How Not to Murder Your Ex by Katie Marsh - #bookreview #blogtour

 

On the many occasions Clio had imagined murdering her husband, it had never been anything like this. Her mind's eye had always turned away from what came next - avoiding the gore that would accompany the click of a trigger or the scream that might follow his flailing body after it was pushed from a cliff. She had never been serious, anyway. Everyone knew that. It was just Clio saying her piece, moaning about Gary the way she always did. People thought it was funny - last week her darts team had even stuck his picture over the bullseye for their Friday night match...

***

It is 5:30 am on Clio's forty-fifth birthday and her hated ex is lying dead on her doorstep. Even worse, this is no accident. Someone’s killed him...

When single mum Clio’s ex Gary turns up dead on the doorstep of her caravan – the one she’s been forced to live in ever since he stole every penny she had – there’s only one suspect. Her.

What’s more, she doesn’t remember much about the night he was killed – not just because of the forgetfulness that’s been plaguing her along with the hot flushes – but because she definitely had one too many cocktails with her two best friends Amber and Jeanie.

Clio does remember them talking about how much they all hated him though. And, in the frame for murder, she has to ask herself – if she didn’t kill Gary, who did? One of his many enemies? Or someone a little closer to home? And can she and her friends find the real killer before it’s too late?

***

This is an excellent book about the friendship of three women, Clio, Amber and Jeanie. It is about the lengths they will go to protect their friend when she is wrongly accused of murder.

In fact, whilst there is much to recommend this book, it is the friendship between the three women that is to the fore. They never doubt one another, and at all times the bond between them is their focus, sometimes to the detriment of their own families. At other times, it is the wider family that drive their actions and cement their bond even further.

Throughout the book, the chapters are presented from the perspective of each of the three women which provides further insight into their thoughts and actions. However, the are also chapters devoted to the perspective of the murder victim, Gary. He was not a character that the author intended us to like. In fact, the insight into his mind and conceitedness was sufficient to make us sympathise with Clio even further.

There were sufficient twists and turns in the mystery element of this book to keep me guessing. In fact, it was only shortly before the reveal that I realised who the murderer was.

The book finished at a point where there is ample scope for this to become a series. I sincerely hope that the author does continue with this as the book was both engaging and entertaining and I would love to read more of these characters.

ISBN:  978 1785138768

Publisher:  Boldwood Books

Formats:  e-book, audio and hardback

No. of Pages:  308 (hardback)

About the Author:

Katie Marsh wrote five bestselling, uplifting women’s fiction novels before turning to cosy crime for Boldwood. Previously published by Hodder, the first in her new crime series  How Not To Murder Your Ex, following the fortunes of the Bad Girls Detective Agency, will be published in December 2023.

(ARC and all media courtesy of Rachel's Random Resources)

(all opinions are my own)