The Ice Twins by S.K.Tremayne

From Goodreads

A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcraft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives.

But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity—that she, in fact, is Lydia—their world comes crashing down once again.

As winter encroaches, Angus is forced to travel away from the island for work, Sarah is feeling isolated, and Kirstie (or is it Lydia?) is growing more disturbed. When a violent storm leaves Sarah and her daughter stranded, Sarah finds herself tortured by the past—what really happened on that fateful day one of her daughters died? 

My thoughts

My thanks to the Publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This is an extremely clever premise and one that will have you thinking one thing and then rethinkng your original assumptions.

Kirstie & Lydia are dentical twins, as one of them dies in an accident, the Parents are left with their lives torn apart. Can they ever put their lives back in order and will one of them ever overcome some of the guilt that they feel?

They move away from their normal day to day life and take up residence on an unhabited Scottish island. In some ways you could almost think they were running away from the past, but can any of us ever run  from our past?

As life becomes a little more routine for them, they are dealt a new problem as the surviving twin Kirstie, reveals that she is in fact Lydia and that it was Kirstie who died BUT is she? The parents are at a loss as to who or what to believe anymore. The mother (Sarah) is particularly unstable already and this revelation is enough to tip her over the edge.

The characters are well portrayed and Kirstie/Lydia steals the story. She is quite a conniving manipulative complex character. She knows how to play her Mother and what strings to pull to the best effect.

This is a very dark atmospheric pyschological read, it's very thought provoking in my opinion and would make a great reading group read. A strong 10/10 from me.