I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review. This review is based entirely on my own thoughts and feelings.

Overall rating : 4*
Writing skill : 4*
Plot: 4*
Pace: 4*
Characters: 4*
Humor: 4*

There are not many books I devour in a day, but as I had both the ebook and audio versions of this book I flew through it. Having read 'You'd Look Better as a Ghost' last year I knew I was going to like this book. The author creates great (yet maybe infuriating) characters in which she put them in comical situations. I tell you, if I ever come across a mum like Emily im not only moving schools but counties.
A cozy mystery that will have you smiling and questioning all the main characters right until the very end. A super fun time.

Prepare to open the floodgates of your emotions, this one will tap into them all, and you'll enjoy every single moment.

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this as it's the first book I've read by this author. However, I was given the opportunity to read by Netgalley and the blurb did pull me in.

I think the detailed description of the characters does remind you of parents and playground politics which I always found annoying when my son's were younger. This took me back to those days where I was an outsider observer the mess within. I felt sorry for Beth as she couldn't seem to catch a break and I felt she deserved better. Life can be unkind so I guess that's the reality of the situation and this book seems to ensure she's downtrodden throughout.

I did find the mystery around the death/murder? Interesting and I think that's what kept me going so the ending was disappointing. I actually got annoyed as I thought my app was misbehaving and there was still more to come. It'd be interesting to know if there's going to be a follow up. Would love to see Jade/Rowan get a dose of karma and for Beth to actually have something positive happen just to balance the darkness!!

Really, I can be jealous at authors like Joanna Wallace who are able to describe even the most horrific things in daily life with so much insight and humour. Main character Beth may be an alcoholic (although she's still in denial) like in so many other books with a divorced (young) mum, I can relate to her because of the fact that she is not the kind of woman who wants to be perfect. On the contrary - she drinks to much, is not into yoga, hates playdates and even more, hates her former friend Jade, who is now in a happy relationship with Beths' husband.
There is a mystery there but this book made me laugh out loud several times. The party where everybody turns up in time when Beth has still absolutely nothing organized! The comments of her 'friends' about 'what did she organize for the children to do'? Hilarious.
Still, next to the mystery there are more things here that meets the eye, because the book is not only about finding what happened to Charlotte the night she died, but also what happened with Beth? Can she go back to being herself, the loving and carefree person she once was?
Read this book and find out.

Thanks to Serpent's Tail / Viper Books and Netgalley for this review copy.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I found this book entertaining and quite refreshing. A very flawed and unreliable narrator and so open ended which I normally find frustrating but it works here.

I enjoyed this book. It was my first one from this author.
The title alone intrigued me.
However I personally found the characters a little grating and was hoping for them to develop a little more.
I thought the story overall was interesting
I would recommend this book

What a flippin’ fantastic book to follow up from Joanna’s last. The humour in this page turning read was spot on - it is my kinda book and those that disagree are dead to me!

Beth is struggling to cope after her best friend died 18 months ago. Part of the problem is that Charlotte's death just doesn't make sense - so Beth starts looking closer at what happened.

This is a book full of very annoying characters, and nothing to really balance that out. I wasn't massively engaged by the plot and the ending was something of a let down, so this was not a great book for me.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

I have this authors first book on my TBR so when i seen this I thought I’d give it a go first as I liked the blurb and thought would be an interesting story.
I’m actually quite reluctant to give this review as soon as I finished as I’m not sure if my thoughts will change but here we are.
The main character is full of flaws which makes her relatable. While her alcoholism is infuriating, it is realistic.
I was quite irritated by the amount of repetitive language used in the book. At some points I would think have I read this page, go back to previous and realise nope, it’s just being repeated. I get it’s the characters personality but it just got a bit much for me.
I hated the ending. I get it, it’s kinda resolved but also kinda not. I feel like I needed more as just felt unfinished to me.
Overall, it was an ok read for me. Not amazing, not terrible.

I received a copy of this arc from the publisher via netgalley but this has in no influenced my opinion nor review.

I loved the author’s debut “You’d look better as a ghost” so I was eager to read this one. The story centres on Beth, a struggling mom of three, who is struggling to cope following the death of her best friend Charlotte - doctor and supermom -who died in a car accident eighteen months ago. Beth, however, can’t shake the feeling that something about Charlotte’s death doesn’t add up. Determined to uncover the truth, Beth dives into an investigation that spans two timelines: the present day and the days immediately following Charlotte's death.

There a good sprinkling of dark humour which had me laughing one minute and reflecting on the murder mystery the next.

“The Dead Friend Project” is perfect for readers who enjoy psychological thrillers with a touch of humour. A five-star read, leaving me eagerly waiting the next offering from Joanna Wallace.

Loved the first book, You’d look better as a ghost, and this book is not the difficult second novel at all, but it is again brilliantly written, with humour, deep creativity, and a deep understanding of the values of friendship, loyalty and a burning desire to search out the truth.
Beth and Charlotte are best friends. Charlotte is a Doctor and Beth is a mess, she has two boys, a newborn daughter, her husband Rowan isn’t at home very often, and she has an unhealthy relationship with booze.
Eighteen months ago Charlotte died, she was hit by a car whilst out on a training run. Beth knows that can’t be true, she would never have left Leo, her two year old son alone in the house.
The story tells the story from two time lines, present day, and the immediate days following the death of Charlotte.
Beth promised herself to find the truth about the death and she doesn’t mind whom she insults, accuses and alienates in this quite emotional read. We would all like a friend like this, by our side through life and death. Unfortunately, the alcohol fuelled Beth can do irreparable damage with her persistent search for the truth and her attempts to reconnect with her friends who may be suspects.
I enjoyed this so much, one minute laughing, the next remembering it’s about a murder, but Beth will strike a chord with many hard pressed Mums who have frequent interactions with small children , that can rob you of the will to live! Loyal friends appear in many guises.
A five star read. There must be more books please!
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Serpents tail/ Viper / Profile for my advance copy, freely given in exchange for my honest review.
I will leave copies to Goodreads and Amazon UK upon publication.

What an emotional roller-coaster of a read! Cleverly written, full of dark humour, hilarious in places and sarcastic wit! It's a well written plot with well described characters! All the sub-plots are brought together with a bow to a satisfying ending. I highly recommend this book.

4.5-5

I had a copy of Joanna's previous book - You'd Look Better as A Ghost - but for reasons unknown to me, I never got round to reading it. But I wasn't going to make that mistake twice and absolutely jumped on this book!

Joanna has such a seamless way of writing. It feels as if the very first draft would be the final draft, that she knew what she wanted when setting out and that's what we've got.

It really whizzes away! I thought I'd sit and read a little bit whilst I had the chance and suddenly I was a third of the way through.

It is really fun. Yes it has the things you expect from a thriller or murder mystery: we have an unexplained death, many suspects, difficult romantic relationships, problematic friendship groups, secrets, conversations left unsaid etc. but it is also just real good fun.

The characters are wonderful. I won't go through them all as there's too many, but Beth is our main character. She's not always a reliable narrator. She's flawed, stressed, anxious, worried, tired, and determined to find out the truth about Charlotte's death. But she's surrounded by people who just accept it as an accident, they don't pry, they shut down conversations, and look all the more guilty for it. Joanna has depicted the school mum clique perfectly.

There was a little bit of repetition with themes and conversations throughout which I was on the fence about. It could have been annoying but then again it really hammered it home how confused Beth was and how confusing the whole situation is. Overall I think Joanna has managed it well.

It's mostly set in the present but every now and again there's a flashback to around the time of Charlotte's death. It doesn't interfere with the smoothness of the reading of the present bits, but gives us a little bit extra to help push along the present actions.

Considering the amount of books in this genre I was, I feel I should be able to work out the endings by now. But I spent the whole thing going round and round in my head, like Beth was doing, trying to figure out how it would end but I failed miserably.

It's 336 pages long which isn't short but nor is it long. If I hadn't known, and I'd read it, I would have said it was half the length, the ease in which I sped through it, and yet it doesn't feel short-changed or if you're missing something.

The ending...hmm the ending? I liked it and I didn't like it. How do I put this without out-and-out spoilers? It's not quite ambiguous leave it up to the reader type of ending, but nor is it 100% wrapped up neatly with a bow. It allows the reader to come to their own conclusion but using what Beth has found out.

I am a little sad now I've finished it. And having finished it, I'm going to find that copy of You'd Look Better as a Ghost and read it!

I loved this!!! My mind was completely a mess trying to figure out with Beth what the hell was going on
I read this in 2 days as I couldn’t put it down I went to bed thinking about it and woke up and had to just pick the book up!!

My only problem was Beth’s husband living happy after what he did to her with her friend i just couldn’t get over it

But overall an amazing book super engaging easy to read completely messy with your mind. I had so many theories all wrong

For the most part it's an enjoyable read, I appreciated the dark humour and sarcasm sprinkled throughout the book and the plot held a lot of promise. But I felt the ending was rather rushed and very unsatisfying.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc ebook.

I raced through ‘The Dead Friend Project’ staying up far too late reading it. To me, that’s an instant 5/5!

It’s a year on from when Beth’s life fell apart. Her husband left her for one of her best friends, and her best friend was killed in a car accident. When she learns in a chance school-gate conversation that Charlotte left her toddler at home while she went out on a late night run it doesn’t ring true and she makes it her mission to find out what happened.

Beth’s descent into alcoholism felt real and at times difficult to read. With it came the inferiority complex with the other Mums at school. They were a bit insufferable, I’m glad we don’t have Mums like that at our school. Harry was my favourite, and made me laugh bringing some humour to the story.

The ending will stay with me, its one you will either love or hate.

I LOVED this author’s first book and so I was eagerly anticipating the next book she wrote.
Sadly, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as her last book. There is a lot of second hand embarrassment generated by the main character and I found I was cringing too hard and too often that it detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
On the flip side, the author has absolutely nailed the school run crowd. If you have ever experienced a school run or play date , you will both laugh and relate so hard to that element of book.

3⭐️ for the plot
1⭐️ for the ending.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

SPOILERS BELOW
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I found the ending really, really frustrating. Beth’s descent into alcoholism was always going to be uncomfortable to read, but I was so invested in the mystery of Charlotte’s death that a satisfactory ending and some answers would have really helped me enjoy the book more. I get that’s Beth’s obsession and alcoholism meant she was going to be an unreliable narrator but I really wanted it specified whether it was a) an accident or b) the woman with Munchausens by proxy or c) Beth herself with her big bird costume.

This is a new and fun take on a mystery/thriller. Not my usual style of mystery but I still enjoyed it. I thought the writing was very easy to fly through and the plot was nicely paced. Humor was sprinkled in throughout. However the ending was not my favorite but overall a fun read

Unreliability and low-self esteem with the Yummy Mummy playground crowd. And murder.

Audiobook that quite cleverly played with my opinions of the characters with voices. We can all empathise with Beth - feeling judged for still being overweight after a baby. For feeling like an awful mum when a child falls off equipment at school and needs to be checked out at hospital. And especially when we learn that her husband has had an affair with one of her friends and now has a nice sparkly new life with her, and the kids like it round their house more. I'm not a drinker myself but her self-medication by alcohol is understandable, though clearly excessive.

Heartstrings are also tugged as we learn about her best friend Charlotte, doctor and supermum, hit and killed by a car last year on Halloween. Beth's brain fog is pierced when she learns randomly that Charlotte left her house for a run with a small child still there alone when she was struck by the vehicle... that just doesn't make sense. And thus her shambolic detective work begins, a purpose in her grief.

I couldn't fully 'like' Beth, the portrayal of her by the narrator is overkill at times, dramatic, too comedic. I empathised with her situation but could also see her insecurities and low self-esteem putting others on pedestals and being oh so rude to everyone around her. She is also almost without empathy herself at moments of high emotion/drama/upset.

Though as the story progressed, I actually felt the forethought and design coming into play (I won't say more than this). Some things I didn't like at the start about the narration made more sense come the last pages.

A wide range of 'Mums' (dads/men are voiced fairly poorly I thought, and only feature in a handful of scenes), with a few stereotypes (not always earned or fair on the characters) and a plot that does make you wonder what's going on. I can clearly see many of them on screen.

I liked the character development of Beth by the end, though I almost wish the last few lines hadn't been written, even though I still had questions myself.

A good whodunnit/parenting story, a cut above really.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample audio copy.

Thank you #netgalley for allowing me to read this BRILLIANT thriller!

Couldn’t put this down and the author literally left us hanging at the end as we still don’t know if Beth will get justice for her best friend.

Is it the booze or is it pure insanity?? Or…… does Beth have it sussed as to why her best friend died??!

You will have to read this story of friendship, grief, love and loss to find out! Brilliant!