Definitely not the triumph her first book was that’s for sure. It was so slow and the characters were super irritating. I didn’t even care about the mystery. I’m so sorry but it was a bit of a slog.

Where to start? This is just brilliant. The concept, the story, the writing. The characters are just despicable self centred individuals. No so much as Anthony Wistern, the patriarch of this rather rich well to do family. That’s in life but in death he’s struggling to come to terms with being in a form of purgatory from which he can’t move on without finding out how he died. Problem is he can’t remember and the only way he can find out is to sit and watch his nearest and dearest living their lives without him. Which is an eye opener for him.

I really enjoyed the journey my characters went on both in life and beyond. Anthony’s situation (for me) was reminiscent of a 21st century take on the Maitlands’s circumstances in the fabulous Beetlejuice. The disbelief of being dead and the afterlife support which admittedly was a different state of affairs to the one Tim Burton created.

Mackie’s dry sense of humour leaps off the page as she makes the characters do their merry dance. The sheer audacity the Wisterns act in the aftermath of Anthony’s death is just laughable and oh my when I found out how the patriarchal figure went I burst out laughing – definitely a way to go!!

What A Way To Go is just superb. If you love the new wave of dark comic crime fiction from authors like Katy Brent, CJ Skuse and Eve Kellmen, you need to read Mackie’s books. I’m just hoping it’s not two years before the next one!!!!

a tricky one to rate - this one is both cleverly written and mildly disappointing. the three perspectives - one of them being the murder victim himself - are distinctly different and do all bring something else to the story. the characterisation throughout is good and everyone has a strong personality.

unfortunately it just never really clicked into place for me, the plot itself felt lacking. they were also all unlikeable, which isn't always an issue but i didn't find the plot compelling enough to carry such irritating protagonists.

4.5 stars
This book tells the story of a murder from the point of view of three people: the murdered man from a kind of limbo, the murdered man's wife and a young woman who comments on real crimes on the internet in her spare time and uses the murder of her neighbour to try to be somebody. Bella Mackie has once again created horrible, self-centred and rich characters. They hate each other and create ridiculous and exaggerated situations. Nevertheless, the book has a social critique, a very acidic humour that is very reminiscent of her first book. It is not a quick or easy read, but it is entertaining, and although the characters are made to be hated, you can almost be on their side.
The truth is that this author's ability to create obnoxious and insufferable characters is impressive, and at the same time keeps you totally glued to the story.

Anthony is a rich financier, newly turned 60 and now newly dead. Unfortunately he can't pass on until he can recall the exact manner of his death and ,whilst he watches his nearest and dearest (from the South Gloucestershire Processing Centre), he contemplates his demise. The problem is that Anthony was actually a swindler on a grand scale and now his family have to deal with the fallout, a fallout that also includes a zealous true crime blogger, whom Anthony assaulted a couple of years ago.
I was surprised by how much a loved this book. It's original enough to pique interest at the start but then develops into a 'knowing' black comedy that keeps giving. There are lots of sideswipes and the idle rich kept wives and children who live off trust funds and have no idea of reall work. I also loves the scarcely vieled pastiches of true crime podcasters!

Bella Mackie’s first book How to Kill Your Family was one of THE books of 2021. And boy did it live up to the hype.

So her second book, What a Way to Go has been hotly anticipated. Could it meet the success of it’s predecessor?

What a Way to Go is a novel in the same vein as Mackie’s first with similar class commentary, satire and dark humour. However, it’s also wholly different – instead of a thriller where we follow a serial killer this time we get a classic murder mystery.

Antony Wistern, super rich financier and patriarch is celebrating his 60th Birthday when he is found impaled on a decorative spike in his lake. The police rule it an accident – but with all of Anthony’s wealth, could someone have been after his fotune? Perhaps his wife, his business partner or one of his four children?

What ensues is drama and squabbling amongst the most dysfunctional and love-to-hate cast of characters as the family deal with issues of inhertance. Meanwhile, a local crime obsessed tiktokker thinks Anthony was murdered and believes solving the case will be her big break.

The genius twist in Mackie’s narration is that we actually get chapters from Anthony’s perspective. Following his death, he ends up in a sort of limbo, where he can’t move on til he works out how he died. Anthony is detestable but his narration of events following his death is hilarious. The other chapters are narrated by our social media armchair detective and Anthony’s wife Oliva giving us a full 360 degrees on the situation.

Mackie writes about class and society, not to mention our obsession with it, incredibly well. Her narrative is witty, full of dark humour and satire – not only for the obscenely rich but for the hypocrisy of the liberal elite (one of Anthony’s daughter’s judges her father’s wealth as she benefits from it) and the true crime obsession of wider society. No-one gets away unscathed.

As well as the clever plot devices and social commentary, Mackie builds a story that is simply a brilliant murder mystery. She keeps the reader completely hooked – if you enjoy crime with a liberal splash of dark humour, you will devour this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book for an honest review.

Bella Mackie is giving us yet another darkly comedic thriller! This time, we that follow the Wistern family, as they grapple with the sudden and mysterious death of their patriarch, Anthony. With a large inheritance at stake, each family member becomes a suspect, and the ensuing chaos is both absurd and darkly funny.

Mackie's signature blend of sharp wit and biting satire is on full display once again. She expertly skewers the privileged and the self-absorbed, painting a portrait of a family that is both dysfunctional and utterly believable. The characters are a delightful mix of despicable and pitiable, each one more flawed than the last.

While What a Way to Go shares some similarities with Mackie's previous novel, How to Kill Your Family, it offers a fresh and unique take on the family drama genre. Both books feature dysfunctional families with questionable morals, but What a Way to Go delves deeper into the absurdity of modern society, particularly the obsession with true crime podcasts and social media.

Overall, I found this a highly entertaining and thought-provoking read. It's a perfect choice for anyone who enjoys a good mystery with a healthy dose of dark humor.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy, all opinions are my own.

I was immensely grateful that despite the gruesome way my husband died, he’d done it with his clothes on.’

Anthony Wistern is wealthy beyond imagination. Fragrant wife, gaggle of photogenic children, French chateau, Cotswold manor, plethora of mistresses, penchant for cutting moral corners, tick tick tick tick tick tick.

Unfortunately for him, he’s also dead. Suddenly poised to inherit his fortune, each member of the family falls under suspicion.

And that’s when the lying starts…

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this one.

Another great read from Bella x

What a Way to Go by Bella Mackie
It is Anthony Wistern’s 60th birthday and his wife has organised the most lavish party to celebrate. The celebrations are to take place in one of their many homes. Anthony is extremely successful and also extremely ruthless. In an unfortunate incident at the height of the party Anthony ends up dead. Was it murder, suicide or simply an accidental death.
His wife Olivia is a cold fish who has no relationship with any of their four over privileged children. The story is told form the perspective of Anthony as he looks down on his family after death, Olivia and someone known as the Sleuth. She lives nearby and was sacked form the local pub by Anthony.
The Sleuth is bored she spends her day caring for her mother and so goes off in search of an answer to the mystery of Anthony’s death. It is darkly funny – each if the characters are ghastly but we are keen to solve the mystery of what happened down at the lake on the night of the party.
There are numerous twists and turns as we make our way to the surprising ending. Well written and keeps you entertained throughout. A quick and fun read. Thanks to the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read the book in return for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley, publishers and author for an ARC of What A Way To Go.

I loved this book, unlikable characters that you love to hate, whodunit told from interesting perspectives, and great writing. An all rounder.
Anthony has arrived in the afterlife, at a processing centre. To move on he needs to remember how he died. Following his, his wife and an 'amateur sleuths' perspectives we find out how the family are doing after his death.
I really enjoyed this book, it lost .5 of a star for the length. 4.5 stars. Highly recommend.

I absolutely adored this book! I’m a big fan of Bella Mackie’s writing and if you loved How to Kill Your Family, you’ll love this book too. Such an interesting premise and I really enjoy the way Mackie deals with family dynamics.

I absolutely loved Bella's previous novel so couldnt wait to start this. I’m truly loving these comedy crime novels lately, and this is a perfect example of why - it’s clever, laugh out loud funny, shocking, and a great satire about wealth and privilege. I also loved the twist ending!! What a fantastic story, well executed.

I love this author. She has such a distinctive writing style which is full of personality, the plot was good but her strength is always the characters

I hate the fact I just didn’t love this book the way I did the first one. The characters were all so unlikeable that I wouldn’t have minded killing a few myself. It seems that a book must have at least one redeemable character to hold my interest and enjoyment.

Thank you for granting me early access to What A Way To Go. I enjoyed How To Kill Your Family so I was looking forward to reading it. This took a different direction and I think this was a brave choice but it just wasn't for me. I found it hard to root for anyone and it's a me problem, not an issue with the writing style or anything because that's what kept me reading and engaged.

Anthony Wistern - financial 'guru' and lover of all things expensive - is found dead at his lavish 60th birthday party, organised by wife Olivia. Neither Olivia nor their 4 children seem overly concerned at the circumstances surrounding his untimely demise. But The Sleuth - a local true-crime investigator - suspects foul play. What are the secrets lurking behind the Wisterns' closed doors?

Told from the perspectives of Anthony, Olivia and The Sleuth, this is a darkly comical look at the lengths people will go to in order to maintain their public face. None of the Wisterns are particularly likeable people, but that is half of the fun - waiting to see if they get their comeuppance.

I was really looking forward to reading this book as Bella's first novel is one of the best books I have read recently and I have enthusiastically recommended it to many different people. I felt that this book was lacking and not as good as her first unfortunately. The story whilst interesting lacked depth and substance and I felt had maybe been a little rushed rather than fully developed to Bella's true ability. That said I am looking forward to hearing friends reviews to see if I missed something in this book.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this arc!

I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down! Told from three different perspectives and full of characters you’ll love and some you’ll hate, this addictive book was a quick and enjoyable read with plenty of wit and a little bit of charm.

Anthony Wistern is found dead at his lavish and over-the-top 60th birthday party, attracting the attention of a local true-crime fanatic who dubs herself The Sleuth. She dives deep into the lives of the Wisterns to solve the mystery of how he died.

The Wistern family are awful and obnoxious yet delightful to read about. The author's writing is hilarious, and her witticisms perfectly show how out of touch this rich and elite family are. Lots of laugh out loud moments and quotable writing.

It unique in the way the mystery unfolds with it being told from 3 POVs, 2 in the land of the living and 1 in the afterlife. I have to say that the scenes in the afterlife were some of my favourite. It reminded me of when I watched The Good Place and I think (if you believe in that kind of thing) that it is a perfect representation of what it would look like - a bureaucratic nightmare with lots of rules and not as much freedom as you'd expect.

For those that love Dynasty and Succession, this is the book for you!

Thanks to Harper Collins & Netgalley for ARC.

Anthony Wistern had no input to planning his lavish 60th birthday celebrations at their Cotswold country home but he seems to be enjoying the attention - up to the point at which his body is found in circumstances that are more mortifying than tragic for Uber-hostess, his wife Olivia. As the investigation begins it appears none of the family will mourn him exactly, and all may have had reason to want him out of the picture.

So far, so humdrum, but Mackie's take on the premise and the three very different points of view she chooses for the story are cracking twists in themselves, and the plot is windier than a stately home estate road. This was tonnes of dark, irreverent fun.