Book Review: WHO IS MAUD DIXON? by Alexandra Andrews

 

Title: WHO IS MAUD DIXON?

Author:  Alexandra Andrews

Read: October 2021

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Book Description:

 

Florence Darrow wants to be a writer. Correction: Florence Darrow IS going to be a writer. Fired from her first job in publishing, she jumps at the chance to be assistant to the celebrated Maud Dixon, the anonymous bestselling novelist. The arrangement comes with conditions - high secrecy, living in an isolated house in the countryside­. Before long, the two of them are on a research trip to Morocco, to inspire the much-promised second novel. Beach walks, red sunsets and long, whisky-filled evening discussions...win-win, surely? Until Florence wakes up in a hospital, having narrowly survived a car crash.

How did it happen - and where is Maud Dixon, who was in the car with her? Florence feels she may have been played, but wait, if Maud is no longer around, maybe Florence can make her mark as a writer after all...

My musings:

 

Sometimes you accidentally stumble across a book that turns out to be wickedly good fun to read – if two ruthless women pitted against one another can be described as such. I knew very little about WHO IS MAUD DIXON, except that it involved a reclusive writer and a trip to Morocco, which promised some delicious armchair travel to a place that has always intrigued me. So I picked it up on a whim and just ran with it!

 

If you have read the blurb then you already know too much about this book. As is the case with a lot of mysteries, going in blindly was a good thing here as the story took me along dark alleyways I had not expected. But don’t despair, because even if the story seems straight forward, it takes a turn I had not anticipated, and so the fun begins ...

 

Some great themes here: a book within a book, a mysterious recluse, some murderous intent and identity theft, seasoned with a good dose of dark humour and satire. I loved following these two competitive and devious women down the garden path to murder and mayhem – it was all wildly entertaining. Whilst some readers have pointed out the slow start to the story, I thought it set the scene well and gave me a good grasp of Florence’s character, which came in handy later. My only gripe was a coincidental encounter later in the book, which was odd and out of place, but hey, it certainly didn’t take the enjoyment away from the twisty finale. That’s really all I can say without giving away spoilers, and I would hate to do that!

 

All in all, WHO IS MAUD DIXON was a dark, twisted and yet wildly entertaining character study of two women who craved success and would stop at nothing to get there. With a theme of books, writing and a book-within-a-book, it was a no brainer that I would pick it up, and the armchair travel to Morocco was an added bonus. Recommended to readers who love a slow burning, dark character study and a clever twist at the end.