The Darkest Secret
The Darkest Secret, centres around the disappearance of a child.When three-year-old identical twin Coco goes missing during a family celebration, there is a media frenzy. Her parents are rich and influential, as are the friends they were with at their holiday home by the sea.But what really happened to Coco during her father's 50th birthday weekend? Set across two weekends - the first when Coco goes missing and the second, at the funeral of Coco's father, where at last, the darkest of secrets will be revealed.. This novel unfolds in two timeframes, starting with a significant focus on the events in the lead up to Coco’s disappearance in 2004. These are told from the viewpoints of several of the players at the time—those attending Sean Jackson’s 50th birthday celebrations.The past later alternates with the ‘now’ following the death of Sean 15yrs later. One of Sean’s older daughters, Milly, narrates for us but we spend time with Coco’s twin, Ruby and revisit many of those present.
Reviews
"This is the first book by Alex Marwood that I have read. After reading the book blurb I thought it would be one I would really enjoy."
"I really struggled with 'The Darkest Secret'. It's very much like 'The Girl on the Train' which I didn't enjoy either and usually try to avoid such books. Although there was a slight twist at the end which managed to surprise me, the rest was pretty predictable. I really enjoyed the beginning, it had an Agatha Christie feel to it with the witness statements but soon after it was just a continuous stream of mostly awful people doing awful things."
"To start with I have to admit I did slightly struggle with this novel. The story flicks between past and present as well as characters and to be honest it did take me longer than I would have liked to fully get into the story.Once I got into the story though, I was well and truly hooked. It's quite obvious from the start that there is more to the disappearance of Coco Jackson. When the father, Sean Jackson dies, the truth of what happened that awful night starts to come to light."
"Alex Marwood has produced the perfect novel - The plot was wonderfully crafted, flicking between the two weekends and drip-feeding us the sequence of events. The pace was spot on, I literally had to keep turning the pages to see what these despicable people were going to do next. The characters were superbly drawn, from pompous, scheming, controlled, controlling, shallow, narcissistic, arrogant and egocentric right through to innocent and naive."
About Author
Born in United Kingdom,Raised by wolves, Alex Marwood passed her formative years in the lands beyond the Arctic circle, developing pack skills, excellent night vision and an ability to survive on raw protein. Ideally equipped for a life on Fleet Street, she then became a journalist.Her first novel, The Wicked Girls, was published by Sphere (UK), in 2012 and Penguin (US) in 2013, and achieved widespread acclaim and word-of-mouth international bestsellerdom. It was shortlisted for ITW, Anthony and Macavity awards, was included in Stephen King's Ten Best Books of the Year list and won an Edgar Allen Poe award in 2013.The Killer Next Door, described by The Sun as "nasty, compelling and original", was published in 2014. It won the Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel in 2015.Alex herself is a figment of the imagination of the novelist and sometime journalist Serena Mackesy.