This psychological thriller is quite a page-turner! I read it in two days. I used to read more of this genre, but I found that many of them are quite similar and have a lot of unnecessary detail. Happily this wasn’t the case with The Family Secret. While the title and cover design are too generic to stand out, the concept of the book is memorable. Charlotte, an architect who lives in her dream home with her husband and son, develops a rare illness and her only hope is a bone marrow match. Her father, before he passes away, reveals that she has an older brother who was adopted. Charlotte tracks down her brother, John, in the hope that he will save her life, but she is also excited to bring him into the family. However, this will have consequences which could be deadly. John had a very different upbringing and draws her into a dangerous situation. The pacing is just right and there was a good sense of place. I would have preferred more than one narrative perspective, however, because Charlotte was not a very interesting person. I also expected more of a twist ending and I think more twists in general! It did get a little gruesome in a few instances but nothing that put me off reading. These are minor points though, as I thought it was a good read. If you enjoy well-written psychological thrillers then I definitely recommend this one.

Thank you to the publisher Inkubator Books and Zooloo’s Book Tours for the review copy. Published in 2025.