A review by bites_of_books
What to Do When Someone Dies by Nicci French
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I picked up this mystery thriller on a whim when I visited my local bookstore. I am not very familiar with the mystery/thriller genre so this was a bit out of my comfort zone.
In this book we follow Ellie Faulkner's journey after her husband, Greg, dies in a car crash with a strange woman. As Ellie is trying to wrap her head around what just happened, she is also faced with the possibility that Greg might have been unfaithful to her. Between dealing with grief and all of the things that have to happen after someone dies (telling family and friends, funeral arrangements, grieving), she also starts to try to confirm if Greg was unfaithful or not. What follows is a case of her playing detective, lying to various people, and getting into a bit of a mess as the mystery starts to unravel.
While I thought that the plot was quite well crafted, at times I did find it tiring and a bit repetitive to be inside Ellie's mind throughout the book. This is certainly understandable since she's going through a lot, remembering her husband, and also trying to connect the dots surrounding his death but for me it made it a bit slower than I would have liked. The time jumps also seemed strange, but again, this might be to mirror Ellie's state of mind where some days just melt into others and all of a sudden it is weeks or months later, I just tend to like to have a better sense of the timeline for a mystery I'm trying to solve LOL.
Overall, if you're interested in a mystery thriller that really dives into someone processing grief, interesting twists, and a supporting cast of wonderful friends, then do check this one out! It's a nice read for rainy evenings with a hot cup of tea.
In this book we follow Ellie Faulkner's journey after her husband, Greg, dies in a car crash with a strange woman. As Ellie is trying to wrap her head around what just happened, she is also faced with the possibility that Greg might have been unfaithful to her. Between dealing with grief and all of the things that have to happen after someone dies (telling family and friends, funeral arrangements, grieving), she also starts to try to confirm if Greg was unfaithful or not. What follows is a case of her playing detective, lying to various people, and getting into a bit of a mess as the mystery starts to unravel.
While I thought that the plot was quite well crafted, at times I did find it tiring and a bit repetitive to be inside Ellie's mind throughout the book. This is certainly understandable since she's going through a lot, remembering her husband, and also trying to connect the dots surrounding his death but for me it made it a bit slower than I would have liked. The time jumps also seemed strange, but again, this might be to mirror Ellie's state of mind where some days just melt into others and all of a sudden it is weeks or months later, I just tend to like to have a better sense of the timeline for a mystery I'm trying to solve LOL.
Overall, if you're interested in a mystery thriller that really dives into someone processing grief, interesting twists, and a supporting cast of wonderful friends, then do check this one out! It's a nice read for rainy evenings with a hot cup of tea.