Daughter of Mine is Megan Miranda's new novel.

Hazel Sharp hasn't been back to Mirror Lake for almost a decade. There are just too many memories there - especially the disappearance of her mother. Why didn't she take Hazel with her? It's the death of her father that brings her back to the family home in Mirror Lake. Old disagreements and resentments rear there ugly heads as Hazel and her two brothers argue over the will. And other secrets are exposed as the water level in the lake drops...My answer for whodunit changed frequently.

Daughter of Mine is a bit of a slow burn in the beginning as the scene is set, the characters introduced and the crux of the matter is exposed. Family matters, old hurts, actions, secrets, and more keep the narrative moving forward. I thought Miranda did a great job of drawing the relationships between all the players. The headers of each chapter lists the days without rain - and the level of the lake keeps dropping.

I chose to listen to Daughter of Mine. The narrator was Inés del Castillo. I've enjoyed other books she's read. Her voice matched the mental image I had created for Hazel. She provides many other voices, including men's, that are believable. The speed is good. She enunciates well and her voice is pleasant to listen to. She interprets Miranda's work and uses her voice to capture the emotions and action of the book. A good performance. ( )

Ohhhh..this is a good one!!

Hazel’s father died, and in addition to the shock of his death was the shock that he left the family home ONLY to her and not her brothers. That caused a good deal of bad feelings.

While she was home for the funeral more shocking things happened.

One of these things had to do with their mother who had taken every penny out of her husband's bank accounts, any jewelry in the house, and anything else of value and just left without notice or any trace of her when Hazel was sixteen.

Things seemed to have gone the wrong way after their mother left and since the years that Hazel had left Mirror Lake.

Or had things always been going the wrong way for Hazel in this small town and with her family and she hadn't realized it?

How could Hazel have missed all that had been going on while she was growing up and especially for the past few years?

What else could happen?

What else would be revealed?

Who really knew what happened and knows what is happening now?

Find out in this tense family drama that reveals secrets and more missing characters.

Ms. Miranda certainly knows how to weave a storyline that keeps you turning the pages with a surprising, reveal-all ending.

You won’t be able to put DAUGHTER OF MINE down. 5/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own ( )

Suspenseful with unexpected turns and twists.

This book was full of secrets hidden for years that were beginning to come to light. Every time I believed that what Hazel was discovering might point to a suspect, I found myself lost again in the pages that followed. The plot focusing on the Holt family was very engaging and intriguing.

Perry Holt, a father and respected detective, dies. His death brings his daughter back to town after many years of absence. To the family's surprise, it is Hazel who inherits the family home. And she wasn't even his daughter. Why did he leave this house to her and not to his sons? The climax begins when a second car is found in the water behind the Holt’s family home. It belonged to Hazel's mother, who left Hazel behind with the Holt family.

This book surprised me. I was intrigued with the plot, and constant suspicions, drama and secrets. The pacing was perfect, and it was hard to put this book down. ( )

Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda follows a daughter returning to her dysfunctional family after the death of her father. It is an exceptional, very highly recommended psychological family drama/murder mystery. Daughter of Mine is another excellent, un-put-downable thriller by Megan Miranda.

After leaving a decade earlier, Hazel Sharp returns home to the small town of Mirror Lake, North Carolina, for her father, longtime police officer Detective Perry Holt's, memorial. As the family, her brothers, Caden and Gage and her Uncle Roy, hold the memorial, across the lake a car is being pulled out of the water. A long running drought has lowered the water level at the lake, leading to the discovery of a submerged car. The mystery of the car disturbs Hazel, as her mother disappeared years ago. Even so, after the memorial Hazel was planning to return to Charlotte where she has a building-renovation business, but then she learns she has inherited the house and her brothers have planned to go through it, so she quickly returns. That's when another vehicle is found submerged in the water behind the house.

The tension is high and suspicions are rampant in the atmospheric mystery Daughter of Mine, perhaps Miranda's best novel to date - which is saying a lot. There are several mysteries occurring in the plot. New mysteries include the disappearance of Caden's wife, Jamie, why Hazel inherited the house, and odd occurrences happening in the house. Old mysteries involve the disappearance of Hazel's mom, the two cars pulled from the lake and the clues people seem to be giving Hazel without actually saying anything. The small town, where people have been around for generations and know everything about you and your family plays a major role in the narrative. The ongoing drought is also a noteworthy part of the novel and each chapter opens with how many days it has been since it rained.

Hazel is a fully realized character and immediately a sympathetic one. You will know her mother left her with just a simple note and that Perry Holt cared for her like a father. The sibling rivalry between Hazel and Caden is evident and Gage, as the older brother, also has a preset role in the family dynamics. There are doubts and uncertainty about the strange things happening and Hazel is unsure who can be trusted to help her or give her honest answers.

The writing is extraordinary. The scenes are all perfectly described and place you firmly in the scene. The tension and family dynamics work together to create a heightened sense of caution and even alarm. Secrets abound and I had all sorts of guesses and suppositions about what was happening along the way, but my guesses weren't even close. The final denouement is phenomenal. Thanks to Simon Element for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2024/03/daughter-of-mine.html ( )

DAUGHTER OF MINE was a pleasant surprise for me. I hadn't read any of Meghan Miranda's previous books. If you haven't either, this is a good one to start with.

The daughter in DAUGHTER OF MINE is Hazel. She has two brothers. But when their father dies, he leaves his home to Hazel, alone. Why?

Turns out, her father wasn't really her father, and her brothers aren't really her brothers, which makes it even more confusing or, I should say, mysterious. And there are so many more mysteries going on in this book, so many twists and turns!

What was really going on with Hazel's father's first wife (before Hazel)? Could Hazel be mistaken about her mother (her father's second wife)?

Is there some significance to her father's to-do list stuck to the refrigerator? What is the meaning to Hazel's discoveries around the house?

Can Hazel trust anyone? Everyone is suspect in this excellent thriller. ( )