The Family Plot. A mini review.

The Family Plot

By Megan Collins

Rating: 4/5 Stairs

Which starts like this:

My parents named me Dahlia, after the Black Dahlia- that actress whose body was cleaved in half, left in grass as sharp as scalpels, a permanent smile sliced onto her face – and when I first learned her story at four years old, I assumed a knife would one day carve me up. My namesake was part of me, my future doomed by her violent death. That meant my oldest brother, Charlie, who had escaped the Lindbergh baby’s fate by living past age two, would still be abducted someday. My sister, Tate, would follow in her own namesake’s footsteps, become a movie star, then become a body in a pool of blood. And my twin brother, Andy, named for Lizzie Borden’s father – I was sure his head was destined for the ax.
The Family Plot

I went into The Family Plot not knowing much about it – I didn’t read the back cover blurb, and I’m glad I didn’t. It doesn’t give too much away, but I liked going into this one totally blind. Here’s what you need to know going in – Dahlia is the youngest of four kids who grew up in isolation on Blackburn Island in a family obsessed with true crime. Her twin brother ran away a decade ago, and she’s been searching for him since. The book starts when she returns home after the death of her father.

If you like true crime (the dedication: “For the murderinos”), psychological thrillers, and family drama – this book is for you. I loved all the twists and turns as Dahlia navigates her brother’s disappearance and tries to find out what really happened to him all those years ago. There are a few different fictional mysteries going on, and plenty of real true-crime references sprinkled in throughout the book. This is a fun page-turner that is perfect for fall reading.

Enjoy this book and ssdgm, my fellow murderinos.