Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
When you read a lot of thrillers like I do, reading that a book features a serial killer is almost to be expected. However, if you think THIS novel is just another serial killer novel, you would be sadly underestimating it. It was written by Belinda Bauer – therefore it is brilliant!
Eve Singer is twenty-nine years old and makes her living off of other’s people’s traumas. She is a television journalist working what her colleagues call the ‘meat beat’. Accidents and murders are standard fare, the bloodier the better. That’s what the viewers crave. She is ambitious, but at what cost?
As if her working life wasn’t enough to jade her perspective, her home life would do it for sure. She lives with her Dad who is in his mid-fifties and suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s. She has a carer to sit with him whilst she is at work, but evenings and weekends are all on her. It is an arduous, soul-wrenching, and thankless endeavor. He seldom knows who she is.
Because of her circumstances, Eve is a loner. She doesn’t want anyone to know just how dismal her life has become. Not even her work partner, her cameraman, knows the true extent of her misery and disheartenment. Three years his elder, she is quite fond of Joe, but won’t open herself up to him thinking she is too old and jaded for him.
Eve’s next door neighbour is an odd old duck. Mr. Elias is a widower who keeps his property and environs in a fastidious manner. He has always seemed disapproving to Eve – who imagines him to be a ‘dirty old man’. He is not. Lonely and misunderstood, he cleans the neighbourhood red phone box, making it the pride of the street. He made me think of ‘Norris Cole’ on Coronation Street. He will prove to be a valuable ally for Eve.
The story, which takes place in the weeks leading up to Christmas, goes back and forth from Eve’s point of view to that of the ‘killer’. He is a tragic and twisted figure to be sure. When he was just a child he had a serious surgery. Hearing a grown-up comment that he was living on ‘borrowed time‘, he took the comment literally. Now, in his perverse brain, he believes that by killing other people he will live longer. He anticipates the death of others believing that their time that is cut short will be added on to his time.
When Eve covers one of his crimes he notices her – and follows her home! Terrified, as only a woman alone on a street at night can be when she hears footsteps behind her, Eve does the unexpected. She turns around, confronts him, and asks him to walk her home. The killer is so taken aback that someone actually trusts him, he spares Eve’s life. Then he feels that they are connected in some way – that she understands his needs.
He makes Eve privy to his plans, the result of which she witnesses a grisly killing in a busy London underground station.
William Stafford Vandenberg lives alone in a mansion flat. Empty now because he has either sold or burned all of its contents. ‘Psycho‘-like, his mother lies in a bed upstairs. She has been dead for years… His crimes escalate. Each time he kills someone he gives advance warning in the form of a ‘flyer’. This fact is discovered by Eve, who gives the information to the police. When Eve’s life is threatened, the police supply her with a bodyguard. What a joke she thinks! Her ‘bodyguard’ is a five-foot tall, one hundred pound woman! But, Emily Aguda is a force to be reckoned with – as Eve soon finds out. The fact that people underestimate Emily Aguda is in fact her greatest strength.
The novel is fast paced throughout, but the final chapters whiz by as the tension ratchets up even more. When Eve’s father is threatened and abducted by Vandenberg, she tries to take back control of her life – to her peril.
I thoroughly enjoyed “The beautiful dead“. Bauer’s writing is of high caliber and her pacing and characterization is top notch. Highly recommended to all who love suspense fiction.
Eve Singer is twenty-nine years old and makes her living off of other’s people’s traumas. She is a television journalist working what her colleagues call the ‘meat beat’. Accidents and murders are standard fare, the bloodier the better. That’s what the viewers crave. She is ambitious, but at what cost?
As if her working life wasn’t enough to jade her perspective, her home life would do it for sure. She lives with her Dad who is in his mid-fifties and suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s. She has a carer to sit with him whilst she is at work, but evenings and weekends are all on her. It is an arduous, soul-wrenching, and thankless endeavor. He seldom knows who she is.
Because of her circumstances, Eve is a loner. She doesn’t want anyone to know just how dismal her life has become. Not even her work partner, her cameraman, knows the true extent of her misery and disheartenment. Three years his elder, she is quite fond of Joe, but won’t open herself up to him thinking she is too old and jaded for him.
Eve’s next door neighbour is an odd old duck. Mr. Elias is a widower who keeps his property and environs in a fastidious manner. He has always seemed disapproving to Eve – who imagines him to be a ‘dirty old man’. He is not. Lonely and misunderstood, he cleans the neighbourhood red phone box, making it the pride of the street. He made me think of ‘Norris Cole’ on Coronation Street. He will prove to be a valuable ally for Eve.
The story, which takes place in the weeks leading up to Christmas, goes back and forth from Eve’s point of view to that of the ‘killer’. He is a tragic and twisted figure to be sure. When he was just a child he had a serious surgery. Hearing a grown-up comment that he was living on ‘borrowed time‘, he took the comment literally. Now, in his perverse brain, he believes that by killing other people he will live longer. He anticipates the death of others believing that their time that is cut short will be added on to his time.
When Eve covers one of his crimes he notices her – and follows her home! Terrified, as only a woman alone on a street at night can be when she hears footsteps behind her, Eve does the unexpected. She turns around, confronts him, and asks him to walk her home. The killer is so taken aback that someone actually trusts him, he spares Eve’s life. Then he feels that they are connected in some way – that she understands his needs.
He makes Eve privy to his plans, the result of which she witnesses a grisly killing in a busy London underground station.
William Stafford Vandenberg lives alone in a mansion flat. Empty now because he has either sold or burned all of its contents. ‘Psycho‘-like, his mother lies in a bed upstairs. She has been dead for years… His crimes escalate. Each time he kills someone he gives advance warning in the form of a ‘flyer’. This fact is discovered by Eve, who gives the information to the police. When Eve’s life is threatened, the police supply her with a bodyguard. What a joke she thinks! Her ‘bodyguard’ is a five-foot tall, one hundred pound woman! But, Emily Aguda is a force to be reckoned with – as Eve soon finds out. The fact that people underestimate Emily Aguda is in fact her greatest strength.
The novel is fast paced throughout, but the final chapters whiz by as the tension ratchets up even more. When Eve’s father is threatened and abducted by Vandenberg, she tries to take back control of her life – to her peril.
I thoroughly enjoyed “The beautiful dead“. Bauer’s writing is of high caliber and her pacing and characterization is top notch. Highly recommended to all who love suspense fiction.
This is the third book I've read by Belinda Bauer, and although I've found them all entertaining, there's something about her writing style that I find tedious. Namely, that she seems to think character development means giving the reader all sorts of mundane details about her minor characters. Sometimes she's able to weave all of these character details into a seamless and satisfying conclusion (Example: Rubbernecker). Other times, by the time you reach the end of the novel, many of the details are revealed to be superfluous. That is the case with the Beautiful Dead. In my opinion, Bauer spends too much time fleshing out the minor characters and it negatively effects this novel's pacing. I would have found the mystery and suspense more enjoyable if they had been a little more streamlined
I thought it started off really promising with this real feeling, tense scene. However, the skill displayed there was actually the downfall of the novel (for me) later on. Those extra point of view scenes often felt too detail laden for a story that should be zipping along. It just killed the tension for me.
Not nearly as good as Rubbernecker, but still entertaining and quick. Less of a thriller than I expect the writer intended.
I read this right after finishing The Woman in Cabin 10 and it was everything I had wanted in a mystery/thriller book. I loved the glimpses into the killers mind and the peak into true crime reporting. The main character was someone who worked hard and took care of her ailing father, but also fiercely protected her job and life from interacting. It hooked me right away and it was interesting to see how the story unfolded. I wouldn't say it was the best thing ever, but a solid dip into the mystery/thriller genre that kept me hooked and entertained.
If there is one author that never let's me down, it's Belinda Bauer. She became my instant auto-buy back in 2018.
The Beautiful Dead is full on from the very first page until the last. It made me chuckle, it made me anxious and roll my eyes, it made me sad and a bit emotional- it was just everything.
I felt particularly close to Eve's and Duncan's relationship, right from the start, and found many moments as if they were written off from my life. (No not the killings, calm down!)
I could've easily have inhaled this in one sitting if I'd had the time.
Cannot recommend enough.
Ps! Duncan.. what a legend!
The Beautiful Dead is full on from the very first page until the last. It made me chuckle, it made me anxious and roll my eyes, it made me sad and a bit emotional- it was just everything.
I felt particularly close to Eve's and Duncan's relationship, right from the start, and found many moments as if they were written off from my life. (No not the killings, calm down!)
I could've easily have inhaled this in one sitting if I'd had the time.
Cannot recommend enough.
Ps! Duncan.. what a legend!
I get excited when a book opens with a murder, it’s a great indicator that this is my kind of read! The tone and pace of this book are set in it’s opening pages and continue throughout the entire book; there wasn’t one moment where the story dropped in enjoyment levels.
Murder is his act, the world is his stage and this serial killer has cast Eve as his leading lady. When I picked up this book, I was anticipating a completely different plot to the one I got, and in its own way, that was refreshing. For Bauer to take this storyline in an unexpected direction immediately caught my interest. This isn’t a “whodunit”, as I had expected, but rather a light-hearted thriller, made enjoyable by its dark humour and suspenseful nature. Once I realised the direction of the story, I just enjoyed it for what it was – no major plot twist, nothing sinister or chilling, but instead, characters that come to life on the page.
If you don’t like your crime too gritty, this maybe the perfect read for you. Yes, there’s lots of murder, kind of a given when a serial killer is involved. However, the murders are gruesome but the detail is not, the violence is not hard to read or chilling in anyway but it fits perfectly with the tone of the book – dark and entertaining. Throughout the read, I didn’t think too deeply about where the story was going, I just enjoyed each page, mainly because Bauer created a great cast of characters.
Eve is a fantastic protagonist, the witty banter between her and Guy, a rival reporter, was thoroughly entertaining. Her relationship with her cameraman, Joe, was lovely, I don’t often hope for a character romance, but here, I was secretly hoping the two became more than just friends. One surprising element of this story was Eve’s personal life, alongside her job, she cares for her dad who suffers from Dementia. These were some of my favourite paragraphs to read because they really allowed me, as the reader, to connect with Eve – to view her as a real person and become a little bit emotional at some of the encounters between her and her father.
Overall, I appreciate the originality of this book, Bauer’s ability to write a book completely different to the one I expected and I have no reservation recommending this book. So, all that’s left to do is close this review with my two favourite quotes:
“Her whole career was built on the bones of the dead and the tears of the bereaved.”
“Humanity enjoys only two states of truth and beauty: the newborn and the corpse…”
Murder is his act, the world is his stage and this serial killer has cast Eve as his leading lady. When I picked up this book, I was anticipating a completely different plot to the one I got, and in its own way, that was refreshing. For Bauer to take this storyline in an unexpected direction immediately caught my interest. This isn’t a “whodunit”, as I had expected, but rather a light-hearted thriller, made enjoyable by its dark humour and suspenseful nature. Once I realised the direction of the story, I just enjoyed it for what it was – no major plot twist, nothing sinister or chilling, but instead, characters that come to life on the page.
If you don’t like your crime too gritty, this maybe the perfect read for you. Yes, there’s lots of murder, kind of a given when a serial killer is involved. However, the murders are gruesome but the detail is not, the violence is not hard to read or chilling in anyway but it fits perfectly with the tone of the book – dark and entertaining. Throughout the read, I didn’t think too deeply about where the story was going, I just enjoyed each page, mainly because Bauer created a great cast of characters.
Eve is a fantastic protagonist, the witty banter between her and Guy, a rival reporter, was thoroughly entertaining. Her relationship with her cameraman, Joe, was lovely, I don’t often hope for a character romance, but here, I was secretly hoping the two became more than just friends. One surprising element of this story was Eve’s personal life, alongside her job, she cares for her dad who suffers from Dementia. These were some of my favourite paragraphs to read because they really allowed me, as the reader, to connect with Eve – to view her as a real person and become a little bit emotional at some of the encounters between her and her father.
Overall, I appreciate the originality of this book, Bauer’s ability to write a book completely different to the one I expected and I have no reservation recommending this book. So, all that’s left to do is close this review with my two favourite quotes:
“Her whole career was built on the bones of the dead and the tears of the bereaved.”
“Humanity enjoys only two states of truth and beauty: the newborn and the corpse…”
Ooh, this is an irritating novel! At times, it is brilliant - taut writing that keeps you wanting to read on, nice moments of humour - but at others the writing just drags. There’s too many chapters where we are moved away from the plot for the backstory of every character, however minor. I found myself rolling my eyes at yet another superfluous tangent far too often. Bauer can write well but is too self-indulgent, and her editors too lenient, resulting in far too much unnecessary padding. Plus, I never felt engaged with main character Eve. Her potential love interest and the police superintendent were both more engaging than her.
I acquired this book at a Proof Party 4 years ago, and must have seen Bauer talking about this then just-about-to-be-released novel, though I don’t remember the occasion, to be honest. I made a note in the book that I found the author a little arrogant. Sadly, I found this book to be evidence that she is not as good as she thinks she is.
I acquired this book at a Proof Party 4 years ago, and must have seen Bauer talking about this then just-about-to-be-released novel, though I don’t remember the occasion, to be honest. I made a note in the book that I found the author a little arrogant. Sadly, I found this book to be evidence that she is not as good as she thinks she is.
It was a nice book. I liked it but not loved it. I can say that I loved a book of I can complete it within 48hrs. When the beginning of a thriller is with a murder then it gets one more point from me. It was a good read but not unputdownable.
Read my other book reviews at booksibled.wordpress.com
I’m quite fussy about crime fiction. Too often I find it unnerving and not for the right reasons. Crime fiction as a genre is generally written by men, often with men as the focal point. That’s not to say there isn’t crime fiction written by women, or written by men with women as their main characters but I’m generalising because it directly links to my main issue with crime fiction and, I suppose with the real world too.
I’m sick of women being murdered.
I love a good murder mystery, Midsummer Murders is such a big part of my family’s TV lives that we can watch 30 seconds of it and my mum will be able to tell you if we’ve seen it before and probably who the murderer is. I loved Castle before it got a bit…meh, I have a huge amount of affection for The Mentalist and Thomas Harris’ Hannibal Lecter series too. Britain in particular has had a strange fascination with murder for centuries, as detailed in a fantastic book and TV series by Lucy Worsley both called ‘A Very British Murder’ which I highly recommend. Also there’s a podcast called ‘My Favourite Murder’ which is awesome if you’re really interested in murder and mystery but not in gang killings or your average wife-beating waste of space. It’s much more about why people snap and the freaky unsolved stuff or bungled investigations and that sort of thing…but I digress.
Writing about murder for people interested in murder shouldn’t mean you can just go about ripping women up and degrading them in your book just because your story isn’t about them but your self-insert hero with a tragic past who all the ladies love and yet he’s so mysterious he has to leave in the night to save the seemingly endless population of faceless, history-less and friendless prostitutes once again being terrorised by a fiendish and highly intelligent mastermind. I’m just kind of over the descriptions of entrails and missing but shapely limbs, the lifeless staring eyes and soulless pink smeared mouths. Because we all know, the author/hero isn’t really in it for that poor meat puzzle woman but for the thrill of the game that inevitably follows. At the end of the day, she’s still in bits in a morgue and he’s drinking whisky out of a hip-flask, waving a gun around and winking at every attractive woman he sees, it’s boring and it’s heartless.
Now you’re wondering why I bothered to pick this up aren’t you. Well, firstly it’s written by a woman and the main character is a woman. Secondly I was interested by the premise of a crime reporter who hated gore to the extent that it makes her sick and of Belinda’s decision to deal with dementia and mental illness as well. Thirdly I had a long train journey to make and no book and it was fairly cheap. So sue me.
I’m not going to say that it was fantastic and everything I wanted from a good crime story because that would be a lie. Some of the ideas were a little too familiar to someone who used to watch a lot of crime dramas. But that being said, I will give it this: I was surprised by this book. I started reading ready and raring to tear it apart and the opening scene with yet another shoe obsessed, faceless, unimportant woman chased down in her work building and stabbed repeatedly did nothing to change that. But I did actually start getting into it. I was interested by Eve Singer and her life looking after her sick father. The love story was so unimportant to the story line that you barely know it’s there which was good because I don’t think it would have been believable otherwise and also I found the killer creepy and understandably hard to catch.
I still think that it’s problematic to cast the clearly mentally ill person as a serial killer. I still think that his reason for killing was a bit weird and that, on the whole, the whole it was all a little unconvincing. But it kept me reading right to the end and there were genuinely moments when I felt I just had to know what happened next. If you like murder mysteries, especially ones with women as main characters rather than sexualised still-life dolls, then I think this is one of the better ones I’ve read but it’s no ‘Black Eyed Susans’. As for me, I’m heading back into the world of fantasy thanks.
P.S. If you like crime fiction, especially crime fiction driven by the journey of a fairly average woman who doesn’t like violence then this is the book for you. But personally I’m not rushing out to delve back into crime fiction any time soon.
I’m quite fussy about crime fiction. Too often I find it unnerving and not for the right reasons. Crime fiction as a genre is generally written by men, often with men as the focal point. That’s not to say there isn’t crime fiction written by women, or written by men with women as their main characters but I’m generalising because it directly links to my main issue with crime fiction and, I suppose with the real world too.
I’m sick of women being murdered.
I love a good murder mystery, Midsummer Murders is such a big part of my family’s TV lives that we can watch 30 seconds of it and my mum will be able to tell you if we’ve seen it before and probably who the murderer is. I loved Castle before it got a bit…meh, I have a huge amount of affection for The Mentalist and Thomas Harris’ Hannibal Lecter series too. Britain in particular has had a strange fascination with murder for centuries, as detailed in a fantastic book and TV series by Lucy Worsley both called ‘A Very British Murder’ which I highly recommend. Also there’s a podcast called ‘My Favourite Murder’ which is awesome if you’re really interested in murder and mystery but not in gang killings or your average wife-beating waste of space. It’s much more about why people snap and the freaky unsolved stuff or bungled investigations and that sort of thing…but I digress.
Writing about murder for people interested in murder shouldn’t mean you can just go about ripping women up and degrading them in your book just because your story isn’t about them but your self-insert hero with a tragic past who all the ladies love and yet he’s so mysterious he has to leave in the night to save the seemingly endless population of faceless, history-less and friendless prostitutes once again being terrorised by a fiendish and highly intelligent mastermind. I’m just kind of over the descriptions of entrails and missing but shapely limbs, the lifeless staring eyes and soulless pink smeared mouths. Because we all know, the author/hero isn’t really in it for that poor meat puzzle woman but for the thrill of the game that inevitably follows. At the end of the day, she’s still in bits in a morgue and he’s drinking whisky out of a hip-flask, waving a gun around and winking at every attractive woman he sees, it’s boring and it’s heartless.
Now you’re wondering why I bothered to pick this up aren’t you. Well, firstly it’s written by a woman and the main character is a woman. Secondly I was interested by the premise of a crime reporter who hated gore to the extent that it makes her sick and of Belinda’s decision to deal with dementia and mental illness as well. Thirdly I had a long train journey to make and no book and it was fairly cheap. So sue me.
I’m not going to say that it was fantastic and everything I wanted from a good crime story because that would be a lie. Some of the ideas were a little too familiar to someone who used to watch a lot of crime dramas. But that being said, I will give it this: I was surprised by this book. I started reading ready and raring to tear it apart and the opening scene with yet another shoe obsessed, faceless, unimportant woman chased down in her work building and stabbed repeatedly did nothing to change that. But I did actually start getting into it. I was interested by Eve Singer and her life looking after her sick father. The love story was so unimportant to the story line that you barely know it’s there which was good because I don’t think it would have been believable otherwise and also I found the killer creepy and understandably hard to catch.
I still think that it’s problematic to cast the clearly mentally ill person as a serial killer. I still think that his reason for killing was a bit weird and that, on the whole, the whole it was all a little unconvincing. But it kept me reading right to the end and there were genuinely moments when I felt I just had to know what happened next. If you like murder mysteries, especially ones with women as main characters rather than sexualised still-life dolls, then I think this is one of the better ones I’ve read but it’s no ‘Black Eyed Susans’. As for me, I’m heading back into the world of fantasy thanks.
P.S. If you like crime fiction, especially crime fiction driven by the journey of a fairly average woman who doesn’t like violence then this is the book for you. But personally I’m not rushing out to delve back into crime fiction any time soon.