A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon is a 2022 Scribner publication.

What a clever little thriller, this turned out to be. I didn’t do a lot of research on this one- I just plucked it off the TBR list at random- so I had no expectations one way or the other. At times I just could not figure out where all this was heading, but the book to a on a brand-new dimension towards the end that really did not see coming.

It’s hard to describe this one without giving too much away- and I'm not sure if truly fits into a single category- but basically, Linda lives a quiet, nondescript life after enduring a childhood trauma. She longs for companionship but is often rebuffed. But when catalogues arrive that were meant for the previous occupant of her house- a woman named Rebecca- Linda goes on quest to track her down, fantasizing about a close friendship with this woman she's never met.

In the meantime, her quiet neighborhood is all abuzz about a string of murders and Linda finds herself making connections between the murders and the recent behaviors of her husband, Terry.

Linda narrates the story entirely- and her first-person voice is utterly captivating. At once she’s a sympathetic character, shunned to some degree by others, and ignored and taken for granted by Terry, but because she’s often regulated to the sidelines, she picks up on things others might miss- she makes hilarious, spot-on observations about people and their motives, but has a naïve quality to her as well.

I got caught up in Linda’s narrative, but running sinisterly in background is an ever-increasing feeling of unease. But never would I have expected what the story was leading up to.

This is a darkly humorous book- very well executed. The only downside was the pacing- which is a bit slow- but now, in hindsight, I think that understated quality is what made it work in the end. I really liked it! What’s even better is that the author can write a smart, slightly quirky, story -but she doesn’t need to include graphic descriptions of murder, or strong language, or any other unnecessary or uncomfortable content for it to be effective. While that might lead one to conclude this book is a cozy- and I have seen a few people describe it as such, I’m going to balk at placing it in that category- it’s a bit too dark to fit into that genre, IMO.

Overall, if you like dark humor, clever plots, and smart dialogue and narration this is a book you might consider.

4+ stars ( )

Linda is married to Terry, an OK husband. She cooks and cleans, but wants a more glamorous life-similar to what is seen in the magazines addressed to Rebecca Finch, former tenant of their home.
Linda believes that she can have a better life if she befriends Rebecca.
Meanwhile there are women who are found murdered, and Terry becomes a suspect. Linda worms her way into a friendship with Rebecca.
The ending may surprise you, as will a few other twists along the way. ( )

This was a highly entertaining novel, reminiscent in many ways of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, in that it is narrated by a character who seems slightly at odds with, and almost dislocated from, her surroundings.

Linda narrates in a simple tone, suggesting a rather naïve approach to life. She has a part time job at a local charity shop, but spends much of her time repeatedly cleaning the home she shares with her husband, Terry. We discover that they have only lived there for a fairly short time, and that it was previously occupied by someone called Rachel. Linda gradually becomes obsessed with Rachel, and starts to imagine all sorts of aspects of her life. Meanwhile, the local area has been plagued by a series of attacks on unaccompanied women, and among Linda’s neighbours, speculation is rife as to who might be responsible.

I found this book highly engaging, and was very quickly completely engrossed in it. The prose is very clear and simple, but no less appealing for that, and the plot ranges far and wide, yet is always completely believable. ( )

Creepy book. Good read. Her other book was much more light hearted ( )

A lonely married woman becomes obsessed with the woman who used to live in her house after she receives some of her mail. As she hunts for information about the woman, developing the fantasy that they would be best friends, a series of murders in the area put her neighborhood on edge.

The question here isn't so much whether Linda is an unreliable narrator, but to what extent. Is she reporting honestly about events as she sees them, through the filters of her delusions and hopes, or is she willfully misleading the reader? This novel works so well in maintaining that tension, until the final chapters, which can't fulfill the promise of the rest of the book, as all the secrets are revealed. But the majority of the book is successful and my disappointment with the author being unable to pull of the impossible will not stop me from taking a look at her other work. ( )