After Kate's mother's death, she travels to Ireland to spread her ashes. when she returns, she learns her ex-husband died while she was away. However, she can't figure out how, if anyone was responsible, or really any details at all about his death.

I think this one would've been more successful if it had had a prologue that drew readers in to the death, like when I returned from spreading my mother's ashes, my husband was dead. Something along those lines to draw the reader in more since it took longer than expected to get to that intrigue.

After a trip to Ireland to spread her late mother's ashes with her best friend, Kate O'Brien returns home to the news of her ex-husband Harry’s demise. Harry Johnson, an affluent businessman with a successful dry-cleaning chain, was all about pomp and show but strangely enough, there is no public notice of his demise, no funeral announcements and not much detail to be gleaned about what happened to Harry. When multiple people inform her that they have seen “Harry” – she begins to doubt the truth behind the rumors of Harry's death. Is Harry truly dead? If yes, then why all the hush-hush? If not, where is he? Complicating Kate’s life further is her new friend Ettie who seems to know quite a bit about her, despite her being a recent acquaintance and starts showing up wherever Kate seems to be ..Coincidence or not?

Last Kate knew Harry was hospitalized after a stroke. Kate’s adult children have always sided with their father after the divorce, blaming their mother for the divorce even though Harry’s infidelity was to blame for Kate’s leaving him after twenty –five years of marriage. But when the police question Kate about her relationship with Harry, it becomes evident that there is something strange about the circumstances surrounding Harry's death and Kate seems to be at the top of the list of suspects. Her estranged children have not been in touch and do not respond to their mother’s messages, Harry’s best friend is hostile and Kate’s sister does not share Kate’s concerns in this regard. Strange things are happening around her, secrets that need to be unraveled, people who need to come clean with what they know about Harry and where does Ettie figure in the present scenario, if at all? As the narrative progresses, Kate struggles to find out the truth about Harry’s death and prove her innocence.

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead by Eleanor Kelley has an intriguing premise and a cast of interesting characters but falls short in execution. While I did enjoy the mystery surrounding Harry’s demise, and found the narrative engaging up to a point, I thought the angle of Kate’s relationship with her children was a tad unconvincing and a few of the characters crucial to the narrative were left unexplored. The ending felt rushed and abrupt leaving me with more questions than answers. Overall, the story had potential but left too much unexplained.

Many thanks to author Eleanor Kelly, Atmosphere Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel is due to be released on April 11, 2023.

A good mystery with interesting characters. I liked the fundamental plot and the way the author brought in the various characters and their potential role in the mystery.

I was really intrigued by the concept here, unfortunately I think the execution left something to be desired as far as my reading tastes are concerned. It started out well enough, but I found myself turning pages with increasing confusion and disbelief that I found myself unable to suspend. The concept is a good one - is he or isn't he dead? - but I found it really hard to believe that anyone in the modern world would settle for the information she was given without seeking some official record somewhere to answer the question once and for all. I don't know, maybe it's the lawyer in me overthinking things, but I struggled to connect enough to this one to find it plausible enough to keep reading, especially when you add in small details like the issue with the mother's ashes. It just felt like the author was asking the reader to accept too many things that felt unlikely or uncharacteristic in a way that didn't mesh with the overall tone of the story otherwise. This one wasn't for me.

This book was a decent read, it had light suspense, intrigue, action, mystery, murder, and some twist and turns! The storyline was interesting and flowed nicely! It wasn't one of my all time favorite but still worth reading! I will recommend reading this book! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!