“Something bad happened last night, but I can’t remember a thing…”
What an unexpectedly fantastic surprise - my first ARC of the year! I never thought my new little NetGalley account would be chosen to read this in advance, so imagine my delight when I got the email saying I’d been selected! Last summer I read Katy’s first novel How to Kill Men and Get Away With It and immediately fell in love with her writing style; witty and humorous, twisted and emotional, and clever enough to have you rooting for the morally dark main character, despite her murderous tendencies. Suffice it to say, I had high hopes for The Murder After the Night Before from the day it was announced.
Main character Molly’s life is turned inside out when a video of her giving a blowjob to a guy outside a pub goes viral online. She has no recollection of the act, nor who the stranger is she wakes up next to…nor that her best friend Posey is lying dead in her bath in their shared flat.
Dealing with the fallout from the video while trying to find out what happened to Posey leads Molly down some dangerously dark paths, brings up memories of her own traumatic past, and weaves a web of deceit and coverups that keep the second guesses coming until the final pages.
Molly is a flawed person, she’s unhappy in her job, she drinks too much, and she’s dissatisfied with her life. In contrast Posey has a successful career, a caring family, and is loved by all who know her. But there’s plenty of secrets for Molly to uncover that leave her reeling and questioning just how well she really knew her best friend.
As far as thrillers go The Murder After the Night Before is one of the better ones I’ve read for a long while. It doesn’t let up, there are no stagnant sections, and even with a tangle of threads being woven it never feels convoluted or confusing. There were a couple of twists that I didn’t see coming, and one that I had an inkling over that proved to be correct, so it really felt like the book was full of surprises!
The underlying commentary around the standards women are held to, and how one bad choice can negatively affect all areas of life, is an important one. We’ve not all been caught on our knees behind a pub and had footage of it shared online, but we probably have in one way or another been on the receiving end of some form of trolling, trashy comments and mean girl behaviour. It might be a sign of the times but it really is not ok, and if you’re of the ‘be kind’, mental health advocacy mindset that needs to extend to everyone, not just those you happen to care about.
If you're looking for a thriller that tackles modern issues and keeps the guesses coming, this is one for you. It is sleek and dark, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and funny pop culture references to boot. An all-round great choice and a triumph of a sophomore for Katy Brent.
Rating: ✨✨✨✨
The Murder After the Night Before is available now, and I’d like to extend many great thanks to NetGalley and HQ Stories at Harper Collins for giving me the opportunity to read this book in advance of publication.
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