The Daughter by T. M.Logan

                                             

Hardback:  399 pages      

Genre:  Contemporary Psychological Thriller, Family Mystery,

Publisher: Zaffre, Bonnier Books UK. 2025

Source:  Tywyn Public Library

First Sentence: Ten weeks. It is the longest time we've ever been apart.

Review Quote: 'An excellent premise and explosively enjoyable finale' The Guardian

Setting:  England

My Opinion: In recent years I have found myself reading many more books in the thriller genre and T.M. Logan is definitely one of my go to authors. T.M Logan has told his readers that he often gets ideas for his books from real life scenarios. So it is no surprise that he had a what if moment whilst collecting his daughter after her first term away at university, which has eventually evolved into 'The Daughter'

A missing person! When Lauren turns up to collect her daughter, Evie from university for the Christmas break she is not there. Lauren and her son Lucas find their world unravelling around them as they battle to come to terms with Evie's disappearance. Determined to track her down, the twists, turns and dramas they encounter during their search for her make for an unpredictable read.

With a naturally flowing writing style and realistic characters I found this captivating. This novel was a great start to my 2026 reading and I recommend to all fans of the genre.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

Lauren can't wait to see her daughter again, to pick her up from university at the end of her first term. But when she arrives at her hall and knocks at room 309, a stranger opens the door.

For a few minutes, Lauren assumes she must have the wrong room, or the wrong floor. Maybe even the wrong building.

But she soon discovers the Evie's not there. She hasn't been there for weeks. So where is she? 

Following one family's desperate race against time as one terrifying moment unravels into a living nightmare, The Daughter is the unmissable new heart-in-mouth thriller from T.M. Logan.

Previous Review: The Dream Home

Author Profile:                                                                                                

                              

Bestselling author TM Logan was a national newspaper journalist before turning to novel-writing full time. His thrillers have sold more than two million copies in the UK and are published in translation in 22 countries around the world including France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, South Korea, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Greece, Romania and the Netherlands.

He was born in Berkshire on the 19th of December 1975 and grew up in Reading, the youngest of three boys and a fully-fledged bookworm from a very young age. He read history at Westfield College, part of the University of London, and went on to do a postgrad at Cardiff University.

Wanting to write journalism seemed an obvious choice, and after five years as a reporter and then education correspondent on the Nottingham Evening Post he moved to London to work on the Daily Mail. The next move took him back to the East Midlands, where he worked for the University of Nottingham as a press officer, writing fiction in any spare time he could find. In January 2017 his first thriller was published. a few weeks later his current position as a deputy director in charge of the university’s communications team – was scrapped as part of a restructure. That was when he decided to take the plunge into writing full-time.

He lives in Nottinghamshire with his wife and two children, and writes in a cabin in the corner of his garden.

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Goodreads Author Profile.    Amazon Author Page   Official Author Website

Twitter Profile.    Instagram Profile.   Facebook Profile

The Midnight Hour by Eve Chase

 

                                               

Hardback:   385 pages

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Suspense, Family Mystery, 

Publisher: Michael Joseph 2024

Source:  Tywyn Library

First Sentences: Any danger has surely passed. Cycling into the unfolding Paris morning, Maggie can breathe easily again.

Review Quote: ‘Mesmerising - a book you want to race back to’ - Lisa Jewell, author of None of This is True

My Opinion: 

This is the third title by this author that I have read and she is now a favourite author whose books I will always look out for.

In this dual timeline novel set in London and Paris during 1998 and 2019 Maggie and her much younger sibling Kit find themselves home alone when their mother does not return home one evening. Difficult to say more without spoilers but the story of what happened in 198 in Notting Hill unfolds whilst in the 2019 chapters, twenty years later secrets are coming to light.

A well crafted story of family secrets and intrigue with a satisfying ending after all the mysteries. Will appeal to readers that enjoy plenty of drama in the novels they choose to read.

Previous Reviews :   The Glasshouse  The Birdcage

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads: 

A glittering family. A Notting Hill house. Step into their secrets...

Notting Hill, 1998. Dee Delancey—loving mother, grieving widow, sometime model—heads out for the evening, blowing a kiss before vanishing down the crescent. She doesn't come home that night. Nor the one after...

Her reclusive teenage daughter Maggie refuses to accept she's gone—no one loses both parents in two years, do they? Forced to keep house and mother her maddening little brother Kit, Maggie shuns the help of Dee's chaotic small circle of friends, fearing the news reaching the tabloids and the authorities.

But she finds an unexpected ally in Wolf, an older boy with boxer's fists from the far end of Portobello, an unknown world of dark labyrinthine shops, dusty antiques, human warmth, and misrule, far from the big white villas. A place she feels safe.

But the clock is ticking. And a stranger is lurking. As dangerous forces close in, Maggie faces an impossible choice—she must protect her brother, whatever the consequences.

Twenty years later, when the mysterious new owner of the Delancey family's old house starts digging out a basement, secrets cannot stay buried for much longer...

Author Profile:         

  

Courtesy of  Author's Official Website

The following is what Eve has to say about herself on her Author's Official Website.

I work in a writing shed in my Oxford townhouse garden, with Harry, my golden retriever, dozing at my feet. All my Eve Chase books have hatched in this shed, among the piles of books, coffee cups and notebooks, and, rather less literary, but no less essential, my gardening tools. (If I hit a sticky plot point, I’ll start weeding.) 

I’ve always been a huge reader - treasured library card in hand - and started writing short stories as a child, going on to study English Literature at Manchester University, where I set up a creative writing magazine and first got published as a journalist. Many years in women’s glossies and national newspaper magazines followed, working as an editor, feature writer and celebrity interviewer, meeting many wonderful, interesting people along the way, and travelling all over the world. 

As a reader, I’ve always loved storytelling that immediately sweeps you in and locks you there with seductive, lush settings, unfolding secrets and characters that are alive on the page - as a writer, I try to do this too.

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Instagram Profile  Author's Official Website  Eve Chase - Facebook Profile

Twitter - EvePollyChase   Amazon Author Page  Eve Chase - Goodreads Author Profile

The Glass House by Eve Chase

 

Hardback:   387 pages

Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Family Mystery, 

Publisher: Penguin, Random House, 2020

Source:  Tywyn Public Library

First Sentence: The forest looks like it'll eat them alive, thinks Rita.

Review Quote: 'A captivating mystery: beautifully written, with a rich sense of place, a cast of memorable characters and lots of deep, dark secrets' Author - Kate Morton

My Opinion: I have only just discovered Eve Chase’s writing and finding her style very appealing in ‘The Glass House’ have added her to my list of favourite authors as I definitely want to read more of her novels.

A dual timeline this story is an emotive one and the setting in an old house on the edge of a forest adds tremendously to the atmosphere. A riveting read full of family secrets with appealingly portrayed characters, that the reader cannot fail to become emotionally attached to. The past and present stories link together well which keeps up the intrigue and the reader engrossed.

Devoured in a couple of days, which is hopefully a recommendation. This one should certainly appeal if you are a fan of family mysteries.

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads: 

Outside a remote manor house in an idyllic wood, a baby girl is found.

The Harrington family takes her in and disbelief quickly turns to joy. They're grieving a terrible tragedy of their own and the beautiful baby fills them with hope, lighting up the house's dark, dusty corners. Desperate not to lose her to the authorities, they keep her secret, suspended in a blissful summer world where normal rules of behaviour - and the law - don't seem to apply.

But within days a body will lie dead in the grounds. And their dreams of a perfect family will shatter like glass.

Years later, the truth will need to be put back together again, piece by piece . . .

Author Profile:         

Courtesy of  Clare Borg-Cook

The following is what Eve has to say about herself on her Website.

I write from a studio/shed in my townhouse garden in Oxford. A small space, it's perfect for cooking up bigger ones. I love to write about sprawling, dysfunctional families in curious, characterful settings. A crime usually beats at the heart of my books. As I love stories that envelope you in their world but also read at a page-turning pace, I try to write them too. 

Married with three children. Owner of a very hairy golden retriever called Harry. 

Studied English Literature at Manchester University and went on to do a post-grad in journalism. I once edited a street fashion magazine, Scene (no longer on the scene, or in existence) and wrote for many publications including Dazed and Confused, Punch, InStyle, Red, Marie-Claire, You and national newspapers.
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I read all the time, happily hopping between authors and genres. My ever changing list of favourite authors include Maggie O'Farrell, Liane Moriarty, Kate Atkinson, Elizabeth Strout, Diane Athill, Donna Tartt, Lisa Jewell, Raymond Carver, Jane Austen, Kate Morton, Hilary Mantel, and Barbara Vine.

I love hearing from readers. You really make all the hours writing away on my own worthwhile. Please drop by on Insta/Facebook/Twitter and say hello.

Thank you so much to those of you who've taken the time to read my books, review and blog about them. 

Happy reading! 

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Instagram Profile  Author's Official Website  Eve Chase - Facebook Profile

Twitter - EvePollyChase   Amazon Author Page  Eve Chase - Goodreads Author Profile