Great story with a lot of curveballs. Just when I figured out something major, everything completely shifted and the whole story changed. Very intriguing story full of surprises. I really enjoyed it. Very suspenseful and engaging with a shocking ending.

The Blooms are a "blended" family. Both mom and dad brought in one child from a previous relationship, and they have one together... a little girl. Mother Karen seems to have given up on her older son and stays away from her stepdaughter, devoting all of her time to the youngest girl and scheduling her entire life. Poor Brontë never gets a chance to relax or be a child: It's all lessons, schoolwork, and practicing. Meals eaten on the road from one place to the next. The poor child is starting to burn out, but she's not the only one with problems...

This book deals with the dysfunctional family life of all the Blooms and DS Joanne, who is thrust in their lives when tragedy strikes them. Joanne is a great character, engaging and relatable even though she doesn't always make the best decisions.

I received an ARC of this novel from Net Galley and Grove Atlantic, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

One of life’s great taboos: comparing one’s current wife to one’s last.”

I really enjoyed Paula Daly’s novel The Mistake I Made (even if the ending was a bit over the top) for its wonderful voice, and so I turned to The Trophy Child for more of the same. The two novels are nothing alike, and The Trophy Child which features the return of DS Joanne Aspinall, leans more towards the police procedural rather than the female-in-peril category.

The Trophy Child is set in the Lake District and centres on the Bloom family. To outsiders, they seem to have it all: a beautiful home with father, MD Noel Bloom and attractive wife Karen, but scratch the surface and you find a very unhappy blended family. Verity, Noel’s 16-year-old daughter from his first marriage hates her stepmother but is forced to live with her as Noel’s first wife, who has MS, lives in a residential care home. Then there’s Ewan, a son from Karen’s relationship with a mystery man. Ewan lives above the garage and smokes marijuana to his stoned heart’s content. Finally, there’s poor Bronte, a sweet but not particularly bright ten-year-old, the trophy child of the title, who is pushed to the limit by her mother’s extreme parenting.


I can’t reveal much about the plot without tossing out spoilers right and left, so I’ll just say that something bad happens, and this rips off the lid of the supposedly happy home. Consequently, the twisted lives of the Blooms become a matter of public knowledge.

I liked the premise of The Trophy Child a lot, but something went wrong in its execution. Although I know people like Karen, I’d never even heard the term trophy child before reading the book, and author Paula Daly certainly nails this type of “extreme parenting.” It’s clear that Bronte’s life isn’t about Bronte; it’s about Karen–a woman who drives her poor daughter from harp lessons to piano lessons to tap dancing while avoiding basics like … cooking…

Karen liked to say she didn’t cook; she ‘arranged food’. And that’s what she was doing right now: sliding cold, roasted chicken thighs on to plates, along with a sad-looking salad, and some cheese and onion crisps.

Karen Bloom is clearly the arch-enemy here–neurotic, demanding, inflexible, she rules the Bloom family making life impossible for everyone, and no one dares cross or question her. And yet… while I can’t argue that Karen is really a revolting person, she is dealing with a pot-head son and a husband I found incredibly self-centered. Yes life at the Bloom house sucks, so while I can’t blame Noel for hitting the bottle, I found the behaviour of this weak man appalling. He likes to take off on Sundays by himself and go and find a nice quiet pub to drink in. This leaves HIS CHILDREN at the unadulterated mercy of Karen. I felt as though the plot set up Karen as this blight on the Bloom family when really she’s just part of it. That’s not to say that she’s not a frightening person: think Mommie Dearest on steroids, but that said, the plot went too lightly on others in the household who are not blameless, and this gave the plot a simplicity that didn’t do the novel any favours.

The novel has info padding on the subject of MS and also there’s hint of a lecture when it comes to “British parents […] sneakily adopting the Chinese model of parenting. “ The sections regarding DS Joanne Aspinall’s private life were excellent: her breast reduction, her life as a sad single, her ex-pat mother living in Spain. Capturing the inflammatory nuances of today’s world Daly shows the way in which big-mouth Karen escalates the situation using social media. Hint: if you’re involved in a scandal, keep off the internet!

Here’s Cleo’s review

Review copy

This is the first Paula Daly novel that I have read and I just loved it. The thing is it isn't a fast paced racy read but one that weaves itself into your mind and just simply builds into what I can only describe as one to be highly recommended to everyone.
These days it is not unusual to find mixed families and that is the case for this story. Three children Ewan being Karen's son from an earlier relationship, Verity is the daughter of GP Noel, her mum is in a care home having developed severe  MS and finally Bronte, who is the daughter of both Karen and Noel. Unfortunately they are far from the perfect family. Karen is very much the commander to be heard by everyone. The one to be obeyed and Noel is the down trodden husband that goes along with everything for a peaceful life.
Although Verity is a very bright young girl Karen is determined to mould Bronte into a little genius at everything possible. The dislike that Karen holds form Verity is quite heart breaking. Karen is ruthless in the pursuit for perfection for Bronte to the point where she cannot even feel her little fingers regularly from all the practising she does to become an accomplished musician besides an outstanding student that is academically untouchable.
When Bronte disappears while in the care of Verity it becomes a case for DS Joanne Aspinall whom I really took to straight away. She certainly gave me one of the best ever cringe worthy moments that I have read. One I could see coming and had to read with just one eye open, brilliant, and I am sure one that has happened for real at more than one time.
This story just kept growing with far more to it that I ever thought was going to happen. I really enjoyed the style of Paula Daly's writing, the different characters that grew at different rates, really like people you meet, some you sus straight away others you need time to work them out as there is far more to them than first thought. A very clever story one that gave me a lot to think about morally  in so many ways. Super read.

This is the latest release by British author Paula Daly and reunites readers with DS Joanne Aspinal and her aunt Jackie. I love those two. This is a complete standalone novel though and there is no need to have read any of the author's previous books, although I would recommend them.
The Trophy Child is little ten-year-old Bronte Bloom. She's her mother, Karen's, full-time project: after school lessons, music, dance, homework, achieving excellence....time to play and be a kid, not so much. The other two children in the Bloom household, 18-year-old Ewan, Karen's son from a previous relationship, and 15-year-old Verity, Karen's stepdaughter, are basically left to fend for themselves. As for the father? Noel is the local G.P. and prefers to spend his evenings in the pub, living blissfully in denial about the state of his dysfunctional, blended family. Until the day Bronte goes missing.
This isn't another one of those missing child thrillers, though. Bronte reappears and soon DS Joanne Aspinal and her new partner DS Oliver Black are investigating a different case in relation to Karen, the simply horrible and annoying mother, and Noel, the spineless father.
This was a solid domestic suspense thriller, which I enjoyed. I didn't think the plot was as strong as previous books I read by this author. Nevertheless, it was captivating and I enjoyed the dry humour. Besides, Paula Daly always manages to make me want to visit the Lake District. She certainly has a talent for creating characters that you love to hate. But I felt the relationships within this family were really only dealt with on quite a superficial level.
Recommended if you enjoy family-orientated drama.
I received an ARC via NetGalley.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

What an entertaining read. It is exceedingly well written with a tightly crafted plot
that kept me engaged for the entirety of the book. The characters were interesting and
well defined. A very unexpected twist at the conclusion. The book ended rather abruptedly
but really there wasn't more needed to resolve the story. 3.5 stars rounded to 4 because it
really is better than just 3.

I loved this book! It starts out with a tiger mother, then a disappearance and finally a murder. There are all kinds of twists and turns going on. I usually figure out who the killer is half way through the book or before, but not this time. I had no idea how this was going to end up. It kept me turning pages and guessing until the end.
It's so much fun to find a book that does that now and then. Bravo!!

Paula Daly returns following The Mistake I Made landing on my Top Books of 2015, with her fourth and latest domestic suspense THE TROPHY CHILD with an array of dysfunction and madness, mixed with mystery.

Our favorite DS Joanne Aspinall (from previous books), revisits—always finding herself in the middle of trouble and mischief.

Karen Bloom (achievement-obsessed) is a tiger mom to ten- year-old Bonte. Karen is married to womanizer Noel and does not pay much attention to her stoner son, Ewan, and her teenage stepdaughter, Verity (drug possession). She had to agree to weekly onsite drug tests and counseling sessions.

Of course, Karen compares the other two children, to her precious Bonte. Brontë goes missing, and Karen is, of course, crazy with worry, since her daughter is her life.

Karen did not care that people called her a tiger mom. She was proud of it “It was an easy way to justify their own lazy lives, their own acceptance of mediocrity.”

And Karen was very sorry, but she wasn’t having that for Bronte. It was her duty to prepare her daughter for the life ahead of her in the best way she knew how.

Life was a competition. Only the best and the brightest succeeded, and if that meant Karen had to put her own hopes and dreams on the back burner, while she invested everything she had in Bronte’s future, so be it.

In the meantime, we catch up with Joanne, joining secondchance.com and her share of bad men and dating. She is always good for a few laughs.

Joanne is called in to investigate when Bronte goes missing from Windermere. She soon learns and is shocked to find a connection to Noel. (Seamus-whom she had gone to bed with six nights previously). She had no idea he was married. She had sex with the father of a missing child. Not cool.

Noel is a small-town GP. He had to be careful so as not to run into his patients. There was his first wife, then Karen. Second marriage problems, and stepchildren.

The child returns unhurt, (where was she), but not before Karen has stirred up all sorts of problems and outrage. Then Karen turns up murdered. Not liked by many, did Noel kill his wife? Was she sleeping around? There is a long line of suspects.

Now Joanne must find the killer and figure out what happened to Bronte. Was the same person involved?

A crazy bunch, this was my least favorite of all Daly’s books. I have read all her books and each has been 5-star, except for this one. Too much drama and not enough likable characters, except for Joanne (she is always a spark); however, beginning to question even her choices.

Fans of Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies may enjoy the dysfunction, drama and dark humor.

A special thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

JDCMustReadBooks

An exceptional page turner, with a masterful way of luring you into the heart of the book with great desperation of finding out “who dunnit “with a twist and a pleasant ending. Intriguing tale of how Karen Bloom perceives what is monumental prerequisites in bringing up her daughter Brontë without understanding her needs and likes. As the saying “Mother’s knows best” springs to mind instantly.
An obscure ending with a twist which is so well ingrained.
A MUST read for all fans of thriller and crime!!!

We all know mothers like Karen Bloom - those beautifully turned out women whose sole mission in life seems to be to ensure their children rise to the very top of the heap, filling their days, nights and weekends with so many activities that it's surprising that they have any time to be children at all. We are in equal measure horrified and yet strangely impressed that these children will have learned skills that our own children can only dream of. Ah, but what of the hidden cost of all of this parental ambition?

Karen Bloom - married to Noel, a GP, and the mother of Ewan and Bronte, and step-mother of Verity. So much going on with the family dynamics in this book, it is a fascinating study of personalities and the impact that Karen's mothering style has on all of them.

Enter Joanne Aspinall, a dedicated police officer whose life becomes entwined with the Blooms. What a journey she goes on with them, so many twists and turns, and not predictable in the least.

This book is beautifully crafted, the characters are complex and fully formed and it was a pleasure to read.

A highly recommended read from me.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Karen Bloom is an overbearing pushy mother who strives for perfection from her young daughter. She has a son who is wasting his life and a step daughter who hates her and a marriage that is slightly troubled.

Her daughter goes missing and then the worst happens. This is the first book I have read by Paula and I throughly enjoyed it. It was well written and gripped me very quickly.

Paula Daly is an author you can count on for quietly building suspenseful mysteries. At the denouement, I realized that I should have picked up on the threads of this story sooner, but I was so excited by how much sense it finally made that I couldn't kick myself too hard. Karen is going to be a familiar character to anyone who knows more than a few mothers, and everyone's distaste for her behavior will radiate recognizably as well. For a variety of spoilery reasons, I wasn't super comfortable with Noel, and I'll be interested to see if he reappears in any future books of Daly's. For fans of Paula Daly's previous books, this is definitely one of her best. This will be a good recommendation for those who enjoy domestic suspense and mysteries.

Somewhat of a misleading title as the book seems to focus more on the aggressive mother who pushes her youngest child, Bronte (first hint, right?) to be the prodigy that she isn’t. The story is told mainly from the point of view of the oldest daughter Verity, the stepdaughter, who has escaped the push of her stepmother, Karen, but watches as her family deteriorates. Her younger sister is starting to have uncontrollable hand shaking, a problem when you are learning violin and piano, her older brother lives above the garage and spends most of his time stoned, and her father spends less and less time at home. Verity herself is struggling to control her emotions. Wherever you think the story is going to go, it isn’t. And when it gets to where you didn’t think it was going, it doesn’t stop there. Ms. Daly does a great job of providing the reader a wonderful story to enjoy while she sets her readers up for some amazing twists!

I loved this book! Karen is a horrible mother and step-mother. It's no wonder each child is so screwed up. She thinks the term tiger mother is a compliment. Her husband Noel calls her “achievement-obsessed”. And when her father shows up on the scene you see exactly why she turned out the way she did because he's a real piece of work as well.

I love Joanne, the DS in this novel. Now here's a woman you can relate to. She attempts online dating after her relationship with a colleague ended, with disastrous results . The consummate professional, able to handle even Karen. And how many main characters have gone through a breast reduction?

I've not read this author but love her style. She manages to paint each character so you get a complete sense of who they are. And the plot zips along at a good pace.

I don't want to say too much about the story line but there are some wonderful twists. I did not see this ending coming at all.

This is not your typical mystery. There was some real substance to this book, especially when it comes to the different ideas of parenting styles. There's also a bit of dry humor here. Or is that me reading into it?

My thanks to netgalley and Grove Press for an advance copy of this book. Highly recommend!

A psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the end! I wish I could have read this in one go as it was very suspenseful with relatable characters. Highly recommended.

Beautifully written book by the amazing Paula Daly. I received this book in lieu of a honest review from NetGalley. Read it! Highly recommend.

I enjoyed reading The Trophy Child. This was the first book I've read by Paula Daly however I did find it slightly slow going in places. Yes the book did contain deception and murder but I didn't find it as suspenseful as it was made out to be and I found it slightly disappointing.

Paula Daly is one of my favourite authors and I was so excited to have the chance to read her latest book for review. The action takes place in her favourite setting of the Lake District and in this novel we meet the Blooms, a merged family. At the head of the family is Noel, a charming GP, who brought his daughter Verity into his new family when her mother Jennifer became ill and was unable to care for her any more. She joined Noel’s second wife Karen and her teenage son Ewan, a similar age to Verity but a hopeless and hapless boy in whom she is severely disappointed. Owen and Karen have one ten-year-old daughter Bronte, who her mother believes is truly gifted and talented. Karen is a ‘Tiger Mother’, pushy to the point of being rude and obnoxious. There are no sleepovers or play dates for Bronte. Her mother ferries her between tutors and music teachers after her expensive daily schooling, glowing in her perceived talent. They eat their meals on the hoof, often in the car between ‘lessons’. Noel may be head of the family but there is no doubt that Karen calls the shots.
Verity and Bronte take a walk to the local recreation ground and Verity uses the opportunity to pay her mother a quick visit in the close by care facility. She has something special for her mother; something she knows will please her. They chat together, enjoying their intimacy. She doesn’t worry about leaving Bronte with her friends, but when she returns Bronte is nowhere to be found and despite exhaustive searches she returns home to deliver the news to her family. Bronte is gone. Karen is beside herself with anger and worry and calls in the police and insists the investigation for her begins.
Like a roller coaster, this is only the start of the action, which escalates as Karen initiates a frantic search for her beloved daughter; her dreams shattered she is desperate for news of Bronte, for her to return to her dysfunctional family. She blames Verity; she cannot accept any action taken by the police, nothing is good enough or thorough enough. Her parents descend upon the gloomy and shocked family, throwing accusations further afield. It’s a hotch potch of fury and hatred. In the midst of all this DS Joanne Aspinall makes a welcome reappearance with her new sidekick, determined to solve the mystery of the missing daughter. One thing leads to another and soon Joanne Aspinall has a baffling unsolved murder on her hands.
There are so many twists and turns, so many red herrings, false leads and unexplained behaviours. I felt convinced I knew who had committed the crime, only to discover how wrong I was. I hated Karen with her superior attitude, her coldness and lack of parental warmth and love. I didn’t really like Noel that much either. He was selfish, willingly an absent father, not at all proactive, he’d do anything to avoid or challenge his wife. Their relationship oozed indifference; there was no warmth. I liked Verity, though. She was remarkably mature and undamaged considering her sad life with a hateful step-mother and a remote father. Most of all I felt very sad for Karen’s son Ewan. His life was joyless, his existence drug fuelled and unfulfilled. I couldn’t believe his parents were so uncaring and didn’t recognise his pain and despondency. He surely needed help and encouragement. This was a good read, an assured psychological thriller with excellent and exciting storytelling. I would like to thank NetGalley and publisher Transworld Digital for my copy of ‘The Trophy Child’, sent to me in return for an honest review. I would happily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys novels from this genre.

Bronte is just ten years old but she has a punishing schedule of piano classes, harp lessons and because her mother Karen Bloom is worried about the way she reads aloud, she also needs to fit in some drama classes to help that out. Of course she also has extra homework to ensure that she excels in every subject, but things in the Bloom household hide more than the obvious maternal pushing of Karen.
Noel Bloom is a doctor who seems to also be keen on alcohol, or maybe this is a mask for avoiding his home life aka known as Karen. Noel had left his first wife Jennifer when Karen became pregnant with Bronte. Jennifer now lives in a nursing home due to her MS which means that Noel’s first daughter Verity, now a feisty teenager lives with him too. Oh and there is Karen’s son from a previous relationship, a relationship she doesn’t want to discuss. Ewan now in his late teens is something of a disappointment to Karen and she is determined that Bronte will be far more successful.
So far so good, we have all met a Karen, a woman who imagines that the other mothers are lazy and misguided, a woman the is focussed on getting the best for her daughter no matter the cost. Then something happens which turns everything on its head and life for the Bloom family will never be the same again!
Paula Daly is at her best when she is creating characters we love to hate. She has made Karen a figure that can’t be pitied, so what emotions are left? She is also far better than many writers at creating convincing characters of the children. Although for a good part of the book Ewan was only partially visible, he too comes into his own later on, with a convincing performance that works to round the stereotypical view painted by his mother of a no-hoper.
As the plot begins to unfold the cracks in the family really begin to show and with each member taking a stance, I wouldn’t want to have lived there as they circled and protected in equal measure. Because underneath the plotline this is a story about relationships too. Modern blended families provide a wealth of complex bonds, that between Verity and Bronte being my favourite of the entire book. Two sisters who have had very different upbringings, have different aptitudes and different mothers are nonetheless siblings.
But best of all this book features the return of DS Joanne Aspinall, one of my favourite characters who first appeared in Just What Kind of Mother Are You? And she has a much larger part to play this time. She is running an investigation that involves the entire Bloom family, and she will get her answers. She also provides much of the witticisms that appear in The Trophy Child which despite the seriousness of the subject, gives the book a real jaunty feeling at times.
All in all a totally compelling read which had me engrossed, madly guessing the outcome from the very first page, all whilst giving me the impression that I was part of the investigation, if only I could sort out those red herrings from the clues that gave the answers. How did I do? Pretty badly, as usual although I had one strand cracked early on, Paula Daly was just far too wily for this amateur detective.
I would like to thank the publishers Grove Atlantic for giving me a copy of The Trophy Child. This review is my thank you to them and the incredibly talented Paula Daly.

Karen Bloom is not the coddling mother type. She believes in raising her children for success. Some in the neighborhood call her assertive, others say she’s driven, but in gossiping circles she’s known as: the tiger mother. Karen believes that tough discipline is the true art of parenting and that achievement leads to ultimate happiness. She expects her husband and her children to perform at 200 percent—no matter the cost. But in an unending quest for excellence, her seemingly flawless family start to rebel against her.

Her husband Noel is a handsome doctor with a proclivity for alcohol and women. Their prodigy daughter, Bronte, is excelling at school, music lessons, dance classes, and yet she longs to run away. Verity, Noel’s teenage daughter from his first marriage, is starting to display aggressive behavior. And Karen’s son from a previous relationship falls deeper into drug use. When tragedy strikes the Blooms, Karen’s carefully constructed facade begins to fall apart—and once the deadly cracks appear, they are impossible to stop.

My Thoughts: In The Trophy Child, the Bloom family enjoyed a privileged life, with private schools, social connections, and a lovely home in the Lake District. Despite the world of privilege, Karen seemed driven. She was a character almost impossible to like. She wasn’t just questing for excellence for her children and her family. She lashed out on a regular basis, arousing fear, loathing, and anger in those she targeted. Sooner or later, someone would surely strike back.One could almost describe Karen as delusional, as she so firmly believed that her daughter Bronte was gifted, despite evidence to the contrary, and insisted on scheduling every imaginable activity, to her detriment. The child reacted with fatigue and displayed symptoms of stress.

Who would crack first under Karen’s tyrannical regime? What might bring about the toppling of the little kingdom of superiority she has envisioned? How will the family members express their resentments of the roles they are expected to play? Verity, the teenage stepdaughter, is literally overlooked to the point that she has to prepare her own meals and eats separately, while Karen is gallivanting around with Bronte to her activities. Karen’s son, a young adult, lives over the garage and does drugs and lays about with an equally troubled friend.

I was totally engaged in the author’s depiction of the characters, each of them realistic and three-dimensional, with all the emotions one would expect in a family as dysfunctional as this one. I especially enjoyed the character of DS Joanne Aspinall, on hand to help the family with their tragedies. She is diligent, down-to-earth…and she will get the perpetrator, even if she must put her own life in jeopardy. Discovering motives, connections, and the gradual unfolding of secrets led to a very satisfactory culmination. 5 stars.

***My e-ARC came to me from the publisher via NetGalley.