Dark, twisted and with Knives Out vibes, The Family Plot is a solid murder mystery that will keep you guessing as you try to unravel the deep secrets of the Lighthouse family. Megan Collins delivers a wonderfully messed up and unnerving story that will have you saying “WTF?!?!” throughout the whole book.
The Lighthouse family congregates on Blackburn Island to mourn the death of the family patriarch. But this is no normal island or family. The island is famous for a slew of murders by a serial killer who was never caught. And as for the Lighthouse children, well, they grew up being homeschooled by their mother with a unique curriculum learning about and honoring famous murder victims. In fact, each of the 4 children in the Lighthouse family were named after several of these victims. For Dahlia Lighthouse (named after the Black Dahlia), returning to her childhood home brings up painful memories of the day her twin brother left home 10 years ago, never to be seen again. She uses this homecoming as an opportunity to search for clues of her missing brother, which highlights the unique eccentricity of this family while setting in motion events that reveal multiple shocking truths that are beyond her comprehension and send this already “unnatural” family spiraling deeper into the darkness.
Connecting to The Family Plot is easy because every family has their oddities and quirks. While the very bizarre history and actions of the Lighthouse family are not normal or directly relatable to the vast majority of us, the drama and emotions most certainly are something we all can understand. Grieving the loss of a loved one, having strong connections to siblings, being an outsider, seeking acceptance, wanting to be normal – these are experiences that we can appreciate because at some point everyone has felt something like this in their lives. Take out the murder worship and this is a book about a strange family trying to find their way. Pretty relatable if you ask me. And if you think that’s a stretch, that’s cool. Just enjoy a good old-fashioned whodunit with a darker version of The Addams Family.
The Family Plot does take a little time to really get going but stick with it. Drink in the peculiar details during the setup so that you’re prepared for a wild ride that rewards the reader by finishing with a disturbing flourish. A worthy mystery for fans of true crime, Alfred Hitchcock movies and Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone.
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