This was a fun read, albeit one that took a little while to get into.
It opens with the birthday party – and death – of the wealthy Anthony Wistern. Impaled on a spike in a pool, his death draws interest and suspicion from far and wide. If he was murdered, who did it? One of his ungrateful grown-up children? His wife? Who else had cause to hate him?
There are three main viewpoints – the murdered Anthony himself, his wife Olivia, and a true crime obsessive – the ‘Sleuth’. None of the viewpoint characters, nor the murdered man’s children, are particularly sympathetic, and I think it does mean it’s a little tougher to get into this one. You’re less driven to find out who did it, if you don’t care too much about the implications.
But it is well-written, with some very funny and wryly-observed lines. With Anthony’s viewpoint (and I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say this, as it’s basically part of the premise), we also get to see a touch of the afterlife – or the inbetweeny-life – and that’s really quite funny too.
So it works well as a dark comedy and it’s interesting to see how it plays out, and who will get their comeuppance. I just wish I had someone to root for!
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