The Ferryman’s Daughter — Yasmin Angoe
Title: The Ferryman’s Daughter
Author: Yasmin Angoe
Genre: Psychological Thriller | Mystery | Crime | Serial Killer Thriller
Format: eARC
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ — 4/5
Synopsis
Sanaa Karrem has spent eighteen years trying to escape her past.
Her father was the infamous serial killer known as the Ferryman, and after his disappearance, Sanaa changed her identity and built an entirely new life. Now a forensic science teacher and former medical examiner, she's engaged to Detective Marcus Morelli and has successfully kept the darkest part of her history buried.
Until bodies begin appearing with pennies placed over their eyes.
It's the Ferryman's signature.
As more victims are discovered, Sanaa begins receiving threatening messages and disturbing gifts from someone who clearly knows exactly who she is.
There's just one rather significant problem.
Marcus isn't merely a detective.
He's the detective leading the investigation.
And he has absolutely no idea that his fiancée is the daughter of the serial killer whose crimes appear to be happening all over again.
My Thoughts
I really enjoyed Yasmin Angoe's Nena Knight series, so naturally I jumped into this one immediately.
And TBH? The Ferryman's Daughter managed to be both super bingeable and super frustrating at the exact same time.
The premise itself immediately grabbed me.
Sanaa is the daughter of a serial killer known as the Ferryman, who disappeared eighteen years ago. She changed her identity, built a completely new life, got engaged and tried to leave that part of herself behind.
Well...
That clearly doesn't work out.
Because suddenly murders matching her father's style start happening again.
Then weird things begin happening around Sanaa.
Someone is stalking her.
Someone is threatening her.
And eventually, it starts looking like someone might actually be trying to frame her for murder.
Basically, the entire situation becomes completely unhinged in the best thriller way possible.
So... Who Is Doing This?!
One of my favorite things about this book was that I genuinely didn't know who was responsible for most of the story.
And that's something I REALLY appreciate in a thriller.
Give me suspects.
Make everybody look suspicious.
Let me construct increasingly ridiculous theories in my head.
And then prove me wrong.
The mystery kept me hooked because the situation surrounding Sanaa continued escalating, and I wanted to understand not only who was targeting her but why.
Is her father somehow involved?
Is somebody deliberately copying him?
Why Sanaa?
And how much does this person actually know about her past?
The pacing was strong, and as the threats became increasingly personal, the suspense kept building.
It made this a very easy book to binge.
Sanaa...
Now...
Sanaa herself?
Oh boy.
I understood why she was scared.
Her childhood was incredibly traumatic, and she has spent most of her adult life trying to separate herself from her father's crimes. She changed her name and essentially rebuilt herself from scratch.
So I completely understood why telling people the truth would be terrifying.
BUT.
Ma'am.
Your fiancé is literally leading the investigation into murders that appear to be connected to your serial-killer father.
Perhaps...
And I'm merely brainstorming here...
TELL HIM?!
This drove me insane at times.
It wasn't just that Sanaa had kept her past secret when they originally met. I could understand why she wouldn't exactly introduce herself with:
Hi, nice to meet you! Fun fact: my father was an infamous serial killer.
Probably not ideal first-date conversation.
But once murders matching the Ferryman's signature started happening and Sanaa herself was being targeted, that secret became rather relevant to Marcus's investigation.
Just a tiny bit.
What frustrated me even more was that it didn't really feel like she was ever planning to tell him if circumstances hadn't eventually forced everything into the open.
I understood the trauma behind her choices, but that didn't stop me from occasionally wanting to reach through the pages and shake her.
The Forensic Elements
I also liked that Sanaa wasn't completely out of her depth once the investigation began.
She's a forensic science teacher and a former medical examiner, so she has knowledge and experience that are directly relevant to what's happening.
That made her connection to the mystery even more interesting because she isn't simply the daughter of the original killer or the person being targeted by the copycat.
She actually has expertise that can help her understand the evidence and try to figure out what is happening around her.
Of course...
That would perhaps be even MORE useful if she told her detective fiancé everything she knew.
Sorry.
I'm apparently not over it.
Final Thoughts
Despite wanting to shake Sanaa over some of her decisions, I had a really good time with The Ferryman's Daughter.
The central mystery kept me guessing, the pacing made it extremely bingeable, and the increasingly personal threats against Sanaa kept raising the stakes.
Most importantly, I genuinely didn't have the culprit figured out for the majority of the story, and the ending left me satisfied.
Sanaa's secrecy frustrated me (deeply), but it never stopped me from wanting to know what happened next.
If you enjoy serial-killer thrillers involving family secrets, copycat murders, forensic investigation, stalking and protagonists making decisions that occasionally make you want to yell at your Kindle, this one is definitely worth checking out.
4⭐
ARC Disclaimer
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.
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