This was really good. Filled with black humour which I love. Some truly hideous characters and it was wonderful to watch most of them get their comeuppance. I loved the idea of the waiting room for the dead, it was bizarre but brilliant. Would definitely read more from this author.

𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕒 𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕘𝕠
Author @mackie_bella
Publication Date - September 2024
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Anthony is an egotistical  CEO who "goes" in an embarrassing death at his 60th. The money thursty family what their cut of the wealth and the mum, Olivia, desperately wants her status to remain , after all she believes ahe is better than anyone. A thiller that takes on the POV of Anthonys  from the South Gloucestershire processing center,  a bland boring place after death to get you to your afterlife. The fun part is they have tv monitors to watch live moments of the living. Oliva, Anthony's wife's parts show how she navigates her new life now her husband has died and the POV of The sleuth, a local true crime fanstic who wants the truth about Anthony's death and digs a little too deep.
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As soon as I saw this on @netgalley I had to apply. I loved Bella's Jog on, which started my running back in 2018 and How to kill your family is one of my top books so I knew  I would like this. If you're a fan of Bellas' previous work, you'll love this. Get it on pre-order.
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When millionaire Anthony Wistern unexpectedly dies at his 60th birthday party, a twisty turny whodunit ensues. Told from multiple POV's, including Anthony's, we see what happens in the aftermath of his death, meeting his four awful children along the way.
This honestly kept me guessing until the end, which I enjoyed. I particularly loved how thoroughly unlikeable most of the characters in this book are which is quite unusual, they were all absolutely awful but I think that was part of the enjoyment of the story.

How to kill your family was one of the first books I read when I properly got back into reading. I remember Googling ‘Bella Mackie books’ as soon as I’d finished and I’ve been eagerly awaiting this one for a long time!
When a book contains soooo many hideous characters it usually puts me off but I actually loved to hate the Wistern family.
Grim but glorious. I enjoyed this just as much as HTKYF and I’m so happy to get my Bella Mackie fix!
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins U.K. for this arc.

Anthony Wistern, a commanding businessman, husband and father is found impaled on a post in the middle of his lake during his birthday party.

Unfortunately, death is not straightforward and Anthony finds himself unable to progress through to the afterlife until he can explain exactly how he came to be there. We follow Anthony’s as he observes the reactions of his nearest and dearest to his untimely demise and the subsequent investigation.

Anthony introduces us to his three self obsessed daughters, his quiet son, his wealthy wife Olivia, her brother Charles and Anthony’s dependable business partner Giles. The problem being that none of them appear to be telling the truth.

After his death, news breaks that Anthony had been running a fraudulent fund, leaving rich and powerful investors in ruin. Add in the fact that the reading of the Will throws up some surprises for the family, there are no shortage of people who had reason to kill Anthony but what really happened on his last night alive? With Anthony stuck in a processing centre between life and death and with all potential witnesses being evasive for their own means, the truth is hard to find…

Each chapter is told through the POV of a key player: Anthony, Olivia, and Sleuth: a local, keen amateur investigator and true crime fan.

What I most enjoyed about this book was how thoroughly unlikeable the main characters are. There is nothing redeeming about any of the Wistern family. Anthony is such a deplorable, self-promoting, egotistical man that I found myself revelling in his reaction to losing power and control. It is unusual that a primary character is written in such a way that the reader has no sympathy for their circumstances and this engaged me immediately.

Just like How to Kill your Family, this is an unusual, clever premise, delivered with wit and humour..

A thoroughly enjoyable read - thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read and review.

An enjoyable, dark comedy. It starts slowly but then speeds up. Anthony, a multi millionaire dies at his lavish 60th birthday party. His wife and their 4 children are eager to get their share of his wealth but it transpired that he has lost all his money cheating investors. After death he wakes up in a holding area before his final destination is decided. Before the decision is made he must remember what happened when he died. Unfortunately he only knows that he was impaled on a stake in his lake. None of the characters in the book are very nice, which is the whole point of the story. Who murdered him or was it an accident?

I didn't love this book, I felt as though it was really drawn out and I didn't really have a connection with any of the characters. Particularly towards the end I found I was losing interest, but still wanted to 'complete' the book. I took a chance on this author as I didn't love their previous book either, but unfortunately I think I will avoid this author in future.

Absolutely loved how to kill your family and was really looking forward to reading this new one from Bella and it did not disappoint. Quick witted, easy to read and funny this is the story of a family where the Dad Anthony dies on his 60th birthday party and finds himself in the processing centre having to recall how he was killed before he can move on. This is where he gets stuck as he has no idea who killed him, although lots of options. Whether its his wife Olivia or one of his four delightful children, business partner or someone else he has rubbed up the wrong way in his life. None of the characters were likeable or nice people however they all were obscure and funny. They are all after money and greed runs them. I enjoyed reading this book and will be looking out for other from Bella. I will be recommending to others

Much like her debut novel, What a Way to Go has a brilliant premise. Anthony Wistern died at his extravagant birthday and none of his family care about anything other than how much money they will receive from his will. But it turns out Anthony was a horrible person who had invested millions in a Ponzi scheme defrauding many - and he is in a holding area like purgatory after his death until he figures out how he died. Was he murdered? A local girl tries to figure out if he was murdered whilst his family are preoccupied with themselves. The story examines each in turn to find out if they had a motive for killing him. This is a great story with interesting characters but I didn’t find it particularly compulsive because I ultimately did not really care how he died. I would call it entertaining but not a gripping whodunnit.

Another page-turning, twisty read from Bella Mackie, who continues to deliver fresh and fun stories with compelling characters to the crime genre. Thanks so much to the publisher for the opportunity to read early.

A rich, wheeler-dealer guy dies at his 60th birthday party. The story is told by him, his wife and an internet blogger, who has a particular interest in unsolved crimes. He dies at the very beginning (so no spoilers) and the story is after his death. Fascinating angle when he goes through what happens after his death. Twists and turns where the reader feels certain of who kills him only to be dashed by another twist. Lots of humour and sarcasm. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

What a clever and delightful read. I must admit, I read the first few paragraphs, and thought it wasn’t for me. I don’t really like anything with paranormal or unrealistic plots. So, I read a different book then reluctantly returned to this one. After just a few more paragraphs, I was hooked. It is a fresh, funny family mystery with a bunch of thoroughly disagreeable characters. Is it designed to make us feel that money doesn’t buy love or happiness? Whatever the aim, it is a highly entertaining read. Anthony is dead and must successfully recall exactly how he died, before he can move on to the next stage of afterlife. In order to do so he must sit in and watch his “grieving” family, though none of them seem to be particularly afflicted by his death. Add to this an amateur sleuth, determined to prove that he was murdered by his wife, and the reader is drawn slowly along the path to resolving the mystery. I loved it and am so glad I put aside my prejudice and read on. Simply wonderful.

I enjoyed Bella Mackie's first book but this one smashes it out of the park - an excellent balance of humour and plot twists so I was hooked straight away.

We follow Anthony Wistern as he watches the aftermath of his death, unable to move onwards until he solves what caused it. None of his family are particularly sad to see him go and all of them are clearly hiding something that happened while celebrating Anthony's 60th. The only person who seems to take his death seriously is a local true crime blogger who is determined to get the kudos of uncovering a murder and will do whatever it takes to find the remaining clues.

Every character is delightfully horrible in a different way, encouraging us to not be so jealous of the super rich lifestyles after all!

This gave me Succession vibes, a rich family where the players are all unlikeable yet compelling and a death...although unlike Succession, this looks like murder.

A murder that a social media sleuth is trying to solve (this is feels very topical albeit made for uncomfortable reading as we have seen in real life cases how social media sleuths can harm an investigation). However, this was a very tongue in cheek read and an enjoyable satire.

Would recommend,

Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

This book was great fun!!! I loved this author's first book so was keen to read her second. Such a brilliant way of telling a story from the characters post death watching their loved ones (hated ones!!!!). And then also from the living characters perspectives!!! Basically a murder mystery with a right twist!! Filled with quirky humour and individuals with personalities that makes you wish yourself they were indeed dead! I look forward to this author's next installment.

The story opens with the protagonist, now becoming a ghost, named Anthony dying. He falls out off of the deck and dies after being impaled, but did he fall or was he pushed? That is the question which, during the course of the book, will be probably be answered by the unknown sleuth.

The chapters juggle between Olivia Anthony’s wife, the dead man himself Anthony and the unknown sleuth who lives a few doors down and was sacked from her job at her local pub, which happens to be Anthony’s pub, for stealing but the truth of that will reveal itself, and is doing a crime podcast where the listenership seems to increase with each episode. The sleuth(her name is revealed near the end of the book) is trying to solve the riddle of Anthony’s death which the police and everyone else now believes was an accident. After all, how does the man who is apparently sober, fall off the deck and onto a sharp implement which just happens to be protruding out of the pond.

I have to say that this is a really funny book, the funniest I’ve read in quite some time, especially when it’s Olivia’s or Anthony’s turn to explain their perspectives on their situations. It’s even funnier the way Anthony sees things from the underworld, how there is even some bureaucracy down there as well in life which he is not happy about, and there is a bureaucratic member of staff whom he actually despises. This book is very well written with so much humour, if I had to criticise it, I would say it is not a follow-up to her previous book “how to murder your family“. However, So much happens in this book that I’m not going to say anything more, otherwise I’ll be typing forever. You’re just going to have to read it yourself and trust me that it is an enjoyable read if you like murder, mayhem and hilarity.

Another fab read from Bella Mackie! The Wistern family are wealthy and very, very greedy. I enjoyed where Anthony has to go and what he has to do (no spoilers!) following a significant life event.
I enjoyed following the sleuth’s journey and following the story from multiple characters perspectives like this.
For me it was not as funny as How to Kill your family but it is definitely just as good from a plot perspective.

Unfortunately it’s a no from me and I’m so sad about it!! It started off really well, it had momentum and it could have been a good book. It then began to slow down and get a bit repetitive to then be a complete flop at the end. There was no depth to any of the characters and it felt like they were all very 2 dimensional. It was quite a drawn out story to then have the ending wrapped up in the last 5% which was messy and rushed. The only reason I’m giving it 2 stars is because I enjoyed the first half.

‘What A Way To Go’ by Bella Mackie is a darkly hilarious, mysterious and unique whodunnit which begins with a millionaire finance maestro, Anthony Wistern, coming to a grisly demise at his birthday party. Interestingly, he is one of the three narrators of the tale, watching his bickering, toxic family from the afterlife’s waiting room as they deal with the fallout of his death and deception. We also hear from Olivia, his long-suffering socialite wife, and a mysterious true-crime aficionado who is a bit too thrilled about a potential murder almost on their doorstep!

I adored ‘How To Kill Your Family’, and Mackie has certainly flexed the same witty and captivating skills in this novel. Full of shrewd observations about London’s social set, wealth, class and inequality, the book feels fresh, funny and revealing. Anthony and Olivia’s four children are realistically different from each other, and each deliciously unlikeable in their own way allowing the reader to revel in the cacophony of misfortunes they face along the way to some shocking developments.

The mystery in this book was wonderfully plotted and revealed gradually, culminating in a satisfying ending. My only criticism would be that the largely detestable family, and the lack of time to really get to know the only non-Wistern main character (our mysterious sleuth) meant that I read on because I was curious about the resolution, rather than that I really cared about any of the people involved.

Giving this a fabulous four stars! I really recommend this to anyone who loved the film ‘Knives Out’ and enjoys dark comedy!

I received an advance Digital Review Copy of this book from the publisher Harper Collins UK via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I had painfully high expectations after “How to Kill Your Family” - and Bella did not disappoint me. Bella’s writing is the epitome of the phrase “morbidly hilarious” - this book is dark, bloody, tragic - but awkwardly, uncomfortably funny.

Married couple Olivia and Anthony act as our main narrators alongside a mysterious “sleuth” - offering a jarring, eerie vibe as hear from our murder victim before anyone else. Anthony offered a strangely calm, clear, matter-of-fact storytelling that made the subject matter almost laughable with the casual nature of how he describes the events leading to his own brutal, bloody murder combined with a unique take on ideas about the bureaucracy of the great beyond. I didn’t expect the afterlife to feature in anything from Mackie, but it just worked and somehow still felt so rooted in reality.

Then with Olivia’s prim and proper voice and our mysterious nameless character, there’s such a variety of different, distinct but strong voices - jumping between them seamlessly, with pacy chapters that kept the nervous energy building towards something dramatic, lulling us into mundane slowness at times before setting off again. Our sleuth offers some discourse on the public interest in murder and death, as well as some interesting commentary on interns detectives. All three characters and trying to figure out the same mystery from very different places - who killed Anthony and why?

Each character was undeniably complicated - I dislike them, their privilege and entitlement but I was obsessed with them, how their opulence and splendour was overtaken with darkness and despair and we see them start to crack.

An high-energy, irreverently funny, dry and dark tragicomedy about murder in high society.