A quirky book on a serious subject: murder!

Felix Pink, a very law abiding 75-year-old retired gentleman, wanted to find something worthwhile to be involved in. He was widowed, so decided to join a group called “The Exiteers” . . . A very discreet group who helped people with assisted suicide . . . Just keeping on the right side of the law!

Occasionally this bespoke group would have a new member, hence Felix meets Amanda, his new work partner. Unfortunately, something goes drastically wrong, and he becomes embroiled in a murder!

Calvin Bridge and Kirsty King are the police officers involved in solving the crime, so Felix finds himself fleeing from the scene and feeling so guilty that he has now become a criminal! He is particularly worried about his special pet . . . Mabel, a rather unfit mongrel . . . What if Felix must go to prison? Who would feed Mabel?


Belinda Bauer is a brilliant author of that there is no doubt and I always grab her books when they are published. However, this is the first time I have had the pleasure of listening to Tim McInnerny narrating and I spent a lot of the book laughing very loud as he tells the tale. He manages to bring each character to life, even Mabel the dog! There are times since I have finished listening to the audible version when I will suddenly remember something that Tim relates and once again end up having a good chuckle.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

I adored the audiobook of Exit and found it to be an immersive and easy listen. It's read brilliantly by Tim McInnerney and I hope he reads future books by Belinda Bauer. He conveys the mix of empathy and humour that helps make Felix Pink such a likable character and I found myself really rooting for him during the course of the novel. This is so much more than a cosy crime novel, it manages to focus on the sensitive subject of assisted dying with humour , it has great characters and a gripping plot. It reminded me of the DS Harbinder Kaur series by Elly Griffiths. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital audiobook.

Felix is a retired widower, leading a quiet life in Devon with his little dog Mabel. He does volunteer work with a group called the ‘the Exiteers’ who, whilst staying within the confines of the law, support people are terminally ill and who want an end to their suffering on their own terms. They just don’t want to be on their own right at the end. We first meet Felix as he meets up with Amanda, a new and surprisingly young addition to the group, to help an elderly man called Charles Cann die with dignity. Only once they have let themselves into the house and located Charles in his bedroom, Amanda breaks one of the cardinal rules and helps the man instead of just sitting quietly. Felix will have to have a word with her later about that. Unfortunately things take a dark turn when it transpires that there were actually two elderly men in that house, and the wrong one died!! There then ensues a wonderful series of events that impact in turn on each other, as an anonymous tip off to police sees Felix climbing fences and trees and fleeing from the police to check on Mabel before determining to hand himself in. We meet young PC Calvin Bridge, a lovely character but whose nefarious family are holding back his career, and his partner and boss, DCI Kirsty King. The story takes us through a host of quirky and eccentric characters, all beautifully drawn and easy to picture, with a few surprises along the way for the reader until it reaches an eminently satisfying ending.
I adored this book, bursting with lovely memorable characters, such as Felix and Calvin. The whole subject matter of end of life is dealt with carefully and sensitively. There is a wonderful dark comic streak that runs throughout and gave me many a chuckle, especially that parrot!! The narration perfectly compliments the story telling and this is one book I will definitely listen to more than once!

Felix Pink aka ‘John’ is a retired widower, and leads a very calm life. However, he does occupy his time with his role as an Exiteer. He sits with dying clients while they take their last breaths. However on his latest post, he and his new partner discover they have assisted the wrong person and is now on the run from the police.
A slow start, but builds up the charming personality of Felix. The pace soon escalates into a dark, gripping thriller. Another excellent read from Belinda Bauer.

This surprised me in the best way possible. I picked this up because the blurb intrigued me and I'm so glad that I did! Felix was a great character to read about and I really enjoyed his chapters. The mystery is unlike any I've ever picked up and it had such a great range of characters with an amazing plot twist and reveal and I really enjoyed listening to this. Calvin's chapters were a bit hit and miss for me at first, but he grew on me and I enjoyed his character arc.

I won't say too much since I think this is more enjoyable if you go into it a little blind. But I will say that I don't think I've ever read a thriller like this and I highly recommend this!

Another thoroughly enjoyable book from Belinda Bauer. The audiobook was well read and easy to listen to. As with all her novels, you wonder how on earth everything is going to fit together but it all slots together at the end.
The concept of the exiteers is an interesting one. A voluntary organisation employed to help people end their own lives and prevent their family from being prosecuted. This book is based on what happens when it goes wrong...
Excellent read.

This was a fun, cosy crime mystery which had some hilarious characters and definitely poked fun at itself and aspects of small town life. Very enjoyable and easy to listen to.

I really struggled to get into this audio book in the beginning and it took me quite a few times to listen to it. But then about a quarter of the way through it got really interesting and funny. The humour was different and really elevated the story.

Such an interesting premise - would never have thought of it but it does make sense.

I have never heard of this author or the narrator but now will be on the lookout.

I was given an advance copy of the audio book by netgalley and the publisher but the review is my own.

I enjoyed this book, and I’d describe it as a light-hearted crime mystery story. The characters were entertaining, and the pacing is good. The only thing I would change is the cover and title because they do not really fit the novel in my view.

As a big fan of Bauer’s previous works, I was so excited for Exit. Although it was an easy read, and had some twists, it didn’t quite capture my attention. Exit touches upon the difficult subject of euthanasia- a subject I feel should definitely be discussed more within literature. However I found the story to be a bit slow at times. Although, I do feel that some of the characters could be explored further such as Calvin.

This novel had an excellent premise – that an ‘exiteer’ helping those who choose to die voluntarily discovers he has unwittingly murdered an innocent man. On top of that, Felix is such a nice, well-meaning old fellow that I soon found I was drawn into this entertaining story. There are a number of strong suspects in this neatly plotted whodunit. I especially enjoyed two big misdirections that gave me pleasant twisty surprises.
I was less keen on the way the police were represented as rather bored and bumbling, though maybe that was partly the audible narration in which their lines were delivered as if they were mentally challenged. The villains were also rather cartoonish and there were a few too many coincidences for my taste.
Overall, this was an ‘up-lit’ version of the crime genre and far better written than the other examples I’ve read. We get humour, tenderness, and some lovely observations, but in the end it’s a light and whimsical crime story and a bit too cosy for my taste. Belinda Bauer’s ‘Blackland’, with all its terror and tension, is one of my favourite crime novels and to be honest I prefer this author’s grittier and darker work.

Exit by Belinda Bauer has an intriguing premise: Felix Pink is part of a secret group called the Exiteers. What they do is not illegal, but not exactly legit either. Their mission is to sit with terminally ill people, who have chosen euthanasia, so that they do not die alone. They don’t help them die, they just sit with them while they die.

It’s a nice thought. I’d hire the Exiteers for myself in a heartbeat to avoid the alternative of a long, drawn out, painful death (no, the Exiteers don’t really exist. Uh, I think). In Exit, people who no longer want to live decide to put an end to it, purchase the necessary equipment themselves, write their will and commit suicide painlessly. The Exiteers keep them them company then clear up the evidence so that loved ones are not incriminated. What could possibly go wrong?

Oops, wrong guy!
Of course, things do go wrong when the Felix and his fellow-Exiteer Amanda realize that the wrong man is dead.

What follows is a hugely entertaining (really!), constantly surprising read. It’s in turns moving, warm, hilarious, violent, tender, … It covers quite an emotional range. The audiobook is beautifully read, so you get very immersed in the story.

From the outset, this is not a formulaic crime novel. There are criminals, police and innocent participants and bystanders, but none of them are clichéd figures. The many characters are all very distinct and well rounded. All of them turn out to be at least a little different than expected. Even the victim isn’t the right victim!

Clever plotting
With its mix of characters, its unusual — occasionally even farcical — situations, and so many red herrings you could open a fish shop, this book could easily have been a sloppy mess. Not at all! It is very cleverly plotted. Every time you think you’ve figured it out, something new happens that turns the story on its head again. Only at the end do all the strings pull together.

The ending came as a complete surprise to me. Even if I had my suspicions about the guilty person, my suspicions were not about the right things, as it turned out.

The quirky, charming side of suicide
Of course this novel has a rather grim theme. Bauer takes the sting out of assisted suicide without in any way diminishing it. In fact it’s a deeply humane book at heart. Black humor at its best.

The book’s promotion includes comparisons with Richard Osman’s début novel The Thursday Murder Club. I concur. I loved the latter and easily see parallels, even though the story and settings are different. If you liked it too, I’m sure you’ll enjoy Exit, and vice versa.

My thanks to Netgalley for giving me a free copy of this book. All my reviews are 100% honest and unbiased, regardless of how I acquire the book.

Felix Pink is a kind man. He certainly doesn’t deserve to be on the run for murder but to his utter bewilderment that exactly is where he finds himself. He was only trying to help but it has all gone horribly wrong. Exit is a story about euthanasia but with unusual undertones, some dark some funny with likeable characters and a dog.

75 year old Felix is an Exiteer. He sits with terminally ill people who want to end their own lives, but does nothing to assist them. But when he is teamed up with a new Exiteer something gors terribly wrong and Felix finds himself on the run from the police.

This is such a lovely, charming book. despite the fact that it is a crime novel. I defy anyone not to fall in love with Felix (and his delightful dog, Mabel), who is a real gentleman, honest and honourable. The story is told from the POV of Felix, and also Calvin, a uniformed police officer who is reluctantly seconded into CID for this case. The plot is very clever and filled with humour (I loved the police interview near the end - pure farce!) despite it's sensitive subject of assisted dying.

The narration by Tim McInnerny was perfect.

Another great book from this multi-award winning author, who always dares to be different and transports the reader into a mesmerising and masterful mystery, that delivers a clever plot, elegant prose and humorous dialogue.
Don’t be fooled by the quaint and sleepy locations used in Devon, as there is plenty of intrigue and mayhem going on behind the scenes.
An excellent cast of characters, with two main protagonists providing interesting and contrasting points of view.
Retired widower Felix Pink is kind and decent, and his well-meaning and voluntary support of euthanasia gets him into serious trouble.
Calvin Bridge is a sensible, bored but sharp policeman, who has cropped up before, (Facts of Life & Death), but the books and stories are completely stand alone.
Their seemingly quiet lives are about to be propelled into a complex tangled web of deceit, fraud, coercion, violence and murder. A number of topics, actions and consequences are handled with care, sensitivity and great wit, and the whole interconnected drama is told and revealed with great skill, providing another very satisfying read. I have had the privilege to read all of her books and this is right up there as one of her best yet.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review, and I thoroughly recommend this book not only to Belinda’s fans, but also to fans of clever mysteries and thoughtful crime fiction.

Very gripping without sacrificing the richness of the setting or characters. There's much to admire in this pacey thriller with all of the thoughtfulness of a literary novel.

I had heard that the book form was good, but oh my goodness the audio version brought the story alive! The Narration was done to perfection with excellent local accents.
The story had me listening in short burst throughout the night when I couldn't sleep as it was just so very good.
I thought the concept of the story was brilliant! Loved it.
I really did not see the culprit coming, I had someone else in mind so that was a definite gasp from me.
I will be looking out for the book.
A must read/ listen from me!

A brilliantly structured read plenty of twists and a fabulous plot. Difficult topic turned into an entertaining and thoroughly absorbing journey.
Characters well developed.
Most of all the narration was perfect. Thank you

Exit is a fantastic novel that manages to be incredibly humorous while dealing with a serious topic.
Felix is an Exiteer; a group of people who sit with strangers while they end their own life. They provide a service that is not illegal, and brings comfort to terminally ill people who want to choose the time of their own passing.
While Felix takes on a client with a new Exiteer, an honest mistake occurs that leads to deadly consequences. Felix then returns to the scene of the crime in order to understand what went wrong.
This is a truly original novel that combines a traditional thriller involving a police investigation, with a deeply personal issue. The characters are all well developed and even the ‘baddies’ are good fun.

Felix Pink is a retired, lonely widower, living in the South West of England. On the surface, it appears his days are governed by sensible routine living. His dog, Mabel is his trusty companion and he has little interaction with others – apart from short neighbourly exchanges with his next-door-neightbour, Miss Nott.

Felix, however, leads a double life. He is a member of a secret organisation called The Exiteers, people who witness the final moments of those who choose to leave this life: people with terminal illnesses who no longer wish to suffer. As a member of this group, all Felix is required to do is to bear witness. Felix is partnered with a new Exiteer to attend the death of Reggie Carn. Felix thinks his biggest challenge will be inducting the nervous young partner, Amanda, in to the ways of an Exiteer. However, the case goes horribly wrong when the wrong man dies and Felix goes on the run from the police for murder!

This book is absolutely perfect for these dark days of lockdown winter. It’s warm, funny and very entertaining. I was completely engrossed in this story and while listening to it, managed to escape from everything, apart from Felix and his problems. The characters are warm and tenderly created and oh so lovely…well, most of them!

In my opinion, it’s a 5 star listening experience. If you were a fan of The Thursday Murder Club, you will love this. I have to say that the narration by Tim McInerney is outstanding and pitch perfect.

So, if you’re in need of a feel good whodunnit which will have you laughing out loud, look no further. I loved it.