and Ciara, the daughter and the daughter-in-law, how they become a family and how are things now after they’ve discovered that their father is dying.
I really don’t want to make any spoilers, but the author has done an amazing job with the emotions and creating controversy in the readers mind. The characters and their problems felt real: realistic, painful and easy to understand. Making the reader to feel the emotions on their own skin, raw and without filters, a rollercoaster that will stay with you for a long time.
This is a book that any reader will love, be advised that you’ll not be able to put it down, once you start you’ll want to know the truth no matter what! Ready?

Unfortunately I was hoping to read this book before publication date, but life got in the way I have read the NetGalley reviews which make this book sound like a must read, so I’m hoping to get to it in The not to distant future, when I will update my review.

Oh this is a very disturbing and emotional book; I experienced a range of emotions whilst reading but mainly those in the anger and rage end of the spectrum. Claire Allan tackles a difficult subject head-on as we see first hand the long term effects of Joe McKee's terrible actions.

From the start, we are warned not to feel sorry for Joe as the reader is told in Joe's own voice that he deserves the death sentence he has been handed through his cancer diagnosis. He is released into the care of his step-daughter, Heidi, who clearly doesn't want anything to do with him but Joe's own daughter, Ciara, can't stand the sight of him either. It's not hard to work out why his two daughters hate him but what really got to me was reading about their past and the devastation that Joe left in his wake.

My heart went out to both Heidi and Ciara. Heidi for losing her mother at such a young age and being left with a virtual stranger to bring her up, and Ciara who idolised her father and was crushed when he left. It's no surprise that Ciara was jealous of Heidi when they were children as, in her mind, Heidi had replaced her in Joe's affections. Ciara's tormenting of Heidi was pretty despicable and I don't know how Heidi could even bear to be in the same room as her childhood bully; she's a better woman than I am, that's for sure.

Joe's death shouldn't come as a surprise but it would appear that someone in the house helped him on his way a little earlier than expected. As the police are called in and the family line up like characters on a Cluedo board, each of them with motive, it is for the reader to work out 'whodunnit'.

The Liar's Daughter is a disturbing portrayal of a family hiding the darkest of secrets. With heightened emotions they turn on each other before realising that they are stronger together, and only by sharing their pain can they ever find some kind of peace.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Hot off the press! The Liars Daughter by Claire Allan just came out and its a well-written story that is tough to take in parts, but all in all, an excellent read. Claire is an excellent writer and I’ve read several of her books and really enjoyed each one. She knows how to build suspense, create sympathetic characters and construct a storyline that keeps the tension tight and the pages turning.

Joe McKee – a pillar of the Derry community – is dead. As arrangements are made for the traditional Irish wake, friends and family are left reeling at how cancer could have taken this much-loved man so soon.

But grief is the last thing that Joe’s daughter Ciara and step-daughter Heidi feel. For they knew the real Joe – the man who was supposed to protect them and did anything but.

As the mourners gather, the police do too, with doubt being cast over whether Joe’s death was due to natural causes. Because the lies that Joe told won’t be taken to the grave after all – and the truth gives his daughters the best possible motive for killing him…

You will be caught up in this story from the first page until the last. Abuse is such a difficult subject and Clarie deals with it well.

Less than five dollars, what a deal! Go here to buy it for $3.99.

Joe McKee has recently been told that he has incurable cancer and roughly 3-6 months left to live. His step-daughter Heidi collects him from the hospital and takes him home. He might be frail but she is still afraid of the man who made her childhood a complete misery. She won’t allow him to touch her and she is wondering how you behave towards a person who is dying at yet you truly hate them.

Joe asks Heidi to call his daughter Ciara. She too doesn’t have any kind of relationship with her father and dislikes him also. Putting her own emotions to one side she visits him with her partner Stella. Ciara is too waiting for an apology that never comes just like Heidi.

Because of the hard work looking after Joe now he is mainly bedridden, Heidi asks her Aunt Kathleen to come over from England to help look after him. One afternoon with a house full of people Joe dies and is found by Heidi’s husband Alex. The undertakers remove his body and as the family is waiting for him to be returned, ready to be laid out before his funeral the police arrive.

They have reason to believe that it wasn’t cancer that killed Joe. There are marks on his body and it would seem like he has been asphyxiated, but who hated Joe the most that they were willing to commit murder rather than wait the 3-6 months for him to die naturally?

The Liar’s Daughter is a novel about family, past hurts, and hidden secrets. It is told from the points of view of Heidi and Ciara and a few from Joe and in two different timelines, Now and Then. For those of you who read my reviews you will know that multiple POV books are not really my go-to reads and adding in two different timelines I was expecting myself to give up on this book just partway through, but I stuck with it and actually read it in just two sittings.

From the detail in the synopsis I expected Joe to die earlier in the book than he did at 25% of the way through, but it was good to hear some chapters in his own words. He was a nasty man to his girls and yet the people outside of his house thought he was a lovely man and adored him. I’ve known a couple of people just like this so it was perfectly realistic to me.

The characters were well developed and the plot kept me guessing as to which person wanted Joe dead the most. The main setting of the book is Joe’s house and there are plenty of conversations between all of the characters which help you to analyse them if you are trying to work out the culprit.

The subjects covered in the book were done very sensitively and handled well. The Liar’s Daughter is the first book by author Claire Allan that I have read and her writing style, including short snappy chapters, kept this book moving along at a nice pace. I now look forward to reading more from her in the future.