Jamie Fletcher likes a flutter. He works all day at a funeral home in Openshaw, Manchester, embalming bodies whilst his phone pings with the latest betting results. You name it, he’ll bet on it.

Dead Lucky is a tragicomedy with a real clear sense of place in Northern England and a very strong narrative voice. We really live the highs, lows, the hopes and the fears of a gambling addict through Jamie’s first person perspective.

Not always an enjoyable read given the subject matter and the destruction Jamie causes in the lives around him, and sometimes ‘place’ feels leaned on a little too heavily.

Nonetheless, a very strong debut novel - funny, often unsettling, fundamentally real.


Thanks to NetGalley and Corsair for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Dead Lucky follows Jamie Fletcher who works as an embalmer at a funeral home in Manchester but he has a gambling addiction which has led to eyewatering debt. His girlfriend Rebecca doesn’t know about his gambling and she wants to buy their first home together so Jamie turns to the bookies and places a bet.

This was a realistic portrait of a gambling addiction and it was annoying to read how reliant Jamie was on gambling even though that’s the whole point of the story. This was easy to read and it felt very realistic to the North of England (where I live and where the book is set). That said I didn’t really enjoy this book, the writing wasn’t for me and some of the dialogue was a bit gross and it just made me feel a bit bleak.

Possible spoilers


What a likeable chap Fletcher is, at least until he isn't.
As he falls harder into his addiction and his every action is hurtful, and manipulative and selfish.
Sounds exactly right for an addict.
Besides that, we have hard working Fletcher, who enjoys his job, is good at it, and seems to genuinely care about the people he's laying to rest.
The author really brings home you can be more than just an addict.
Sad, funny and a bit desperate at times, I really enjoyed this one.