Product Description

"I THINK ONE OF DADDY'S LITTLE GIRLS KILLED HIM."

For the four glamorous daughters of Lord Oswald Balcon, money can buy anything. From Fendi handbags to Ivy League educations, they live in a world of designer labels and unrestricted opulence -- their father's money and aristocratic status, coupled with their dazzling good looks, bought them every opportunity and advantage. They are beautiful, blond, and barely thirty, and the world is their luxury playground.

Venetia, the sophisticated interior designer, has booming professional success but is desperate for a child and an escape from a loveless marriage. Camilla, the rising political star, is too brilliant and ambitious for any of her unworthy lovers to handle. Sweet yet savvy Cate is living out her ultimate dream, launching her own magazine, with an all-too-handsome business partner. The baby of the family, Serena, is one of the country's most beautiful actresses, on the cusp of international stardom, but her party-girl lifestyle is bringing about more scandal than success.

The girls are the darlings of the London paparazzi, but when Lord Balcon turns up dead, the shadow of suspicion falls on his four daughters. A jealous tyrant, Daddy has tried to bring his daughters down all their lives. These four women -- at the top of their careers in show business, publishing, interior design, and politics -- must face an awful accusation, and each other, as they try to discover the truth that lies beneath the glossy surface of their lives. The facade of the Balcon family hides a web of deceit and betrayal, in which a thirty-year-old secret lurks, threatening to destroy them all.

From the sun-drenched beaches of the Caribbean to Manhattan's elite society circuit, from the exclusive fashion houses of Milan to the star-studded streets of Cannes, the Balcon sisters play out their lives in a whirl of glitz and the ultra chic. But as tragedy and danger stalk every one of them, the scene is set for a stunning climax.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #628441 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780743296359
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Four daughters of wealthy Lord Oswald Balcon come under suspicion after he takes a fatal tumble in magazine journalist Perry's debut, a delightful offering for the beach set. Each daughter has a plausible motive. Actress Serena Balcon is involved with a ruthless hotelier tycoon, and her ensuing pregnancy could mean she carries the next Huntsford baron, but her father won't allow an illegitimate child to inherit the family fortune. Recently fired women's magazine editor Cate wants to put her own spin on a new upscale travel and fashion magazine, but daddy dearest tries to undermine it from the get-go. Venetia, head of a successful design company, yearns to branch out to the States, but dad, an important company shareholder, puts the kibosh on that as well. Barrister Camilla is singled out by her law firm to run for a vacant House of Commons seat, but Oswald, who has lost his seat in the House of Lords, tries to quash his daughter's political ambitions. The writing and plotting are swift, but Perry slaps on an unsatisfying conclusion and a too-pat epilogue. Still, her spicy first novel about four impossibly glam sisters and their power-driven, cantankerous father made a big splash in the U.K. and will likely do the same here. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Perry delivers glamour, romance, and intrigue in the tradition of Jackie Collins but with a decidedly contemporary twist. The Balcon sisters are a new breed of British nobility--rich but not idle. No, these four beauties have high ambitions. They are Serena, the "it girl" actress; Cate, the overachieving magazine editor; Camilla, the budding politician; and Venetia, the head of a design empire. When their father drowns in the estate moat, fingers point at the sisters, who stand to benefit from his death. So they get to work clearing their names and unearthing some long-buried secrets. This tasty tome offers a voyeuristic view of life filled with high fashion, glitzy parties, and luxurious retreats, with risque sex and murder thrown into the mix. The perfect fix for readers looking for a frivolous treat, it's bound to make its way into a bevy of beach totes this summer. Aleksandra Kostovski
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Tasmina Perry is a former attorney who gave up a career in law to move into the more glamorous world of women's magazine journalism. She has written on celebrity and style for many magazines, including Marie Claire and Glamour, and most recently was deputy editor in chief of In Style (UK). She lives in London with her husband and son.

Customer Reviews

A great beach read!
I picked this up in paperback passing through Heathrow on my way to the beach in Southern Italy. This was a great find! A thick book, but it kept me turning the pages.

The story of four successful sisters-- an actress, a lawyer/judge, an interior designer, and a magazine editor. The story follows each one, their career, loves, and the relationship with their father, a once powerful politician (House of Lords) whose appearance isn't quite reality. The ending brings an entirely new turn to the book.

Drama, mystery, love story(ies)--all rolled into one great book.

Brain Candy - fun, tasty, but offering little literary substance
Daddy's Girls by Tasmina Perry is the story of the four powerful, successful, beautiful-but-flawed daughters of the wealthy and cruel Lord Oswald Balcon. Cate is a recently fired magazine editor with big ambitions to open her own up-scale travel/fashion magazine. Venetia is an interior decorator who longs to have a baby. She's married to a nasty closet-bisexual who seems to be doing everything in his power to keep her from realizing any of her goals. Camilla is a smart and savvy lawyer with an eye on a political position. Finally, there's Serena, a Victora Beckham type celebrity who likes to party and has an ego as big as Paris (the city, not the Hilton, though, that works too!).

Each woman comes under suspicion after their father takes a nasty fall from the ramparts of the family castle. As the story unfolds, we learn about the women's lives, loves, and the skeletons in their closets. We also learn about Lord Balcon; his shady dealings, other-worldly arrogance, and abusive relationships. We soon discover that each woman has a solid motive for wanting to push cranky old Lord Balcon off the castle walls.

Daddy's Girls is a good beach read, though it is little more than that. It is brain candy - fun, tasty, but offering little literary substance. There are flaws, too. The character development is a bit shaky. Venetia's character starts out weak and wishy-washy but ends up strong and fierce without the benefit of true character growth. We, as readers, never see the stages of her metamorphosis, just the end result. Camilla is only in the book briefly and we never get a true sense of who she is, only what she wants. Cate and Serena are the big players here, and they are interesting. Readers might be disappointed by Serena's sudden growth and the neat little way the author resolved the Tom-Serena love situation at the end.

The plot moved along at a brisk, keep you interested pace, but seemed too pat, too convenient at the end.

On the whole, Daddy's Girls was a good novel, offering readers a peek into the decadent, flawed world of the rich and narcissistic.

Good from beginning to end
It was hard to put this book down. The action and the characters were very well written. Everything fell into place right up to the action filled ending.
The characters were made very clear. Everything was brought together in the end and nothing was left to questioning.