A review by ruthie_the_librarian
The Best Way to Bury Your Husband by Alexia Casale

mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 Seeing the cover of what I was reading certainly had my husband on edge, which was entertaining, but I came away from the book with some mixed feelings. The idea for the story is a good one, and certainly highlights an important part of the Covid history - the enormous impact lockdown had on the UK's already very high domestic abuse figures. But it lacked something in the execution for me, at times. I felt it was quite slow to get going - there's a lot of pre-amble to get the women to a point where they've even met each other. I felt that after Sally talks to her children and tells them she's separating from their father the book's pace did improve. But by that point they were already into the final push towards creating the false footprints of the men, and disposing of the bodies. Prior to that I had almost given up on reading any further, as I was finding myself feeling anxious whilst reading (more stressful than humour/cosy mystery). But her talks with her children were moving, and made Sally feel real in a way I wasn't sure she had prior to that point.

I had seen the ending coming (I don't think it was meant to be a big twist - it's fairly obvious), and I did enjoy the unhinged yet exciting journey at the end.

So overall, I did enjoy it but it wasn't as good as I'd thought it might be. But it deals with really important topics that people don't often talk about, so if it's helpful in expanding the conversations around domestic abuse then that can only be a good thing.

With thanks to Net Galley for my copy. 
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