Daughter of Mine

Daughter of Mine (2024) is a USA Today bestseller by author Megan Miranda. Miranda has written multiple bestselling novels in the thriller and suspense genres. Her more well-known titles include All the Missing Girls (2016) as well as the Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick, The Last House Guest (2019). A TV series based on this title is currently in development.

Daughter of Mine falls under the categories of psychological thrillers, mystery, and suspense fiction. The novel is principally set in the fictional small town of Mirror Lake, North Carolina, with some minor events taking place in the big city of Charlotte, two hours away from Mirror Lake by car. The plot unfolds over a two-week period beginning on May 15 in an unspecified contemporary year and concluding on May 24 at the beginning of Memorial Day weekend. The novel’s epilogue is set one month later. The story is told from the point of view of a 28-year-old woman named Hazel Sharp. As Hazel returns to her hometown for her father’s funeral and probes the unsolved mystery of her mother’s disappearance, the novel examines the themes of Impacts of Childhood Abandonment, Dangers of Small-Town Communities, and The Importance of Uncovering Concealed Truth.

This guide and all its page citations are based on the Simon & Schuster/Marysue Rucci Books 2024 e-book edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The novel discusses death by suicide and drug addiction.

Plot Summary

The novel opens with a memorial service for the recently deceased Perry Holt. Perry was a detective with the small-town police force of Mirror Lake and is revered as a pillar of the community. His two sons, Gage and Caden, followed him into careers in law enforcement, as did many other children of police in the town. Perry’s stepdaughter, Hazel, returns from her home in Charlotte, where she runs a successful real estate renovation company with two college friends.

Hazel feels alienated from her brothers and the rest of the town because more than a decade earlier, her mother, Libby Sharp, disappeared and left Hazel behind. Libby worked as the bookkeeper for Roy, the local lawyer and Perry’s brother, during which time she stole $10,000 from his firm. Libby was a known con artist who had committed a string of petty thefts as she grifted her way from one town to another. She was never seen again after leaving Mirror Lake. Hazel’s only memento is a goodbye note addressed to “Daughter of Mine” (48), in which her mother writes, “I hope someday you can forgive me” (49).

Hazel was 14 at the time of Libby’s disappearance and grew up surrounded by people who branded her as the daughter of a criminal. While Perry and Gage never judged her, her younger stepbrother, Caden, still feels resentful and doesn’t consider her a part of the family. On the day of Perry’s memorial, everyone’s attention is diverted by a car that has been found submerged in Mirror Lake. Its presence is only revealed because of a drought that has steadily dropped the lake’s water level. Soon afterward, a second submerged car is found near the dock adjoining the Holt family property.

Hazel recognizes the second car as her mother’s. Libby’s blue luggage is found in the trunk, but the bags are empty. Now suspicious about the circumstances of her mother’s disappearance, Hazel begins digging into truths that nobody in town wants to acknowledge. The police and her brothers actively discourage her from looking into the matter. Tensions with Hazel’s brothers accelerate when they learn that Perry has left the house and all its contents to Hazel alone.

Though she dislikes the atmosphere in Mirror Lake, Hazel finds herself remaining in town to solve her mother’s mystery. In the process, she learns that the other car in the lake belonged to Perry’s first wife, whom he accidentally killed while she was riding a bicycle after dark. He covered up this crime to protect his reputation, and his sons backed up his story. As Hazel gets closer to this truth, and the truth about her own mother’s death, several empty houses are burglarized, including the Perry home. Hazel’s ex-friend and sister-in-law, Jamie, disappears, and Jamie’s mother is murdered. Hazel investigates these events despite the lack of support and antagonism of her brothers and other members of the police force and town. In an armed confrontation, Uncle Roy reveals himself as the main culprit. He admits to blackmailing Perry for years over the death of his first wife. After embezzling money from his own firm, he pointed the finger at Libby and murdered her, making it appear that she left town after stealing from him. Roy tries to shoot Hazel, but Caden intervenes and is shot instead, though not fatally. Hazel eludes Roy by entering the lake, where he drowns while pursuing her. The novel ends with the truth being revealed, Hazel reconciling with her family, and everyone sharing Perry’s legacy equally.