Oh my my!!!! I have just finished reading the final page of The Family Plot. Wowza what a story it was! I was super excited to be given an early opportunity to read this. As a true crime fan and book lover of thrillers and mysteries this was right up my alley. This family has had a lot going on in their lives. From an unconventional upbringing to the recent passing of their father and all that was in between. It’s at the later moment as the Dahlia, Charlie, and Tate return to their home that secret after secret begins to be revealed and unraveled. And just when you think that all has been revealed another secret or two is still to come. This was a very fast-paced read, full of creepy and dark moments. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC! Mark your calendars for August 17th, 2021 and be sure to get yourself a copy!

Meh..."The Family Plot" wasn't nearly as good as I thought or hoped it would be based on all the hype. For me, it was only a mediocre book.

This story is all about a bizarre family from a secluded island who were raised by a mother obsessed with true crime. She homeschooled her kids and a large part of their curriculum was comprehensive studies on murder.

Needless to say the family is dysfunctional.

The adult children return home after their father’s death.
The family plot is being prepared for the father’s burial, but upon opening it, they find the long lost brother buried inside 👀
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I really like this author’s writing style, but all of her books evoke a very distinct somber, morose vibe.

I enjoyed the idiosyncratic dynamics of this family. The characterizations are unique, intriguing and imaginative. Granted, there were some parts that were a bit outlandish, but it’s fiction and it made the story more entertaining. Books don’t have to be perfectly realistic for me.

I did have this one figured out very early on and I wish it had been a little more difficult to unravel- that is what makes it a 4 star for me. But the characters, overall creativity and peculiarity made it enjoyable and I would recommend it!

Dahlia Lighthouse was raised on true crime. Her mother's obsession with her parents murders caused her to raise her family in a big mansion on a secluded island, homeschooling Dahlia and her siblings on a curriculum of famous murders. The kids are all even named for famous murder victims. As they gather for their father's funeral, Dahlia and her siblings discover a real-life murder in their own family when the body of her twin brother is discovered in their father's grave. It's an eerie, twisty mystery that unearths an island serial killer as well as a whole plot of family secrets. The best compliment I can give this book is that reading it feels like climbing inside an episode of My Favorite Murder. If that's ever been your fantasy, this is your book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel to read and review!

I read this entire novel in one sitting. It had everything: true crime obsession, a gothic old mansion on a windswept island, mysterious disappearances, possible serial killers, creepy twins, and a hefty dose of macabre humor. I also got a "book hangover" after finishing this one and i thought about it for quite a while afterward!

i took off one star for the very end as i found it lackluster and a bit "meh" after the insanity of the rest of the book, but that's really not a knock on the book itself; I am hard to please as a rule when it comes to endings, and I really can't imagine what conclusion I WOULD have found satisfying. Definitely recommended!

A family obsessed with crime is brought back together when their father dies. With his death come terrible secrets and new discoveries. Thank you to Atria Books and Megan Collins for my ARC of The Family Plot that comes out August 17, 2021.

This book was about Dahlia and her murder obsessed family. Dahlia and her siblings were raised on a secluded island by crime obsessed parents. Her, her sister Tate, and brothers Charlie and Andy were all named after famous murder victims, and their childhood was all about honoring the dead. When her father dies, the family is brought back to the island, only to discover Andy murdered in the plot reserved for her father.

Thoughts: I loved all the creepy references and undertones in this book. The premise was intriguing and loved all of the psychological aspects of this book. The book started off by capturing my attention and the unique premise made me immediately intrigued. There were lots of potential things that could have happened, so I was a bit disappointed when the answer was so obvious and uncomplicated. There was a little too much unnecessary dialogue and I think the book could have been more concise.

The book is well written but focused on the murder much more than the victims. The characters were really messed up, and I found it hard to really root for any of them. The ending was neat and tidy, and I would have preferred something more complex, but it was still a great read. I am definitely a fan of Megan Collins and can’t wait to see what she thinks of next. 3.5- stars for me.

Another fantastic book my Megan Collins and I loved the originality of this crime drama. With so many murderinos among us, this was an interesting look at a crime obsessed family with a twist. A great read.

When Dahlia’s father dies, it brings her home for the first time since she left. She is hoping her twin brother will arrive as well, as she hasn’t seem him since he ran away. Living in the “murder mansion” was not easy on them as children.

I enjoyed the first half of the book. It was very engaging. While I took place in contemporary times, it still had a gothic feel to me. The obsession murders was interesting and I loved how the author weaved in real true crime stories. Once I started to figure out what was going on with the mystery, I lost interest in the plot. The more I read, the more exaggerated it became. If you don’t mind over the top reveals, then you may continue to enjoy the book but my interest waned.

“It’s a terrible thing, forgetting someone is dead.”

The Family Plot comes out 8/17.

I am not sure how I feel about this book. It was just the middle of the road for me. At times I was hoping for more.

I'm a bit on the fencer over this one. It was a pretty good book, but also not as good as I was hoping.

Y’all I love Megan Collins’ novels!! And let me tell ya... this one did not disappoint. All of her characters are so intriguing and make you never want to stop reading. The storyline was fantastic and creepy all at the same time!! A must read.

This was a fantastic novel! I assumed it would be a thriller based on the title/cover, but while there is a murder mystery at the center of the plot, Collins instead writes a poignant book about relationships, secrets, dashed hopes and dreams and loss, with unsolved murders as the umbrella hanging over everything. I read this book in a day, both because I felt so invested in the characters and because I wanted to know "who did it!" Will definitely recommend!

This was a well-written book. Lots of character building and plot development. Good descriptive technique, no grammatical errors or spelling issues. A clean read, I'd even let my 10-year-old read it.

That being said, PREDICTABLE. I knew 85% of the ending before page 60. The last few twists were unseen, but not overly surprising.

Overall, enjoyable, but not something I'd recommend as a real mystery. Thank you to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster and Megan Collins for allowing me to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Trigger Warnings: Murder, Serial Killer, Family Trauma

I have really enjoyed this authors work, but I think this is by far my favorite! So absolutely creepy, with an intense atmospheric writing strategy, which had me hooked and flipping pages like mad! Deliciously dark, unputdownable, and oozing with tension! I cannot wait for more by this author, as I do think she’s came a long way in these 3 books and will continue to blow people away! Highly recommend!

Will boss around and use low Amazon reviewer number on release date!

I'm still on the fence about this one. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't the best either. The entire family annoyed me to no end lol. I feel if you were taking ld your grandparents were brutality murdered you would of researched it at some point knowing your whole family was always learning about murder. Also that's just extremely messed up way to raise children. Two of them are being used to help the father then having to keep studying/learning about other murders. Just overall a very odd thriller in my opinion. Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this.

I wasn’t as invested in this one as I thought I would be, but overall a very good story. Megan Collins reunites a family under the worst circumstances - death. But this is nothing new to the Lighthouses as they were raised by their murderino mother and father on an island that was haunted by a serial killer for years. I thought I had this plot figured out 10 different times before the story ended, which kept the pages turning and me reading!

Check this one out August 17th!!

Thank you Netgalley & Simon and Schuster for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Raised in seclusion by their eccentric true-crime obsessed parents Dahlia and her twin brother Andy, the youngest of the Lighthouse children, vow to leave home together at the age of sixteen. On their sixteenth birthday Andy disappears, leaving Dahlia confused and unable to move on with her life. Ten years later Dahlia's father dies and she returns home for the funeral. When the caretaker digs up the family plot they discover what appears to be Andy's remains, his skull split open with an ax. Now Dahlia will stop at nothing to uncover the truth behind Andy's death...even if it means revealing her families darkest secrets.

The Family Plot is a dark and twisty domestic thriller in which a young woman, traumatized by her childhood, returns home for a funeral only to be thrown into a murder mystery. The Lighthouse's are an odd family who appear to be obsessed with true-crime even going so far as to name the children after murder victims. The island where they live was also the hunting grounds for a notorious serial killer who terrorized the residents for decades. Many of the residents still believe that the family was somehow involved in the killings. Dahlia returns to bury her father but instead discovers her twin brother was murdered ten years prior. She devotes her energy to uncovering his killer, playing amateur sleuth, to solve the crime. The plot of this novel really intrigued me with its unsettling characters and their unusual connection to both killers and their victims. Sadly the characters; although cringeworthily; didn't really captivate me as much as I had hoped leaving me feeling indifferent towards their outcomes. Overall this was still a very enjoyable weekend read-quick and easy with a twisty whodunit that keeps the reader guessing.

I found this super intriguing but not necessarily well written. I can’t wait to see more from this author.

I read an advanced digital copy of this novel courtesy on the publisher through NetGalley. Review available on goodreads.

Oh my goodness but this was a wild weird creepy twisty and thoroughly enjoyable ride... Collins has done a fantastic job at creating the ultimate Dysfunctional Family, throwing them into a hot mess of a past, present, and future full of missing people, death, and (self-)destruction - and then parsing out information, red herrings, and revelations with just the right blend of tension and verve to keep a reader engaged from start to finish in trying to muddle it all out... I loved it and will definitely read her again!