A review by mrtvavrana
Death in her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I love Ottessa Moshfegh, and I am always quite anxious to read a new book of hers. It is partly because of the excitement and partly out of fear that I will not enjoy the book. 

For some reason Moshfegh's books are really hard to review for me—I always struggle to express myself and to find the right words; I can't quite explain it. 

Death In Her Hands follows a 72-year-old woman called Vesta and her dog Charlie. Vesta finds a mysterious note in the woods near her cabin. The note says: Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn't me. Here is her dead body. The note sends Vesta on an adventure to find out what really happened. Unfortunately, all is not what it seems—solving the mystery of Magda´s death is not the book´s main goal. 

The mystery, you see, is not real. Vesta makes up the entire story, casting different people from a nearby town into specific roles she designed. As the story and the “mystery” within move, we see Vesta slowly descending into madness. Although it is not slow. In fact, the book takes place only over a couple of days. 

I thought that by now I was used to how dark and heavy Moshfegh's novels were, but I was genuinely surprised at some points. I love how she crafts her books—you are honestly never sure what is truly going on or what will happen. While Death In Her Hands was definitely more dull and less eventful, I think it beautifully executes what an unreliable narrator should be like. 

I definitely did not like this book as much as Lapvona or My Year of Rest and Relaxation, but I genuinely cannot get enough of the unlikeable female characters Moshfegh writes about. And I also think many people do not understand that that is the entire point.