#BookReview ~ The Family Plot: A Novel by Megan Collins

Publishers Blurb

From the author of The Winter Sister and Behind the Red Door, this “masterpiece of gothic suspense and horror, filled with dark family secrets and stunning twists” (Michele Campbell, author of It’s Always the Husband) follows a family obsessed with true crime as they gather to bury their patriarch—only to find another body already in his grave.

At twenty-six, Dahlia Lighthouse is haunted by her upbringing. Raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she is unable to move beyond the disappearance of her twin brother, Andy, when they were sixteen.

After several years away and following her father’s death, Dahlia returns to the house, where the family makes a gruesome discovery: buried in their father’s plot is another body—Andy’s, his skull split open with an ax.

Dahlia is quick to blame Andy’s murder on the serial killer who terrorized the island for decades, while the rest of her family reacts to the revelation in unsettling ways. Her brother, Charlie, pours his energy into creating a family memorial museum, highlighting their research into the lives of famous murder victims; her sister, Tate, forges ahead with her popular dioramas portraying crime scenes; and their mother affects a cheerfully domestic facade, becoming unrecognizable as the woman who performed murder reenactments for her children. As Dahlia grapples with her own grief and horror, she realizes that her eccentric family, and the mansion itself, may hold the answers to what happened to her twin.

Details

• Rating: ☆☆☆.5
• Title: The Family Plot
• Author: Megan Collins
• Genre:  Mystery
• Length: 320 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Release Date: August 17, 2021

I would describe The Family Plot as a dysfunctional family, whodunit. To prove that point, we have parents who are so obsessed with true crimes that each child is named after the victim of a famous serial killer.

When Dahlia returns home for her father’s burial, she is immediately faced with a reminder of her very unsettling childhood. A childhood where they were homeschooled and isolated. Where they recreated murders as their way of honoring victims of the past. All of which are memories that Dahlia has tried to escape by leaving the island.

Discovering the identity of a body that was already buried in Dahlia’s father’s grave did catch my interest. However, it takes a little bit to get there. The first of the book has Dahlia reminiscing about her early family life, which is necessary, but felt long and didn’t pull me into the story.

It did pick up as Dahlia became more and more determined to search for clues and secrets regarding the bones in her father’s burial site, and a serial killer.

The story was totally unique, but kept dragging down and not propelling forward in places. Also, it was pretty predictable and required the suspension of disbelief if it was to be enjoyed.

While this book didn’t really wow me, there were some things about it that I liked. I liked the setting, though I’m not sure it was taken advantage of like it could have been. Also, as the layers of personalities were uncovered it held my interest.

I’d say if it lost 25-50 pages I would have rated it much higher.

If you’re on the fence, I’d say pick this book up and give it a try.

My thanks to #NetGalley for the ability to read this ARC and to post my thoughts.

About the Author

Megan Collins

Megan Collins is the author of Behind the Red Door and The Winter Sister. She has taught creative writing for many years at both the high school and college level and is the managing editor of 3Elements Literary Review. She lives in Connecticut.