‘Family Plot’ digs up revelations with a true-crime twist
What do you get when you mix true crime and a thriller? In Megan Collins’ latest, “The Family Plot” (Atria, 306 pp., eeee), you get an eerie novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Dahlia Lighthouse, 26, returns to her familial home after the death of her father Daniel. The whole family will be there: mother Lorraine, older sister Tate and older brother Charlie. It has been years since any of them have returned to the family home. There is one exception, though. Dahlia’s twin brother Andy won’t be there. Andy abandoned the family 10 years earlier on his and Dahlia’s 16th birthday and he has not been heard from since. Dahlia has been looking for him ever since.
The Lighthouse clan is not your typical family. They are at best eccentric, at worst morbid. Raised on Blackburn Island, a secluded place off the coast of Rhode Island, Dahlia and her siblings grew up in a home that was far away from their fellow neighbors. The children were taught to keep the outside world at a distance. In return, the island’s residents dubbed their home the “Murder Mansion.”
Dahlia’s mother was obsessed with true crime, primarily because of her parents’ murder when she was 21. She homeschooled her children, and a big part of the curriculum was infamous murders and their victims. She even went so far as to name Dahlia and her siblings after real victims of true crimes. Basically, Lorraine made the house and her children’s lives a shrine to the slain.
Dahlia’s late father supported his wife’s predilection for honoring the victims of murder but would involve himself very little with the family, except for indulging his sons with the occasional hunting trip.
When the family gathers, a gruesome discovery is made. It appears that the family plot for Daniel already is occupied – by Andy. And it appears that Andy was murdered.
After the shocking revelation, the story truly begins. The remaining family splinters in different directions in order to cope with the news.
Lorraine takes on a domestic facade, Charlie declares he will create a family memorial and Tate decides to delve into her art (which happens to be dioramas of murder scenes).
Dahlia, who has searched for Andy every day since he left, decides to search for his killer. She enlists her friend and true-crime aficionado Greta to help her. And while she and Greta do not lack for suspects – her family members, the home’s caretaker, neighbors and even the sheriff – they focus their attention on a serial killer who terrorized Blackburn Island for years.
It turns out the Lighthouse family has not just been keeping secrets from their neighbors: They’ve all been keeping secrets from each other.
Colllins’ talent to make prose moody and atmospheric is masterful. Even while reading with all the lights on, one still feels alone and on edge with a sense of foreboding. The author’s skillful ability to misdirect the reader to the point that everyone appears guilty is impressive.
The author plays with the reader. At times the novel boils over with suspense, and at other times it is a slow simmer, moving creepily along. On the whole, “The Family Plot” is a steady and satisfying hunt for a killer that true-crime enthusiasts and thriller fans can both savor.