The Family Plot

A Novel

By: Megan Collins

Narrated by: Emily Tremaine

Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

A Highly Anticipated, Best Book of August Selected By * Popsugar * E! News * Lifesavvy * Crimereads * And More!

“Exceedingly entertaining.” (The New York Times)

“Umbrella Academy meets Tana French. Dark, claustrophobic, and beautifully written.” (Andrea Bartz, author of We Were Never Here)

From the author of The Winter Sister and Behind the Red Door, a family obsessed with true crime gathers to bury their patriarch—only to find another body already in his grave.

At 26, 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 16.

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.

©2021 Megan Collins Hatfield. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

did he REALLY suffer enough though?

first of all, can a cult be just one family? because if so I think the lighthouse family rises to the level of culthood. very weird upbringing, and it would suck to actually be brought up this way in the real world. plenty are interested in true crime but it was a little much. their true crime obsession didn't really serve much of a purpose in the story in my opinion other than to just be an aspect of who they are as a family.

i liked the book but was a little disappointed in the ending. I don't feel like enough accountability was taken in the end for Andy's death. I ultimately appreciated the family's choice to salvage what was left but where is the justice? it definitely makes me wonder if I would need justice or be content with knowing the truth and letting God of karma handle it. sidenote: assisted suicide is illegal for a reason.

A great read!

I really enjoyed this book! Great plot, lots of twists and turns, and there we even a few moments that had me biting my nails in suspense. My only complaint is that the ending seemed a little abrupt, and tied up a little too neatly. But overall, I really liked this book!

Fabulous.

This is a real page turner. Just when you think you know, the ground shifts.
Well developed characters.
Interesting plot.
Conflicting ending.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.

straight road

the story is good, but I saw almost every "twist" coming. well detailed, but nothing shocking

very intense. keeps you turning the pages..

good good good. you will keep turning tje pages to the end of the book.

Strange and Predictable

This book started off slowly but keep my attention to the end. I was not shocked by the ending as I predicted whom the killer(s) could be.

Seriously boring

I wanted to like this book but I found my brain wandering off to other things every time I tried to listen to it. I made it through half and called it quits.

Thumbs up

Liked it but not sure about the ending...

Surely have never read anything like it!

Kept me guessing

This twisty, creepy story kept me guessing - looking forward to reading more from this author!

This was just Okay

This book was just ok. It was very hard to believe the relationship between the family members. But they did have me on hook the entire time to find out whodunnit. The narrator was good and I think that helped me keep with the story as well.