Did you read Daisy Darker and have questions about the ending? Need a list of characters? Want to talk suspects and theories? Just need someone to discuss the book with? Come on over and join my Spoiler Discussion Post for Daisy Darker
Spoiler Discussion Post for Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
This post will contain:
Character List for Daisy Darker
Plot Summary for Daisy Darker
What Was The Ending of Daisy Darker?
Who Was the Killer in Daisy Darker?
Spoiler Discussion for Daisy Darker
Literary References and Easter Eggs in Daisy Darker
Character List for Daisy Darker
Daisy Darker – diagnosed with a heart condition as a child, Daisy is closest to her beloved Nana.
Nana Darker – owns Seaglass and is the author of Daisy Darker’s Little Secret, a successful children’s book.
Rose Darker – oldest sister and a veterinarian.
Lily Darker – the middle sister and mother of Trixie.
Frank Darker – Daisy’s father, a composer.
Nancy Darker – Daisy’s mother, divorced from Daisy’s father.
Trixie – Lily’s fifteen years old daughter. Always wears pink.
Conor– The guy Daisy has a crush on. But he’s not speaking to her.
Plot Summary for Daisy Darker
MAJOR spoilers ahead – my spoiler free review of Daisy Darker is here!
The book opens with a note from the authors’ agent said they received the manuscript of this story wrapped in brown paper, and that the author has been dead for some time.
Daisy Darker, the narrator, was born with a heart condition and was told she wouldn’t live past the age of 15. Fourteen years later, she’s headed to her Nana’s birthday. Daisy still dresses like a child. She feels that her Nana is the only person in her family who loved her. Daisy’s Nana wrote a book about her and made a fortune.
Daisy arrives at Seaglass, Nana’s Victorian mansion in Cornwall. The house was first owned by Daisy’s great grandmother. It’s an isolated house by the sea that is only accessible during low tide. Nana intends to leave the house to a female relative.
Daisy says she has a secret that she never wanted to share.
The rest of the family arrives and Nana put on some old home movies. The group has dinner and discuss how they would murder people.
Rose says she’d inject someone with insulin between their toes.
Nancy says poison from the garden, something like hemlock.
Frank decides on using a sharp blow to the skull.
Lily volunteers that she’d push the victim down the stairs.
Daisy says she would push the person off a cliff.
Nana announces that they have just eaten the pet chickens for dinner.
After that, Nana reads her will. She has left her clock collection to Frank, her bar cart to Nancy, her artwork to Rose, her mirrors to Lily, a donation to charity in Daisy’s name, and Seaglass to Trixie.
Nana also announces she is working on one final book.
Daisy’s crush Conor arrives, wet from a storm, and asks to spend the night. Daisy tries to speak to Conor but he rebuffs her.
Victim #1: Nana
Daisy goes to bed. At exactly midnight she hears a scream downstairs. She goes downstairs to find Nana dead on the kitchen floor, a gash on her head. Trixie found Nana and is the one who screamed.
Someone has written a poem on the kitchen chalkboard wall about the flaws of the Darker family. Daisy thinks that Nana must’ve been standing on a chair writing the poem when she fell.
Conor goes to wake up Nancy who turns out to be sleeping with Frank.
Trixie puts the home movies back on. It’s a scene of five year old Rose and four-year-old Lily meeting baby Daisy for the first time.
The family discusses using Conor‘s boat to go summon the police. But when Rose goes to get the boat, the rope tying the boat to the dock has been cut and the boat is gone.
Daisy thinks back to when Conor was a boy and she and Nana discovered that Connor‘s father was beating him. Nana took Conor under her wing and he became almost a family member.
The family is bustling around when Nancy notices that Nana‘s body has disappears and someone left a VHS tape in its place. There are Scrabble letters taped to it saying, Watch Me. Also someone has crossed out the part of the poem about Frank and Nancy.
Victim #2: Frank
The family realizes Frank has disappeared and they find him locked inside the music room, dead.
Lily thinks that perhaps Frank killed his mother and then took his own life. Daisy asked why he would move Nana‘s body.
Rose thinks Frank was poisoned.
The family decides to watch the VHS tape. It’s the summer of 1980 at Seaglass Lily is nine years old. She and Rose lock Daisy in a cupboard. In another scene Daisy almost drowns and Lily says she wishes Daisy did drown.
Rose mentions that she owns a gun.
A new tape shows up with letters that say “hear me.” The tape depicts Christmas 1982, with Frank bringing gifts for everyone.
Lily announces that she can’t find her missing diabetic kit. Also, she can’t find Trixie. Nancy suggest to Lily that Trixie is asleep somewhere, as she and Lily put a sleeping pill in Trixie‘s tea.
The group notices that Trixie‘s part of the poem is crossed out. Rose finds Lily’s missing diabetic kit under Nancy‘s bed. But Lily‘s insulin pen is missing.
Poppins the dog is scratching at the cupboard under the stairs. The door is locked but the key is tied to Poppins’ collar. Rose opens the cupboard and finds Frank and Nana’s bodies in there.
Victim #3: Trixie
Rose finds Trixie in the very back of the cupboard under the stairs. She’s alive, but there’s dried blood between her toes and Rose suggests someone injected her with insulin. Rose is able to save Trixie, who can’t remember anything.
Rose suggest the remaining family members lock themselves in the lounge until the tide goes out in four hours. But Nancy is missing. The family debates going to look for her versus staying locked in the lounge. Daisy recalls the time her heart stopped in 1984.
Another tape shows up labeled “notice me.”
The tape is summer of 1984 sisters are putting on a play. Daisy’s heart stopped again that day. Conor‘s father was in the tape as well, as he became close to Nancy. The tape also contains a scene from 1985. Lily‘s hair is cut short and Daisy admits to the reader that she cut it all off while Lily slept because she was jealous that Lily was Nancy’s favorite daughter.
The group discusses that a body has been found every hour: Nana at midnight, Frank at 1 AM, Trixie at 2 AM. It is now 3 AM.
Daisy recalls an incident in 1986 where she ruined a dress that belonged to Rose after she caught Rose and Connor kissing.
Victim #4: Nancy
Back in the present, the group hears a sound from the kitchen and finds muddy footprints leading to and from the back door. Connor goes out to investigate and finds Nancy dead, holding a locket with a picture of Daisy inside.
Daisy recalls a big storm in 1987. Frank’s car had been hit by a falling tree and he was badly injured. Conor’s dad told the children about a man killed with a poisoned umbrella. Daisy recalls that Conor’s father had a relationship with Nancy but they broke up and Conor left home.
In the present, the muddy footprints are gone.
Conor finally speaks to Daisy say saying he’s sorry for what’s happening. A new tape shows up. It says “see me” and is set on Halloween night 1988, a night Daisy wishes she could forget.
Nana’s agent had come for her birthday dinner and he tells Daisy what a pleasure it is to meet the real Daisy Darker. He brings a big present for Nana which is a wooden Scrabble set. Nana has bought herself a present: Poppins the puppy.
In the present, someone notices that all the family’s names have been spelled out with Scrabble tiles.
Back in 1988, Daisy is mad that her older sisters get to go to a Halloween party and that she’s always been protected by her mother.
Rose, Lily, and Conor are about to leave for the party. Daisy sneaks out and hides in the trunk of Connor‘s car. At the party, the group is shocked to find Daisy in the trunk but let her stay.
The party includes a game of spin the bottle and then the group decides to go skinny-dipping. Daisy meets a boy on the beach. He kisses her and then tries to see her scar but she breaks away from him. She’s shocked to see Conor and Lily kissing.
In the present, Conor stops the tape. He says the game they’re playing is sick and he’s not playing anymore.
Victim #5: Lily
All of a sudden, the group notices that Lily has gone still and there are burns on her neck. Rose think she has been poisoned by her perfume. (The book later mentions that her favorite perfume is Poison.)
Rose lashes out at Conor and ask him why he’s even there.
Conor says whoever is killing off the family is in the room (which leaves Conor, Rose, Daisy and Trixie.)
Daisy mentions to the reader that no one knows who Trixie‘s father is.
Rose says she thinks Conor is the one responsible. They hear a noise from upstairs and Rose says she left her gun in the library.
Conor says he thinks a man is responsible because you have to be strong to move all the bodies.
Rose’s gun is missing.
Daisy reveals that, contrary to what her mother told her, she wasn’t going to die at age 15.
Someone has replaced one of the pictures on Nana’s wall with a DNA test. Conor is the father of Trixie.
The group hears someone upstairs again. Conor tells Rose he didn’t know Trixie was his daughter. When they hear someone coming down the stairs, Conor tells Rose, Trixie, and Daisy to lock themselves in the library.
Conor goes upstairs but calls down to say he found no one. Rose turns off the lights in the library and the three of them wait.
Victims #6 and #7: Conor and Rose
Eventually, the three of them decide to investigate. In the cupboard under the stairs, they find Conor, dead, with a yo-yo wrapped around his neck and newspaper stuffed in his mouth.
Rose says “I can see you breathing” to someone in the hallway and then she falls down in a pool of blood.
What was the Ending of Daisy Darker?
Everyone is dead but Daisy and Trixie. Or so we think….
Trixie shot Rose.
She reveals that although Lily and Nancy tried to drug her, she dumped the drugged tea into a potted plant. She says she didn’t kill the whole family by herself, she had help.
Then Trixie tells Daisy, “I can’t kill you because you’re already dead you’ve been dead for years.”
WHAT?!?!? I am usually good at spotting a Sixth Sense plot twist and I completely missed it!
Trixie tells Daisy to remember the Halloween party in 1988, the one where Daisy hid in the trunk of Conor’s car.
At the party, Daisy caught Connor and Lily having sex. When she ran into Rose, Daisy blurted out what she saw.
Rose accused Daisy of ruining her dress. Daisy ran off onto the cliffs. She heard a car coming but couldn’t get out of the way and Conor hits her with his car.
Daisy, injured but still alive, listened to Lily, Conor and Rose discuss their options. Conor says he didn’t pass his driving test and that he’ll go to jail.
Rose told them that Daisy was dead, but reassured Conor that it was an accident.
But Conor said that Daisy would have died soon anyway, because of her heart condition. He suggested they cover up their involvement by throwing Daisy over the cliff. Rose and Lily agree that this is the only choice. They fling her off the edge of the cliff into the sea.
Trixie reveals that she can see in here Daisy because she has the same heart problem that Daisy did. After her heart stopped and she died briefly, she was able to see Daisy. Trixie says Rose also saw Daisy right before she died.
Who Were the Killers in Daisy Darker?
Trixie and Nana.
Trixie had told Nana she could see and hear Daisy. Nana finally started to believe her when she saw Trixie playing Scrabble with Daisy and the tiles moving by themselves.
Daisy told Trixie her secret and Trixie told Nana, who was horrified. Conor’s father had committed suicide after Daisy’s body was found because when he found blood on his car (he car Conor borrowed) he thought he had been the one who had killed somebody.
Nana makes a cup of tea and confesses that she created the murder plan and Trixie agreed to help.
Nana killed Frank by poisoning his whiskey. Then Trixie helped Nana move the body.
Trixie injected herself with insulin to throw suspicion off herself.
Nana then killed Nancy by poisoning her tea, Lily with poisoned perfume ( I loved that the book mentions that Lily’s favorite perfume is Poison.) and Conor by pushing him down the stairs.
Trixie shot Rose.
Nana faked her own death by using blood from the dead chickens who died from natural causes.
Then Nana says she can now see Daisy so it is time to say goodbye. Nooo…. Nana has poisoned herself.
Trixie says that despite her heart condition, she hopes to live to twenty-five and wants to travel the world. Daisy is wearing childish clothes because those are the clothes she wore the day that she died. Nana wanted Daisy to write her own story. Daisy uses Conor’s computer to start writing her story.
Did Conor, Rose, and Lily really kill Daisy?
I was a bit confused about this so went back and re-read.
Conor hits Daisy with his car. Rose checks for a pulse but can’t find one and tells Conor, “You’ve killed Daisy.” Conor says that Daisy didn’t have much longer to live anyway (due to the heart condition) and suggests they throw her body off the cliff.
So YES, and the comment by WillowFae explains it better. According to Daisy’s memories, they all thought she was dead but didn’t want to get in trouble, so agreed to throw her over the cliff. But (in true macabre Alice Feeney form) Daisy opens her eyes right as they let go and fling her off the edge. Chilling!
There’s a point at the end where Nana says that she was able to play dead by using chicken blood and that “it’s not the first time Rose thought someone in the family was dead when they weren’t.”
To be fair, Rose goes to vet school AFTER that and still thought Nana was dead, which is weird. Nana says some nonsense about a meditation class in Bhutan that taught her how to breathe very slowly. Okay, Nana.
Spoiler Discussion for Daisy Darker
Whoa…. that was crazy.
Based on the fact that none of the Alice Feeney books I’ve read had paranormal elements, I did NOT see that twist coming, even though I’ve seen (and loved) movies where that twist was used.
Alice Feeney FILLS her books with tiny details and I’m sure I won’t get them all, so PLEASE add your thoughts in comments. If I add them to the post I will credit you!
Clues that I Missed in Daisy Darker
Clues that Daisy Was Dead
In the forward, the agent says “I have never believed in ghosts.”
Daisy says repeatedly that she has a secret.
Daisy is described as dressing like a child – it’s the clothes she died in at age thirteen.
No one really speaks to or interacts with Daisy that much
At the beginning, when the family goes around the table and tells how they’d murders someone, Daisy says “throw them off a cliff.” And weirdly, everyone else predicts their own manner of death.
Clues I missed to the identity of the killer
I was pretty sure that one of the early victims was faking it and my money was on Nana. She was the famous author after all, and probably a mystery lover. She also seemed to dislike many of the family.
Nana also mentioned that she stopped paying the phone bill, which I thought was strange.
But I didn’t see the Trixie twist coming. All the “B” clues she left (Trixie is short for Beatrice apparently. Not Beatrix?) went right over my head.
Also, when I think back, having Trixie be saved from death should have made me suspicious!
Literary References and Easter Eggs in Daisy Darker
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, a book about a group of people killed off one by one, is referenced in the book. Check out my list of other books inspired by And Then There Were None!
Also referenced is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Alice Feeney’s Instagram is called “Alice in Writerland.” The “watch me” etc. on the VHS tapes are definitely similar to the “eat me” and “drink me” signs that Alice finds. Those tapes send the family down all kinds of family history rabbit holes. (Are “rabbit holes” on the internet named after Alice in Wonderland?)
Not really literary, but the book was also giving me game of Clue vibes! One of my all-time favorite games!
Thanks so much for joining this Spoiler Discussion Post for Daisy Darker
SO much to discuss so I hope that you will tell me what you thought, what your theories and questions are, and what you noticed that I missed. Join the discussion!
Other Spoiler Review Posts on Alice Feeney books:
Spoiler Discussion for Sometimes I Lie
Spoiler Discussion for His & Hers
had to reread a lot of this book . How could I have missed this twist ?
Welcome – I felt the same way. I’m a fairly fast reader and I always miss tiny details in her books. And because she’d never done anything like that I did NOT see it coming and was so mad at myself!
This is my first Alice Feeney book and I’m disappointed.
I’m not one to guess or try to figure out anything since I know the author will tell me and I tend to enjoy that ride. However , I figured out early on that Daisy is dead.
Another thing that disappoints me is that not one person was terrified that Nana’s body went missing! They were stuck in that house and terrifying things start happening but no one seems bothered at all by it. Your family members being murdered then their bodies disappearing doesn’t terrify you?! Unbelievable.
Everyone has their reading “turn-offs” and two of mine are totally unbelievable actions and childish writing/behavior. Otherwise I can overlook things.
Jen- Thanks for having this forum!!
Hi Melissa-
Appreciate the honesty, which is welcome here. I understand where you are coming from and I agree, though once you understand what the family members are guilty of, it makes a little more sense that they act like all the crazy is normal. I felt in some way that they knew they were gathered for punishment.
In case you do want to try another Alice Feeney, this is an atypical one. (Except that she does like writing about people in toxic relationships.) So atypical that I didn’t see the twist coming at all. I think she was trying for a sort of “Knives Out” feel.
If you want to try another of her books, His & Hers is (I think) the darkest and is the most traditional mystery/thriller. My husband, who has NO patience for the unbelievable, liked it.
Rock Paper Scissors (though her highest rated on Goodreads) was a little more out-there. Sometimes I Lie was more in the “Girl on the Train” unreliable narrator lane, which seems a bit overdone now, but when the book came out it was not.
But if you are done with her, I get it. I’m a fan, but having different opinions is what makes book discussions fun.
Thanks for the suggestions! I have His & Hers, Rock Paper Scissors, and Sometimes I Lie so I’ll definitely give her another try.
Also, i love that we have a spot to discuss our differing opinions respectfully.
I haaaaated this book. Got to page 220 and actually could not read another page. All the family were dull and I didn’t like any of them (especially Daisy) so I just wasn’t engaged at all. No one was redeeming and it was just boring. Had to Google the ending and honestly by the sounds of this review I’m glad I didn’t give it any more time! Great review though x
I get it! It’s not the typical Alice Feeney and that is the kind of twist a lot of people hate. And the characters were unlikeable.
I did like it, because I enjoy being surprised and I was. But I understand where you’re coming from!
I loved the book! As you said, this was kind of an atypical ending for the author, but I enjoyed every single page. Because Trixie was repeatedly said to be clever and mature, I started to believe that she was behind all this. However, I had no idea Daisy was actually dead. What do you think about Conor? I absolutely sympathised with him because of his rocky childhood all the way until the end. Actually, I even thought he was the one Rose married in her “less than a year” marriage. I got shocked and was very much let down when I learned he was the one pulling the strings.
I felt the same. Loved the book. Totally surprised she was dead. And I did sympathize a bit with Conor. He had the most to lose. But what happened to Daisy was still so horrible.
Was anybody else under the impression that Nana’s agent may have been something more than just that? I remember Daisy noticing how his blue eyes were just like Nana’s, their smiles similar and how they looked like a mother and a son. On a couple of occasions it Is also said that Nana only trusted few people in her life and her agent was the one she trusted the most.
I didn’t notice that but I love when people pick up little things that I missed…
Why were the others able to communicate with her though? For example, when Conor apologized to her and said that it wasn’t her fault what happened THAT night.
I don’t think (?) Conor was one of the people who could communicate with Daisy. I think that being back in the house made him feel guilty so he was speaking out loud to her. Which helped fool the reader that Daisy was alive. But if anyone disagrees, let me know!
This was so great, thank you! I just finished listening to this as an audiobook and had a thought that I’d like to go back and re”read” it, (but I just don’t have the time!!!) so I was so glad to find a forum of people discussing the little clues and such that I did not pick up on throughout.
I did NOT see the twist coming – I’ve never read an Alice Feeney book before, so I truly wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew Trixie was involved somehow just by the way Daisy described her… she was so fixated on the fact that Trixie was clever and perfect and kind and it just seemed like a little much. Did not figure out Nana’s involvement though!!
The “she was dead the whole time” thing can feel a little cheap sometimes, but I do think this was well-done. The scene where Trixie is translating the ghost-speak to Nana was a little funny to me though.
I love a murder mystery in an isolated setting, and I LOVED And Then There Were None, so this was a no-brainer. Really enjoyed it.
I will be checking out His & Hers as per your recommendation earlier in the thread. Thank you!! 🙂
I’m still on page 80 but I kind of think Daisy Darker is not there in real, like maybe a ghost?! I really hate it when I figure out something like this in the beginning of a book and it’s supposed to be an ending twist. I kind of realized this because no one really is talking to Daisy and all are ignoring her. Was it the author’s intention that the reader would discover this as early as the first few chapters?!! It’s kind of disappointing for me.
Come back when you finish!
Another subtle and clever clue – which I totally missed! – was very near the beginning, when Daisy was arriving at Seaglass: “I travel light these days.”
Ooh, good catch!