Fiction – hardcover; Penguin; 352 pages; 2009.
I’m a sucker for a good psychological thriller and there’s no one better to deliver a thoroughly entertaining romp than Nicci French, the pseudonym for the writing partnership of Nicci Gerrard and Sean French.
The duo’s latest novel What To Do When Someone Dies delivers what you would normally expect from the French “franchise” — a suspenseful story that keeps one reading late into the night.
But in this instance the narrative, while tautly written and providing all the French trademarks — a paranoid woman whom no one believes is telling the truth — there’s something slightly unbelievable about it all, with very little ringing true.
Dead in a car accident
The premise is a good one though. A 34-year-old woman, Ellie, is told that her husband has died in a car accident. A female passenger, thought to be his mistress, has also died.
But Ellie, wracked by grief, is convinced that Greg could not have been having an affair and embarks on an elaborate “investigation” to prove to her family and friends that he was murdered. Along the way, her behaviour becomes increasingly paranoid and abnormal, to the point where the police consider her a suspect in a separate crime that develops in the latter third of the story.
Typically, Ellie is your normal Nicci French character — young, articulate, domesticated and surrounded by lovely friends — which makes the drama of her situation all the more heightened. But for the most part, I had to totally suspend belief otherwise I’m afraid I might have thrown this book against the wall from sheer frustration. Ellie not only does a whole lot of stupid things — and seemingly gets away with them — she doesn’t really behave as one would expect a grief-stricken widow to behave.
Holes in the plot
And there are little holes in the plot that annoyed me. For instance, Ellie runs out of money and food but still manages to travel on the London Underground every day and go for drinks with her friends.
She’s also lost her husband but her parents are nowhere to be seen. And the family of her husband’s supposed mistress don’t seem in the least interested in her — surely they would be just as curious as her about the affair?
Finally, the book also takes a long time to get going, although when it does take off, about two-thirds of the way in, it is relentless in increasing the tension to almost unbearable proportions. The ending, when it comes, is not so much predictable but weak, as if the writers had reached their page quota and needed to wrap things up quickly.
On the whole, What To Do When Someone Dies is an exciting but somewhat implausible thriller. To get the most out of it, simply check your brain in at the door!
Reading Matters 
Okay, I read Losing You by Nicci French, which I thought was good but not necessarily great. I’ve heard Nicci French writes really good books, so what’s your favorite?
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Not sure I have a favourite, but definitely the earlier stuff, none of which is reviewed on here. “The Memory Game” is a good one.
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I think they are all pretty good – but probably all of a muchness, so one’s reaction to one is probably likely to be not that different to one’s reaction to another.
I’m looking forward to this one as I always enjoy racing through the new Nicci French!
I’ve also loved Nicci Gerrard’s two standalone “single person” novels that I’ve read – I don’t usually read “domestic dramas” but these two were jolly good I think. Sort of like a Nicci French book but without the crime aspects! And more character depth to fill up the gaps.
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I have seen a few people reading this on the tube… well I think its this one. Havent read any of her work but shall give her a go now!
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A friend directed me to this site and the reviews are great, and the review policy reassurring. I have a secret love of thrillers although I have only written historical pieces. I will be adding this one to my list of late night reads. Thanks
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Hello, I’m reading this book (almost 3/4 read) but nothing is happening! It’s so boring that I can’t believe it is supposed to be a “thriller”. The characters are not well defined – you don’t SEE them in your mind – and the plot itself seems not to know how to develop.
Moreover, there are descriptions of meals and food that according to me are totally useless; they are just list of things that came out from nowhere and not only don’t serve the plot, but also don’t help in any way to make the tale realistic.
We’re miles away from a good thriller…
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I’m reading nicci French’s book for the first time. Almost for three days I was completely involved inside the book. it was quite thrilling and made me very curious. though some confusions are there i felt it interesting!!!
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I’m getting tired of the same old main characters.
Why don’t they think of another type of woman?
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You are getting a lot of hits just now because the tv version is screening now.
Renamed ‘Without You’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/dec/11/without-you-black-mirror-review
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Ah, thanks John, that explains it!
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