Written By: Sable Quinn
Sable’s Rating: 5/5 stars
Content Warning: this novel references three different deaths in different manors, one being a malicious homicide.
Daughter of Mine, Megan Miranda. MarySue Rucci Books, April 9, 2024. 354 pp.
Daughter of Mine is Megan Miranda’s newest thriller.** This novel surrounds Hazel Sharp and the mysterious secrets that are uncovered in her hometown of Mirror Lake when a drought strikes the East Coast. When I tell you that I have never ripped through a thriller so fast, I unequivocally mean it. I have not been this enraptured in a novel, rapt attention, since The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. I sat in the bookstore I work at (Star Cat Books in VT!), for the entirety of the regular slow February day, and I DEVOURED this entire book. Ask my boss, I had sunk into the armchair in the corner and was saying ‘wtf’ and ‘holy sh*t’ every five minutes. The intricate weaving that Miranda is able to create within this thriller, Daughter of Mine, is mindblowing.
We start with the main character, Hazel Sharp, an interior designer that lives in Charlotte. She is brought back to her hometown of Mirror Lake, to deal with her father’s, the police chief, affairs after he suffered a sudden heart attack and passed away. Coincidentally, while Hazel is in town, the drought that has been creeping on the East Coast has finally caught up with Mirror Lake, and a sunken car is discovered in the waterway/dam that leads into the hills out of town. The car has no plates, the VIN has been scratched off, etc. The car has clearly been tampered with to conceal the identities of anyone who may have been involved. As the story progresses (in which Miranda sprinkles in foreshadowing events, crazy important background information, and twists and turns around every corner—effectively keeping you on the edge of your seat and inexplicably invested) another sunken car is uncovered as the water levels continue to recede. This time, Hazel unintentionally aided in the discovery of the second sunken vehicle, and dun dun dun, it turns out to have been sunken in the lake directly behind her father’s former house–the house she grew up in!
Another wild part of the story that comes into play quite early is that Hazel is not actually her “father’s” daughter. Hazel’s mother met Holt when Hazel was around eight years old, the same age as Holt’s youngest son, her brother Caden. Hazel’s mom, Libby, and Holt fell in love and married, in which Hazel essentially became Holt’s daughter and they never looked back. However, another freaking twist(!!), when Hazel was a preteen, on a random weekday her mom stole all of the valuables out of their house, withdrew all of the money in all of their accounts, and seemingly just split, leaving Hazel in the process. The only piece of her mother she had after that point was a letter that her mother had left under her pillow. The letter was addressed: “Daughter of Mine,” a nickname that Hazel’s mom used quite often when addressing her daughter. All that was written in the letter was “I hope one day you can forgive me.”
So many different aspects and plots contribute to this story, I am honestly one hundred percent in awe of Megan Miranda and her pure genius writing skills. This story was expertly and artfully crafted and you absolutely need to RUN to the closest bookstore on April 9, 2024, to buy Megan Miranda’s newest thriller, Daughter of Mine.
I’ve essentially summarized the entire plot of the novel for you, but you will be sitting on the edge of your seat for the entire novel. You will be second-guessing whomever you think the antagonist is with every turn of the page. It took me only a day to read this book from cover to cover. I so desperately would like to write an in-depth review of this novel, but I will painstakingly wait until the novel has been in bookstores for some time before I let my fingers run wild with the spoilers.
Daughter of Mine is the newest thriller written by Megan Miranda. This next hit will be in bookstores on April 9, 2024. It is a masterfully woven tale that enraptures the reader from the first page. Be prepared to portray a zombie-like state while reading this novel because if y’all are anything like me, you will ignore the entire world for the duration it takes you to absorb every word betweens these covers.
**Content Warning: this novel references three different deaths in different manors, one being a malicious homicide.
