Title: The Next to Die
Expected publication: February 2019
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Book Description:
What if having a best friend could put you in the crosshairs
of a killer?
A psychopath the police have dubbed “Billy Dead Mates” is targeting pairs of best friends, and killing them one by one. Before they die, each victim is given a small white book.
For months, detectives have failed to catch Billy, or figure out what the white books symbolize and why the killer leaves them behind. The police are on edge; the public in a panic. Then a woman, scared by what she’s seen on the news, comes forward. What she reveals shocks the investigators and adds another troubling layer to an already complex case.
Stand-up comedian Kim Tribbeck has one of Billy’s peculiar little books. A stranger gave it to her at a gig she did last year. Was the stranger Billy, and is he targeting her—or is it something more nefarious? Kim has no friends and trusts no one, so how—and why—could Billy Dead Mates want to target her? If it’s not her, then who will be the next to die?
A psychopath the police have dubbed “Billy Dead Mates” is targeting pairs of best friends, and killing them one by one. Before they die, each victim is given a small white book.
For months, detectives have failed to catch Billy, or figure out what the white books symbolize and why the killer leaves them behind. The police are on edge; the public in a panic. Then a woman, scared by what she’s seen on the news, comes forward. What she reveals shocks the investigators and adds another troubling layer to an already complex case.
Stand-up comedian Kim Tribbeck has one of Billy’s peculiar little books. A stranger gave it to her at a gig she did last year. Was the stranger Billy, and is he targeting her—or is it something more nefarious? Kim has no friends and trusts no one, so how—and why—could Billy Dead Mates want to target her? If it’s not her, then who will be the next to die?
My musings:
I love books that feature unusual protagonists, so this one
fitted right into that category. Kim Tribbeck is a stand-up comedian who, like
most comedians, has a dark side, and some unusual quirks. I loved seeing the
world through her POV, and she really drove the story for me.
The premise itself is intriguing – a serial killer is on the
loose, targeting pairs of best friends. Who knew that friendship could be so
deadly! Shortly before their deaths, each victim is given a small white book
with a cryptic message that has police totally baffled. Watching the news, Kim
remembers an incident a few months ago when an audience member of one of her
shows had handed her a similar little book. Mystified, Kim had thrown it in the
bin without understanding its implications. But how does Kim fit into this,
when she doesn’t even have a best friend? In fact, Kim is a loner, having
recently split from her husband, and she is estranged from her family. So what
would Billy-Dead-Mates (which is what police have dubbed the killer – don’t you
love it?) want with her? Could her life be in danger?
I really enjoyed Sophie Hannah’s latest book, especially the
chapters narrated by Kim, who was such a quirky, fun character to get to know.
Being a comedian, she comes out with the most hilarious cynical quips, and her
observations are spot-on. Hannah tries to liven the book up by using different
formats to tell her tale: there are excerpts from a manuscript Kim Tribbeck is
writing about her life, emails, letters, “inspirational stories”, a newspaper
column all interspersed with the more traditional first and third person
narratives. There are also quite a number of different characters to keep track
of! I initially found some of these threads a bit confusing, but was happy with
the way it all came together in the end. I liken my reading experience to
putting together a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle – initially all you see is a jumble
of shapes, but when it all comes together there is a big collective sigh of
“Ahhhh! Yes, I see it now!” – which was quite good fun! If anything, some parts
of the investigation dragged slightly and could have done with some careful
editing, but I was so intrigued that it never lost my interest. I didn’t
realise that this book was part of the Spilling CID series, which I had not
read before. Seeing how I really liked DC Simon Waterhouse and his wife
Charlie, I may have to pick up earlier books in the series as well!
Summary:
All in all, The Next To Die was a slightly unusual but fun reading experience for me. I loved Kim’s character and would love to see her back in another book, realising that this is unlikely. If you are a reader who enjoys different narration styles and don’t mind getting taken along several plot-lines during the course of the story, then you will enjoy this one. The clever mystery at the core of it all was definitely worth the journey!
Thank
you to Edelweiss and William Morrow for the free electronic copy of this novel and
for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
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