I’m really excited to have been asked to be part of the blog tour for this book. The kindle version will be released on the 23rd January 2020. My blog will be published on the 8th of February 2020 at www.pinkanddizzy.com
I received a copy of the book in advance via NetGalley in return for an honest review as part of my blog.
I have read all of Claire Allan’s previous thrillers, and all have been different in their own way. This is no exception, even though it is quite a gradual progressive story, it still has enough intrigue to keep you wondering and reading to find out the outcome. The plot of the story is born from something quite simple, a man has discovered he is dying from cancer, and a few days later he is dead. This is only the basis, however, as there is so much more going on.
Joe has returned to the family home with a death sentence of only a few months. He knows he doesn’t have long and wants to spend the time with his family. However, do they want to spend time with him?
Heidi, his step-daughter, is downtrodden and defeated. There are so many skeletons in her closet that she is resigned to her life, but now that Joe is dying can she see an end to her suffering. Will she be able to move on with her husband Alex and her baby Lily and finally be happy? Ciara is Joe’s estranged daughter and has a long-standing grudge against Heidi for taking her dad’s affections away. She arrives with her partner Stella looking for an apology from Joe for the past. Kathleen, Joe’s sister, drops everything and travels from England to be by her brother’s bedside in his final hours.
These are the five main players, and when Joe’s death is suspicious, it can only be one of these five that gave him an early demise.
This is a true whodunit and psychological thriller. It reminded me a little of the game of Cluedo, as you know who the suspects are, it can’t be anyone else. They all have their motives; they all had their chance, but who was it and who is lying to us? The relationships between everyone are complicated and have a long and dark history. Heidi is portrayed as the typical psychological thriller protagonist whereby no-one will listen to what she has to say and everything happening around her points to her going mad.
Even though the main story is supposed to be about the death of Joe, there is a much deeper and sinister side to the story. Everyone is keeping secrets, but when they start to unfold, the reality of the situation and past events are both shocking and disturbing. The writer did a great job of dealing with this subject delicately and sympathetically.
Overall, this was an enjoyable and interesting read. It wasn’t entirely what I expected as it was certainly darker. It also progressed relatively slowly, but that didn’t mean I read it slowly. I had everyone pegged as the killer, and I honestly couldn’t call who it was, and I was shocked by the ending. It was all very well-developed and thought out. A solid four stars!

I've read some of Ms Allan's previous novels, so I had an idea what to expect. Regardless of that, I was blown away by another brilliant offering by this really talented author, and can't wait to read some more of her in future. Recommended.

All of Claire Allen’s psychological thrillers have been absolute page turners, keeping me up way into the early hours to finish... The Liar’s Daughter was no different. This is dark and twisty look at a family with secrets and motives. I read this in 2 sittings and could not get enough. Although it deals with some tough subjects and is not always easy to read you will want to keep reading.

Joe McKee is dead. The pillar of his community. But his daughter Ciara and stepdaughter Heidi know differently. As the family reunite for the funeral Joe’s secrets are brewing and pushing them all to their limits. The girls know the real Joe and soon the police are knocking when the autopsy reveals it may not have been just the cancer that killed him. This book has an ending that you will not pick.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

The Liar’s Daughter by Claire Allen is a taut, completely believable psychological thriller. It centres around the death of a man the community revered, but whose daughters despised him.

It’s an emotionally disturbing read with very sensitive themes that are all too real in our society. Mrs. Allen has written with clarity and compassion and the heartache in these pages is keenly felt. Redemption and forgiveness always comes with a price.

All the characters were well developed. Even the supporting characters added a depth to the story that wouldn’t have been felt otherwise. None of these people are very nice though, although that is hardly surprising.

The love and lies and family traditions kept the story interesting and although the ending wasn’t totally surprising, it felt satisfying.

A definite recommendation for psychological thriller fans!

#netgalley #theliarsdaughter #claireallen #avonbooks

I have read Clair Allan novels before and none have disappointed and neither did this one. As usual the author addresses issues which are usually hidden or skipped over but paedophilia is tackled head on with sensitivity and clarity.

Joe McKee is suffering from terminal cancer and is viewed as exceptional for taking care of Heidi, when her mother (who Joe was living with at the time) died even though he already had a wife and daughter. The situation brings together Heidi, Ciara (who is Joe’s daughter), Marie (Joe’s wife who he left) and Kathleen who is Joe’s sister to the house which has been left to Heidi by her dead mother although allowed Joe to live there while he was alive.

The complications of their relationships and the hatred from the past deceptions adds flavour to a traumatic storyline. This is a dark and sinister thriller which is written from different viewpoints switching between the present and the past. Clever plotting and the ability to ‘drip feed’ the information left me speechless at time.

Once again, a superb read from Claire Allan

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Claire Allan for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Superb read and highly recommended.

Joe McKee dies at his home and, although he was dying of cancer and close to death, the police were suspicious and murder was confirmed by the coroner. Five people were in the house at the time two of whom hated him because Joe was not a nice man, not a nice man at all.
This is a great whodunnit. I had my eye on one person who I thought had sneaked in and done the dirty deed but I was way off. The author weaves a crafty tale that leaves us guessing until the end. But this is more than just a mystery. This is also a dark family drama about child abuse. Ms Allan handled this so well - but even so it was uncomfortable reading - how could it not be.
Recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review

When Joe McKee beloved husband, father, step-father, brother and much respected pillar of the community dies of natural causes arrangements start to be made for his burial but as the grieving process starts so does a criminal investigation. Perhaps things are not all that they seem? Shadows start to be cast on Joe’s life and the secrets he was trying to take to his grave, which make his daughter and step-daughter the most obvious suspects for killing him...

This is definitely a dark psychological thriller dealing with trauma and the breadth of feelings that come with such an experience. You really feel the characters pain, anger, guilt and hatred in this story from the beginning and get a real sense of darkness and the shadows that mar their life’s.

I got hooked into this book and couldn’t read it fast enough as I needed to get to the bottom of events. It does make for uncomfortable reading at times but I would highly recommend it.

Wow what a tough book to read. A dark twisted tale of secrets and lies. A well written heartbreaking thriller which was an excellent read.

The Liar's Daughter is a domestic noir which proved to be quite a dark read. Heidi is married with a small baby and is called upon to care for her stepfather, Joe, as he lays dying from cancer. Ciara is Joe's daughter who returns to visit him with her partner. When Joe dies suddenly the police investigate the family and tensions between the two women, already aroused, grow. There is no love lost between Heidi and Ciara but as the story progresses we learn they something in common besides their hatred of each other and Joe. It came as little surprise to me as to what this was and could be a trigger for some readers.

Although the setting is Derry in Ireland I felt it could have been anywhere and there was a lost opportunity to bring more Irishness into the narrative. Otherwise a solid 4* from me. With many thanks to NetGalley and Avon books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I absolutely loved all of Claire Allan's previous books, so I was really excited for this one. I did find "The Liar's Daughter" really disappointing though, and a difficult read - this is not my kind of book at all, and I only finished it because it was an ARC copy I'd offered to read in exchange for an honest review. It's not that it wasn't well-written - Claire Allan is a talented writer, and I love her writing style and character development. It's more that the marketing on this one is completely off - as with the rest of Claire's books, it's being billed as a psychological/domestic thriller (which she does BRILLIANTLY) and I didn't feel it fell into that bracket at all. It's straightforward lit fic for me, which is fine, but the subject matter (sexual abuse, child abuse) is extremely dark and all-encompassing - if I'd known what the book was really about, I wouldn't have chosen to read it,it's just not for me. And that's my other issue: no trigger warnings or hints as to the book's core plot in the blurb, which intimates that the book is all about who killed Joe McKee - it isn't, that's almost a sub-plot, and takes far less precedence than I expected - I feel like that was only given such space in the blurb to make the book sound more thriller-like. I'm seeing this a lot lately, and I can't help but think it's because the thriller market is so lucrative, marketing departments stick everything under that genre even when it doesn't quite fit there, so the reader is invariably disappointed as the book isn't what they were expecting. 

If well written family dramas are your thing, and you can deal with difficult and traumatic storylines, then this is an excellent read - it just really wasn't for me. 

Thank you to netGalley, who provided me with a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Liars’ Daughter’ is another highly readable offering from Claire Allen, who has provided some top titles this year.

I found this novel to be her darkest yet, quite a slow paced read and more of a ‘whodunnit’ than the psychological fiction to date.

Heidi and Ciara are 2 women brought together during the terminal illness of their father/stepfather. The relationship between the 2 is fraught, with their history unfolding through the novel. Neither character I found myself warming to, but given the gritty nature of the book I’m sure that’s intentional. The subject matter is dark, with child abuse at the core, but I felt this was sensitivity and sympathetically handled by the author.

Many thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

Tense wild ride of a read.A book that drew me right in.Strong well written characters at times a dark read, a book that kept me on the edge of my seat.An author I will be following,#netgalley#avonbooksuk

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy of The Liar's Daughter, an exciting new psychological thriller by Claire Allan.

I've been wanting to read one of Claire's books for a while so I was so happy when this landed on my Kindle! Set in Derry, The Liar's Daughter follows the story of Joe, and his daughters Ciara and Heidi. Joe is dying from cancer, and as his daughters answer his every need, they are both hiding some very dark secrets of his.

The Liar's Daughter is a twisty tale of family, Irish traditions, love, betrayal and lies, covering some very dark topics indeed. I really enjoyed reading this, and struggled to put it down. I'll definitely be reading more by this author!

Having read Her Name Was Rose I was already a fan of Claire Allan. However, I didn't like this book as much as I hoped I would. Like is a strange word to use as it's the harrowing tale of Joe McKee, a paedophile, who was loved and admired in his community, except by his daughter and step-daughter who both hated him. When he is dying they are asked to come and look after him but neither of them are understandably keen. What makes this book stand out though is the relationship between the two women - they hate each other. Joe left his wife and daughter Ciara to be with Natalie who has a daughter Heidi. But Natalie dies soon after and Heidi has to stay with Joe, who doesn't seem to have to legally adopt her or even apply to the court. Heidi's natural grandparents feel they are too old and their house is too small to take Heidi. And that's the bit that really annoyed me. If she were my granddaughter, I would take her in no matter how small my house or how old I was. Heidi is not a toddler. They would manage. Instead they leave her with a man who has already left one family and terrifies Heidi. Most of the story revolves around Ciara and Heidi fighting which got a bit tiresome after a while. There a few other characters who get involved when Joe dies and a number of clever twists but for me it wasn't enough.
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a review.

The latest book from Claire Allan is another edge of your seat, can't put it down read. Told from the point of view of various different characters as the story unfolds, this book deals with child abuse and paedophilia. As the story progresses, we're left trying to guess what really happened in the past and who is to blame for the events of the present.
I have to admit that I did guess where this one was going. It didn't really matter though, although there are twists and turns in the plot and there is a mystery to be revealed, that isn't really the main driving theme of the book. Instead, this book is all about the way that abuse can shape who someone is and the far-reaching effects of it years later.
The Liar's Daughter is a gripping read. I managed to get through it in one day, not because it was short, but just because once I started I couldn't put it down. I'm becoming a big fan of Claire Allan's books and this one certainly measures up to the previous ones that I've read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

After getting an ARC of this book I thought the name of the author sounded familiar. Turns out I have bought two of her books in recent months but just not gotten around to reading them yet. Now that I have read The Liar's Daughter and enjoyed it thoroughly I will move those other two books up on my to read list.

This was another psychological thriller, but with a heavier subject of abuse, more specifically child abuse. It is scary how kids are affected and damaged long after the act of abuse is no longer taking place. It's even worse when it comes from someone who is supposed to be taking care of them, a dad or father figure. The twisted way the victim's mind can work, swinging between thinking they deserved it and maybe this is the only way of showing love.

This story is about Joe who is dying and whose daughter and step daughter don't seem to care, or rather can't wait to see him go, yet are pulled to him and cannot stay away when he asks them to visit and care for him his last months. Joe ends up dead, but was it a natural death or was one of the family members present in the house on that day responsible in some way. Was it murder or a mercy killing and who did it and why?

Over all was a good read. Twisty and family drama included. Wasn't I can't put down but kept me interested enough to see who and why.
Thanks to the publisher and net galley for an early release of this book.

Wow ! A powerfully written , emotional book that is much more than your average thriller. Told from the viewpoint of the main characters , switching from present to past, it is compelling reading. I got very involved with the characters and couldn’t put the book down. At times it made for uncomfortable reading due to the past events but I had to know what happened. Highly recommended.

#TheLiar'sDaughter #NetGalley
The most claustrophobic, tense and dark psychological thriller of 2020.
Joe McKee, pillar of Derry community is suffering from terminal cancer. The doctors give up on him and tell that he has some days or months have to live. His step daughter calls everyone when he asked her to do the same and one by one everyone came there. His daughter, Clara with her mother Marie to whom he left for another woman named Natalie, Heidi's mother. His sister, Kathleen.
One morning he found dead in his bed. On the day of his funeral, police arrived and told that his death was not natural.
Its a clever whodunit. All the characters are creepy and compelling. Claire Allan has proved it again that she's the queen of psychological thrillers. It was her masterpiece so far.
Thanks to AvonBooksUK and Netgalley for providing me an advance copy of this awesome psychological thriller.

I've read all the crime thrillers released by this author so far and have thoroughly enjoyed them. With each new book, I say it is the best, but honestly, The Liar's Daughter has now taken its place at the top of the list. It's a masterpiece that I will be recommending to everyone.

The Liar's Daughter is a dark read that had me feeling so many different emotions from start to finish. Anger, disgust, terror, pity, and all the uncomfortable emotions that come with reading dark fiction. It also made me cry towards the end as everything came out in the open.

The writing is, as always, superb, and the characters are so well done. Heidi was brilliantly written and the research and compassion it took to write such a real-life character really stood out. Ciara is another amazingly well written character that I wanted to smack at times. Her nastiness felt so real.

Even the side characters, and Joe himself, made everything come alive on the pages and I found myself sucked into the storyline. Questions circulated in my brain as I tried, unsuccessfully might I add, to figure out who the killer was. I thought I had it, but then Ms Allan twisted things to an extreme I hadn't even thought of. Brilliant execution of the story that in the end made perfect sense.

On a whole, I applaud Ms Allan for taking such sensitive topics and presenting them in a compassionate way. Such topics are not easy to deal with and yet rather than presenting the reader with blow by blow accounts, she takes the reader on an emotional journey through the minds of the characters, showing rather than telling, and allowing the reader to truly feel the horror that is exposed. The mind frames of the characters, Heidi and Ciara, are realistic and this is what makes this book such a great read. It's true to life and as a reader, I connected fully with all the cast.

The Liar's Daughter is another 5 star read from Claire Allan and one that kept me up way past my bedtime as I had to know who the culprit was. It's a page-turner that tackles a dark and delicate subject matter, but does so with compassion, empathy, and an emotional understanding that only a talented writer can master. Ms Allan has proven, once again, that she has the talent and skill to tackle every subject matter and with The Liar's Daughter, she takes the reader to uncomfortable places, and back again, with the perfect emotional depth and conclusion. Fabulous read, and one I can't wait to add to my bookshelves.