I really enjoyed this book about two elderly friends Muriel (Moo) and Ruth (Roo) and the gradually revealing of why the latter is a carer for the former. I don't want to give spoilers, so to understand how, and why, their friendship is quite so toxic I would recommend everyone enjoy the highs and lows of their relationship for themselves!
Thank you to netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of this book

A very good debut novel by Claire Parkin. Lifelong friends Ruth and Muriel (‘Moo’) are living together in their old age, with Ruth caring for wheelchair bound Muriel. They have been through so much together, much more than the usual ups and downs of close friends. Then one night Muriel suddenly announces that in 72 hours she is going to die. From this moment onwards, everything changes for Muriel and Ruth.
The book covers not only the next few days, but also the whole of their respective lives, starting with the day they were born! It is a mixed book, evoking every emotion. I thoroughly enjoyed this and can’t wait to see what else comes from Claire Parkin in the future.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The plot sounded really exciting but failed to deliver. I found it very slow and boring and failed to finish reading it. Thanks to Net Galley for a chance to try a new author.

I was really intrigued from the blurb and it sounded dark and gripping. However I found it didn't live up to my expectations. It was a bit too slow paced and sometimes it felt like it wasn't really going anywhere.

A dark twisted novel of a friendship thru the years.
I found it a very slow and twisted novel unfortunately. It was written in a way I found hard to get thru. I wish it had more than one point of view. I found it very predictable. I won’t recommend it

A fantastic book - I loved it - which surprised me as when I started it, with the description of foot pedicures - I thought - oh no I’m not going g to like this - it’s going to be grim. It was a bit of a grim story with two not very likeable main characters- but so well written and entertaining. Highly recommended.

I like quirky books ,and this was quirky. However I am an impatient reader, and this was too slow for me to be fully invested in it. Not a bad book ,quite different from most other books, so pretty original.

This was a really compelling read that I absolutely loved. This tale of two friends was one that I thought about a long time after it had finished. There were bits where I had to go back and reread to try and see if what I thought was the case had been signposted before and often it had but equally often I was completely off track.

I really enjoyed the dynamic of the story, it was told through the view point of Muriel and so it is a very one sided tale. This gives the reader a sense of how trapped she feels whilst you also get a feeling of menace hidden underneith as you know you are getting a biased tale yet can't work out exactly who is telling the truth. I thought this was really well written novel, the story was utterley absorbing and I felt like I was a fly on the wall observing a private relationship.

I really enjoyed this book. Muriel and Ruth are in their seventies and have known each other all their lives. Now they live together with Ruth caring for the wheelchair bound Muriel. There's a strange dynamic between them, and as the story unfolds with Ruth looking back at significant events in their relationship, a story of jealousy and revenge emerges. I loved the 2 main characters and recommend this as a very good read.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

I enjoyed this book although neither of the two main characters are at all likeable. The psychological warfare that they have been engaged in since birth comes to a head when they are both in their 70s. At times you feel sorry for both of them but then they “redeem” themselves with some new act of treachery and manipulation.

As the maxim goes ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer ‘ This slow burning novel tells of the toxic relationship of the 2 main protagonists who have been living and loathing each other since birth. Both are eminently unlikeable but the story was so well written that I read it in a day.

A slow start which developed into a twisty toxic story of Muriel and Ruth's relationship/friendship. A unique story which I really enjoyed
Many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC

4-5 stars

“Life’s not fair, is it? Some of us drink champagne in the fast lane, and some of us eat our sandwiches by the loose chippings on the A597 ……”. The late, great Victoria Wood.

This is the story of an unequal friendship, of friends since birth, and both are now in their 70s. Muriel (Moo) is the champagne drinker, the one people are drawn to in their youth, the successful author and recipient of an MBE. Ruth is the resider by the A597, and though she has her moments of journalistic success, those sandwiches are eaten at the grace and favour of Moo, for whom Ruth is now a full-time carer. It’s fair to say that Moo is not easy to live with, the pair row and there are frequent threats of will changing, perhaps whilst they play Scrabble or Ludo. What does Ruth make of Muriel’s pronouncement that in 72 hours she will die? This shocking announcement sends Ruth into a chaotic spiral, and she’s now entering uncharted waters. Ruth narrates how reliably only time will tell.

I’m all in with this excellent debut from the first few sentences, as Ruth has a way with words that makes me smile, titter and even on the odd occasion, a downright belly laugh. However, this really is a case of fool me once, fool me twice as the author lulls us into a false sense of security as love and hate are both sides of the same coin.

So, we start on an amusing, light tone, this novel is going to be a breeze I think, wrong. I begin to suspect all is not sweetness and light as Ruth keeps dropping little information bombs in which initially raises your eyebrows and later makes your jaw drop with a resounding thud. The jealousy, bickering and rowing via whip smart dialogue hides something much more malign, as this is one toxic friendship. I love the way the author hits us with the realisation via the fusing of the past and present storytelling. You watch the control pendulum swing back-and-forth between them as this pair of sharp septuagenarians engage in a very dangerous and revengeful game of cat and mouse. Here’s a game of psychological warfare and the reader doesn’t know the rules and it seems neither do Ruth or Muriel entirely. It builds, the atmosphere is strained, you watch appalled at some of the behaviour, the outbursts that are very revealing as it’s twists its way to an inevitable and shocking conclusion.

I thoroughly enjoy this well written slow burner with its injections of dark humour. The characterisation of Muriel and Ruth is excellent, and these two have one complicated and intense relationship which definitely lurches into the dramatically bonkers, but that’s what makes reading the story so compelling.

With thanks to NetGalley, and especially to Pan Macmillan for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

A modern sister to 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?', the toxic characters in this book will inflame, scandalize and traumatize you. With characters so understandable and yet so crazy, it is an absorbing story, with the flashbacks helping (not hindering) the book. A fast read, with the type of ending that will have you laughing to yourself on the train.

This was very much a slow burner which it took me a while to get into and I had to come back to multiple times. For me this made it a little hard to enjoy. It’s dark, twisty & has its quirky moments but it’s not one I’d find myself reaching for again.

The story of two friends who have been part of each others lives from birth. They are now in their 70s and Ruth is the main carer of Muriel, who is wheelchair bound because of some obscure condition which she refuses to name. The book alternates between their lives now and documenting their lives from childhood. The relationships with each other, love and hate, and with significant others. It is a relationship where they are dependant on each other and left with only each other as others have passed away or have been alienated.
The descriptions in the book are all from Ruth's point of view and perhaps the book might have benefitted from input from another narrator . It is difficult to sort out what actually the situation was because Ruth comes across as some one who is mentally unwell . There are clues, in places, to the experiences of others which do give evidence that Ruth is unwell but the book does seem a little one sided. Saying that, when reading the first few chapters, I had expected the book to drag, but although there is not a great deal of action, it did keep my interest throughout .
Thanks to Net Galley for a good read in exchange for an honest review

Muriel and Ruth have been best friends since they were children. Now that Muriel is sick, Ruth is her full time carer though Ruth depends on her just as much. With their personality traits it would be very easy for us to hate them both but their characterisation is a lot more nuanced. We learn about the difficulties they’ve faced in life and even in their worst moment you can’t help but sympathise with them.

Whilst it’s classed as a mystery, it is quite light in this respect. I suppose this is because there is no mystery on who is going to die but you do wonder how. Though this takes a backseat and it is more of a character study on the 2 ladies, which is still very enjoyable. It delves deep in to their long-standing friendship and you can see how toxic it has become. Overall, I thought it was a great read.

Ok so I didn’t know what to expect from this book…

It was dark, a little twisted, at times funny and toxic… a blooming good read. Would recommend! I definitely grew to love these two women! :) thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Claire Parkin for allowing me an advanced copy for a review.

I just reviewed The Final Hours of Muriel Hinchcliffe M.B.E by Claire Parkin. #TheFinalHoursofMurielHinchcliffeMBE #NetGalley

Wow! What a surprise this book was!

I requested this book just by the description but then found out it was about two elderly ladies in their mid-70’s and thought “this is going to be a mistake”…… However, it was BRILLIANT!

A very well-written tale of two ladies in the “winter” of life who gave a love/hate relationship but, really, can’t survive without each other or without the drama their relationship creates. Both women are cruel and self-absorbed, both out to ruin the other… both very damaged women. Very enjoyable tale that reminded me of The Odd Couple with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.

This was the first book I read in 2024 that I raced through with awe and made me go ‘wow!’

This book is quite daring in how it explores toxic friendships, bitterness and resentment, lasting emotional wounds and a co dependency of two narcissistic people who, without spoiling too much, are each other’s ruin.

Muriel Hinchcliffe MBE is wheel chair bound, suffering from a degenerative disease, leaving her best friend since birth, Ruth to look after her. Oh lovely, caring, altruistic Ruth who bends over backward for her ungrateful, abusive best friend out of the goodness of her own heart. Or so everyone thinks!

This book was heart wrenchingly, eye opening and a very interesting concept!