Love this author.
This is a story about murder, (several) snobbery and a touch of Dr. Doolittle.
A fabulous funny storyline with some truly awful characters.
Lots of twists and a real shock towards the end.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

Diana Leyland has her sights set on wealthy author David Farrand as husband number four. But while charming rich men may be Diana’s speciality, David’s daughter Cat is immediately suspicious of her motives. As Diana attempts to secure her place in the family’s glamorous literary world, tensions rise, secrets emerge and it soon becomes clear that almost everyone has something to hide.

Bella Mackie has done it again. Claws Out is darkly funny, wildly entertaining and packed with the kind of deliciously awful characters that somehow become impossible to look away from.

Set among London’s wealthy literary elite, the novel throws readers into a world of gossip, manipulation, ambition and family dysfunction, where nobody is quite as innocent as they first appear. Mackie has a real gift for creating characters who are deeply flawed, morally questionable and yet endlessly entertaining, leaving you constantly reassessing who deserves your sympathy.

What I loved most was the balance between the sharp satire and the mystery at the heart of the story. The twists keep coming, the pace never lets up, and beneath all the scandal and chaos there’s a genuinely clever plot unfolding. Mackie’s observations about wealth, status and human behaviour are as biting as ever, delivered with her trademark wit and cynical humour.

This was one of those books that was incredibly easy to devour in just a few sittings. Funny, addictive and wonderfully catty, Claws Out is another winner from Bella Mackie and my favourite of hers so far.

Everything I've come to expect from a Bella Mackie novel!
Packed with witty, light humour, messy family dynamics, slightly far fetched twists and of course, murder. The tone is sharp and entertaining and full of a cast of unlikeable character, yet somehow you can't stop reading about them or wanting to know exactly how things will unravel.
A fast, fun and darkly entertaining read that leans into chaos in all the right ways.

Compulsively addictive. A great book to sink your claws into this summer! The characters were fun and the ending a real treat. I loved it.

Thank you for my copy of this book to read and review.

I really enjoy Bella Mackie’s style of writing. This book, as with her others, is full of dark humour, unlikeable characters and twists.

I have already recommended this book to friends and I’m already looking forward to her next one.

The novel dives into a glamorous but toxic world filled with secrets, rivalries and people behaving very badly and it does so with plenty of biting humour. The characters are outrageous in the best way and the story moves quickly as tensions build and loyalties begin to crumble. Mackie has a real talent for making even the most awful people entertaining to read about.

Beneath the humour there’s still a clever mystery unfolding, with twists that keep the pages turning without taking itself too seriously. Some characters are intentionally over the top which may not work for everyone, but it fits perfectly with the satirical tone.

I read my first book by this brilliant author last month (How To Kill Your Family) and I was really impressed with the way it was written.

This book was of the same brilliance and I loved it. The charactersation and connections between characters was brilliant. I really enjoyed the drama that unfolded throughout the book and just when I thought I had it all worked out, there was a twist!

Then I get to the end and there is another twist, I thought if reworked it out after the first twist, but nope I was wrong again.

There was an element of humour in this book (and in How To Kill Your Family) and it's not topics that seem funny but to inject humour into these situations is honestly a skill on its own!

Absolutely loved this and I now need to read, What a Way To Go and I have a feeling I'll love that too.

Another Bella Mackie classic. Loved the turns in this. Especially the rats, given the current news. Bella’s references to the upper middle class of North London are spot on!