You’d Look Better as a Ghost
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4.3 • 17 Ratings
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
* WINNER OF THE CRIME FICTION LOVER BEST DEBUT NOVEL AWARD *
'A welcome addition to darkly humorous female serial killer novels' - GUARDIAN
'Utterly unique, an absolute rollercoaster of a read' - DAILY MAIL
'Splendidly funny and buoyant' - DAILY EXPRESS
I have a gift. I see people as ghosts before they die.
Of course, it helps that I'm the one killing them.
The night after her father's funeral, Claire meets Lucas in a bar. Lucas doesn't know it, but it's not a chance meeting. One thoughtless mistyped email has put him in the crosshairs of an extremely put-out serial killer. But even before they make eye contact, before Claire lets him buy her a drink, before she takes him home and carves him up into little pieces, something about that night is very wrong. Because someone is watching Claire. Someone who is about to discover her murderous little hobby.
The thing is, it's not sensible to tangle with a part-time serial killer, even one who is distracted by attending a weekly bereavement support group and trying to get her art career off the ground. Claire will do anything to keep her secret hidden - not to mention the bodies buried in her garden. Let the games begin...
'Refreshingly original and laugh-out-loud funny' - CLARE MACKINTOSH
'Delightfully shocking and irreverently funny' - JANICE HALLETT
'I doubt I'll read a more original thriller this year' - JACK JORDAN
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An irritable 30-something serial killer narrates Wallace's deliciously eerie and darkly funny debut. While attending her father's funeral, struggling visual artist Claire receives an email from Lucas Kane, administrator of a prestigious art prize, informing her that her painting has been shortlisted. Claire is elated, but the following morning, Lucas sends a contrite follow-up clarifying that the first message was sent in error. Considering his apology insincere, Claire stalks, seduces, murders, and buries Lucas in her back garden. Then her doctor, believing there's a link between Claire's blinding headaches and her grief over her father's death, suggests she join a bereavement counseling group that meets weekly in a suburban London church hall. She reluctantly agrees, and it's there that her problems truly begin: one of the group's fellow members knows about Claire's killings, and attempts to pressure her into joining a "grubby startup blackmailing business" that Lucas was involved with. As that cat-and-mouse game unfolds, Wallace weaves in poignant flashbacks from Claire's childhood that shed light on her relationship with her father. Wallace nails Claire's prickly voice (regarding her hippie-ish grief counselor: "I'm not disputing any of her credentials, but to me, Star looks like someone out-of-her-bloody-mind-fulness"), making readers more than happy to root for the unrepentant murderer as she navigates a series of surprising obstacles. It's an uncommonly assured debut from a promising new voice in crime fiction.
Customer Reviews
Fantastically good
I really enjoyed this book, Joanna Wallace is a great author. The story follows Claire who is a killer I disagree with the reviews that think the killings are too gruesome. Overall I could give this book five stars and more!! Thank you for the opportunity to read this - thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. I hope that this book is phenomenally successful!