The Other Sister, by Jane Renshaw

A compelling book that I absolutely devoured, told in two different time periods.

Iris refuses to believe that her stepfather, Sam, took his own life. She starts to dig into what led him to the village where his wife and Iris’s Mum, Daisy, lived as a child. She soon realises that someone doesn’t want her to delve into the past and her life is in danger.

The three Packenham sisters had a dark and sinister childhood, which is documented in Daisy’s diary from 1985. She tells of how their dysfunctional family had to go to great lengths simply to survive. The younger siblings, Daisy and Violet often had to depend on teenage Rosemary to help them to get out of various situations.

As the past and present collide and Iris gets closer to the truth, the tension builds and then…. What a twist!

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Although this book isn't my favorite by Jane Renshaw, it established the fact that she can't really write a bad story.
She is definitely one of my favorite authors in the genre.
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Jumping into the book, the beginning wasn't really captivating. It lacked a smooth transition between present and past, and the characters felt detached from one another.
I think the author needed to better introduce Iris and the rest of the characters, so that we could get a better grasp of the connection between each character and the other.
Also, the prologue needed editing, it felt like reading fragments of different scenes, it was hard to envision what was happening.
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Moving forward towards the middle, the book got significantly better. I would go as far as saying I couldn't put it down. Exposing each secret and reading the multiple layers of each character made for fantastic reading experience.
I loved the pacing, the writing could've been a tad bit clearer, but I wasn't really bothered about it.
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Iris is a fantastic character to follow, she is a great narrator, and not a perfect sleuth, which I loved. She is smart, no denying this fact, but she isn't a seasoned detective, too.
Daisy, Violet and Rosemary were awesome characters to read about. Jane Renshaw is the master of writing mentally unstable characters.
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The ending was a bit frustrating in the very last part, the final "twist", or let's call it: addition, was totally unnecessary. It just took from the closure I already had with the final 10%.
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Overall, I immensely enjoyed it, and looking forward to the author's future work.
*I received an ARC of this book through netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

A twisty tale of sisters and dysfunction. Compelling, , heart pounding, and a little poignant. With a lot of red herrings thrown in. Jane Renshaw deserves a large audience with this one. Thank you Inkubator books and NetGallwy for my ARC

A twisty, turns page turner. If you like domestic thrillers then this one is for you. Dark secrets will be revealed throughout. It is a little bit of a slow start but stick with it and it is very good.

A really decent domestic thriller.
A reminder that there are secrets in every family.
I wasn't sure about this to start with but soon became engrossed and really on the edge of my seat.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.
Five stars for this twisty tale.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️! 4 well deserved stars! I thought this book started out overall very slow. Then I felt like maybe the title was giving too much away, but I couldn’t have predicted this ending. Well done, great book, definitely a must read. You’ll be on the edge of your seat working to make sense in this upcoming psychological thriller.

This was a really strong domestic thriller. It had all the twists and turns I could want along woth the shadowy undertone and constant questioning just what secrets were being hidden. It felt original and fresh and I was immediately drawn in from the start and flew through it. I loved the way the story is told from different povs/ mediums and that you can never be sure just who's telling the truth. It also finished off well with everything converging in a natural conclusion that didn't feel rushed or leave any major plot holes. This is the perfect by the pool rea d

Great domestic thriller surrounding a murder and a family of suspects. I quite enjoyed this mystery. It was fast-paced and full of suspense.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. It was a well written book. I hope to read more books by this author.

Iris cannot believe her stepfather is dead. Moreover, she truly refuses to believe he died of an accidental overdose. As she questions, her mother’s other sister comes into the picture. Could she have been involved?

A decent thriller. I think the first few chapters drew me in but then it wasn’t quite as captivating.

What a tightly planned and plotted book.
It was highly detailed and crucially readable.
I was engaged from the start.
Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read.

A fantastically written complex domestic thriller. The plot is intricate and engaging and the characters are beautifully developed. The story unfolds in a really engaging way that keeps you turning the pages. It's clever and fast-paced and there are twists galore - the ending was jawdropping. So so good. Highly recommend.

A really good book, I have read a few books from her and this one was no different a brilliant read I love her style of writing

Iris's stepfather, Sam, is found dead in a hotel, apparently caused by a drug overdose.
She is convinced that he was murdered, and sets out to find who murdered him - and why.

She has never met her Aunt Rosemary, but knows that her mother and Aunt Violet fell out with her when they were very young.

Iris must be on to something, she is forced off the road by a car, almost stabbed and then falls down the stairs aided by an unknown person.

A very dark and mysterious novel, told from Iris's POV and her mother's diary entries.
You can practically feel the sinister stalker watching Iris's every move.
A chilling book that reminds you that there are secrets in every family, and the keepers of those secrets will do anything to stop them being made public.

I recommend this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Deeper she probes, the more shocking the secrets she uncovers.

The book is so compelling, intriguing and mysterious. The author has created such an intriguing and mysterious characters. Iris is reeling up from death of her stepfather’s death caused by an accidental drug overdose. But his death has made her suspicious. Daisy and Sam has a good bond. Iris is trying to find out clues leading to his death but in the midst of that she finds out some shocking truths of Rosemary and dreadful things that happened at Abbey house. Her mom Daisy, Aunt Violet and Rosemary are harbouring sinister secrets.

The book scared me, it’s a psychological thriller with a shocking truth and sinister secrets. It’s like a tangled family mystery, suspicious death and secrets leading to all the answers and unsolved mysteries.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Inkubator Books and Jane Renshaw for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This author's writing style didn't work for me. I think the plot was there, but when I sit down and I read I want to be entertained. I want to feel passionate about the story from the first chapter and I want to relate to the characters but I didn't feel either. The writing style is overly complicated and drags the story unncessarily. If this exact plot had been written straightforwardly, mysterious yes, but with places and characters easy to imagine, it had potential to be so much better. I felt sleepy throughout.
Without dragging any further, this one's a no no for me.

The Other Sister is a gripping psychological thriller that had me gripped and on the edge of my seat from first page until the last. It was fantastic thriller full of family secrets which had me guessing until the very end.

Iris, wants to uncover truth about her stepfather's death and the mysterious Aunt Rosemary who she keeps hearing about but has never met. As Iris digs deeper into her family’s past dark secrets are shared which could mean Iris’s perfect family are not so perfect.

Excellent read with lots of twist and turns will definitely be recommending this to everyone.

I grabbed this one because of the cover, and I’m so glad I did! A fast-paced,, twisty thriller that I read in one night. Highly recommend if you enjoy domestic suspense.

From the outside Iris’s family seemed like any other, until you read Daisy’s ( Iris’s mom) diary. Daisy describes her childhood filled with daily events and things she probably didn’t want anyone else to know but she needed to get it down on paper so she would feel better. This might come to hurt her in the long run.
Sam, Iris’s stepfather died but she didn’t believe it to be from a heroin overdose, she would get to the bottom of it. Daisy had secrets she held, while telling Iris to stop investigating. There’s a history, lies and deceit waiting to be unfolded. Just when you think you have it all figured out, there’s a twist and mental health might even play a role!

Thanks to @netGalley for this ARC and @janerenshaw for another great novel