Characters Daisy Darker Alice Feeney

Conor Kennedy: The Reporter with a Secret Past

Overview

Conor Kennedy is the Darker family’s neighbor and the object of Daisy’s lifelong, unrequited childhood crush. He enters the story as a nine‑year‑old boy yo‑yoing on Blacksand Bay and later becomes a BBC crime correspondent. By nightfall on Halloween 2022, Conor rows to Seaglass to attend Nana’s eightieth birthday—only to be murdered by Nana herself. His body is found with a yo‑yo around his neck and a newspaper stuffed in his mouth, a grim echo of his first appearance. Conor embodies the novel’s themes of hidden guilt, ambition, and the way family secrets entangle even those outside the bloodline.

Plot Role

Conor’s presence drives several key revelations. He arrives late on October 30, rowing through the storm, and is immediately welcomed by Nana but met with tension from the rest of the family. As the murders unfold, Conor acts as an amateur investigator, pointing out inconsistencies and accusing family members. He discovers Nancy’s body on the garden bench and later learns, through a DNA test on Nana’s Wall of Achievements, that he is the biological father of Trixie Darker. Most critically, the novel’s final twist reveals that Conor, along with Lily and Rose, was responsible for Daisy’s death in 1988: they threw her off a cliff. Nana murders Conor as part of her revenge for that cover‑up.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Conor is ambitious and driven. His career path—from local newspaper to network news to BBC crime correspondent—shows a relentless need to succeed, which Daisy interprets as a drug that can make a person “less than they were.” He is also protective: as a child he fought older boys to defend Lily and Rose’s reputation, and as an adult he insists on moving Nancy’s body inside despite Rose’s objections. Yet he can be insensitive, as when he makes a remark about Frank’s death that upsets Trixie. His secret paternity—kept from everyone, including himself until the DNA test is revealed—suggests a capacity for concealment and perhaps guilt. His confession to Daisy that he has been blaming her for years indicates he carried remorse, though he never confessed the truth about the cliff incident.

Chronological Arc

Conor first appears in 1979 on a hot summer day. At nine, he is a solitary boy with bruises and a yo‑yo, befriended by Nana and all three Darker girls. Over the following summers he becomes a fixture at Seaglass, sleeping in the log store after beatings from his father and being rescued by Nana. In 1983, during an Easter shopping trip, Daisy and Nancy find Conor limping with a black eye; Nancy confronts his father, only to discover Bradley Kennedy has reformed and Conor’s injuries came from defending Lily and Rose. Conor takes the Polaroid of the Darker women in matching blue dresses that Nana keeps for decades.

The pivotal event occurs at the Halloween beach party in 1988, when Conor sleeps with Lily and, along with Lily and Rose, throws Daisy off the cliff. This crime is covered up by the entire family. Conor’s father disappears the next day; Nana allows Conor to move in with her temporarily. He pursues journalism, eventually landing a front‑page interview with Nana that she frames.

In the present, Conor arrives at Seaglass on October 30, 2022. He participates in the locked‑room investigation, finding Nancy’s body and later learning he is Trixie’s father. After a flashback reveals he left the library to search the house, a loud thud is heard; his body is subsequently discovered in the cupboard under the stairs, neck broken, a yo‑yo around it. Nana confesses she poisoned him along with the others.

Relationships

With Daisy: Daisy harbors an unrequited love for Conor from age four. She thinks of him as “the most fascinating creature” and daydreams about sharing a room. Conor remains distant; he apologizes to her for years of blaming her, but never reciprocates her feelings. Daisy is unaware of his role in her own death until the final revelations.

With Lily: Conor and Lily had a sexual encounter during the 1988 Halloween party, resulting in Trixie. Lily never told him he was the father; the DNA test shocks him. Their relationship is fraught with tension and mutual suspicion during the murder night.

With Rose: Rose and Conor share a hidden alliance; they whisper together about the least likely suspect. Rose knows of the cover‑up and may have manipulated Conor. She accuses Daisy of the murders while Conor is still alive, but ultimately Rose is shot by Trixie.

With Nana: Nana is a maternal figure to Conor. She saved him from his abusive father, let him move in after his father’s disappearance, and framed his front‑page article as an achievement. Her betrayal—murdering him—is the most shocking, as she had always treated him as family.

With Trixie: Unbeknownst to Conor, he is Trixie’s biological father. He reacts with shock when learning the news. His death leaves Trixie orphaned.

With his father, Bradley Kennedy: Bradley was an alcoholic who beat Conor; Nana intervened after finding Conor asleep in the log store. Bradley later reformed but relapsed, and disappeared after the 1988 cover‑up. Conor never saw him again.

Key Decisions and Consequences

  • Slept with Lily at the 1988 beach party: This resulted in Trixie’s birth and a secret paternity that remained hidden for fourteen years. It also entangled Conor in the events that led to Daisy’s death.
  • Participated in Daisy’s death: Conor, along with Lily and Rose, threw Daisy off a cliff. The family covered it up, and Conor carried guilt for years, though he never confessed. This decision made him a target of Nana’s revenge.
  • Rowed to Seaglass on Halloween: Despite the storm, Conor chose to attend the birthday gathering. His arrival introduced a suspect and forced the family to confront the past.
  • Accused family members of murder: During the investigation, Conor pointed fingers at Frank and others, but his own hidden guilt made him an unreliable detective.
  • Left the library to search the house: This moment of bravery or folly led to his death. He reported no one upstairs, then a fall and thud signaled his murder.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Family Secrets and Betrayal: Conor’s hidden paternity and participation in Daisy’s death embody the novel’s core theme. He is both a victim and a perpetrator of betrayal, having slept with his friend’s sister and covered up a murder.

Unreliability of Memory: Conor’s childhood memories are filtered through guilt. Daisy notes that “things get a little hazy” in their first meeting; Conor’s own recollection of the 1988 party is likely distorted by trauma and shame.

Revenge and Justice: Nana kills Conor as part of her twisted justice for the cover‑up. He receives the same punishment as Lily and Rose: death by poison, with a symbolic sign (the yo‑yo) linking him to his innocent boyhood.

Guilt and Complicity: Conor’s career in crime reporting may have been an attempt to distance himself from his own crime. His apology to Daisy (“years of blaming her”) shows he redirected guilt onto her, but he never fully owned his actions until it was too late.

Identity and Invisibility: As a child, Conor was both visible (the only other child on the beach) and invisible (his bruises overlooked). As an adult, he achieves fame as a reporter, yet his true identity as Trixie’s father and Daisy’s killer remains hidden until the end.

The Yo‑Yo Symbol: Conor’s yo‑yo appears in his first scene and is used as the murder weapon’s marker. It symbolizes the cyclical nature of his fate: he comes and goes like a yo‑yo, and ultimately the string is cut.

5 Book‑Specific Questions with Direct Answers

Q: Why does Conor row to Seaglass in a storm? A: He is invited by Nana, and as a crime correspondent he may also sense a story. But deeper reasons include unresolved feelings about the Darker family and a need to confront his past.

Q: How does Conor react when he learns he is Trixie’s father? A: He stares at the framed DNA test in shock, then turns to look at Trixie who is sitting on the floor. He says nothing aloud, but the revelation clearly alters his understanding of his relationship with Lily and the family.

Q: What is Conor’s role in Daisy’s death? A: In 1988, Conor, along with Lily and Rose, threw Daisy off a cliff. He participated in both the act and the subsequent cover‑up. Nana learns the truth and murders him as revenge.

Q: Why does Conor apologize to Daisy during the murder night? A: He apologizes for “years of blaming her” for things that were not her fault. This suggests he redirected guilt over Daisy’s death onto her, and now, under pressure, he admits that was wrong.

Q: What is the significance of the yo‑yo found around Conor’s neck? A: It is a direct callback to his first appearance as a boy playing with a yo‑yo. The murder weapon—a yo‑yo strangling him—symbolizes the return of his childhood innocence corrupted by the family’s secrets, and foreshadows the cyclical nature of revenge.