The Death Of Me - Michelle Davies

Genre: Thriller | Mystery | Crime

Release Date: 11th November 2021

Publisher: Orion

Natalie needs a break. At thirty-seven, she's broke, getting broker, divorced and sharing custody of her son with her ex. As a freelance music journalist, she isn't even earning enough to survive let alone pay for a legal battle.

But while reading the music gossip columns, she comes across a rumour that could be big. Monumental, even. Eight years earlier, Isaac Naylor, lead singer of the Ospreys, drowned himself off the Devon Coast after a teenage fan was found dead in his hotel room. But Natalie thinks that's not the whole story. There's something more … and Issac might still be out there somewhere.

Natalie has to get to the bottom of what really happened that day eight years ago. This could be the answer to all her problems, the story of the century … or it could be the death of her.

Michelle Davies just has a way of capturing fear and dread in a way that is completely unique to her. A chilling exploration into the darker, hidden world of fame and infamy full of backstabbing and betrayal, this story swings between subtle deception and wild over-the-top action with no in-between and leaves the reader anxiously waiting for the next explosion. There's a lot of telling and thinking rather than showing, but Davies pulls it off and manages to keep even the lengthy, detail-filled conversations engrossing and interesting.

Natalie was a strange character - on the surface, it seems ridiculous she'd risk everything for this story - but as we get to know her more with every page, it makes perfect sense she'd follow this lead wherever it takes her. It's the chance of a lifetime and she has almost nothing to lose. She was determined, but it became something darker and more desperate as she got deeper into the truth.

Now, I have to say I did put the pieces together before Natalie did at certain parts, trying to put each little clue together and figuring out who to trust - but even with the inklings I had about where Natalie was going I was still left speechless as the final threads of the story started to come together and the truth about Issacs life, death and everything in between finally came to the surface.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was gifted a reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review.

Content warnings: Assault, Violence, Suicide, Drugs, Alcohol, Addiction, Divorce.

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