I really wanted to love this: I adore dark comedies, I have a 'Succession'-shaped hole in my life, and I really liked Bella Mackie's debut book. But I didn't like this at all. The characters were unbelievably one-dimensional - for a book that's meant to satirise wealth and featuring unlikeable narrators, I needed them to have depth and surprises and they were just so cliched. I also felt like it needed a really good edit: it's a pet peeve, but nearly every paragraph had an obvious run-on sentence which a simple copy edit could have fixed, and it completely distracted me from my reading. Unfortunately can't recommend this.

Imagine living a life of unimaginable luxury—glamorous spouse, beautiful kids, stunning estates in France and the Cotswolds, and, oh yes, a whole array of mistresses. That’s Anthony Wistern’s world, at least until he ends up dead. Now, with his fortune up for grabs, each member of his dysfunctional family is a suspect, and their seemingly perfect world begins to crumble.

Mackie delivers a witty, fast-paced mystery that kept me turning pages. I found myself genuinely laughing at Mackie’s perfectly timed quips—her sense of humor definitely shines through every chapter. The multiple POVs really brought the story to life, giving us a front-row seat to the chaos of this outrageously dysfunctional family. The characters were well-written and even though I found them utterly unlikeable, I couldn’t help but want to know what happened next!

I loved how Mackie slowly fed us bits of information, keeping the suspense alive as I pieced together the mystery. The dark humor and the unfolding of secrets made it a quick and entertaining read.

However, I do wish the book had a slightly different structure—the build-up was so strong that I felt the ending could’ve used a bit more fleshing out. The length also could have been trimmed a bit to maintain the pacing. But overall, What a Way to Go was a fun, darkly humorous mystery that I ultimately enjoyed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC. What a Way To Go is terrific from start to finish. I loved the concept of sticking around to solve your own murder, and meeting the very long list of suspects. It is engaging, funny and a refreshing supernatural elements read. Five stars.

Newly dead Anthony Wistern must remember how he died before he can move on in the afterlife. In order to achieve this he spends his time watching his family trying to piece together his final moments. Jade Evans is a true crime fan who has is convinced that one of the family killed Anthony, namely his wife Olivia. The story is told alternating between the pov of the three of them. I really enjoy when books have multiple povs, it feels like you can really dive deep in to the mystery however I did feel they were not "different" enough to give the contrast I personally like.
The story itself was a brilliant idea of death being a process that needs boxes ticked before you can be filed indefinitely. A fresh take on the classic "what happens when you die?" question.
Much like How to kill your family, I felt there was a few too many core characters, with some that could have been omitted entirely.
Bella Mackie has a talent for writing characters that you really struggle to like but somehow still want to know about, if I'm honest I don't recall one character I was genuinely routing for or invested in their outcome. This is fueled by Mackie's presentation of rich people as not only selfish but entirely devoid of feelings about anything but money and their public image.
The story itself without giving away too much falls a little flat at the end, I was hoping for some salacious twist, having spent the story coming up with theories on what happened the night of Anthony Wistern's birthday party. However, the truth left me feeling like "oh, is that it?" Like maybe Mackie had got to a point where she wasn't sure where to go and just wanted to finish the story and rushed to end it without that forethought the rest of the story had been given. This may be just that she's a fairly new novelist who is learning as she goes.
All in all it was a quick and easy, enjoyable read and I would still read more books by Mackie in the future.

This was a really interesting concept, started well but lost traction for me. I wanted longer with each character, found the chapters jumped all over the place and harder work to piece the story together than it should have been

I loved this authors.previous previous novel How To Kill Your Family. But What A Way To Go is so much better. A truly vile man, Anthony Western, dies in an innovative and funny way at his 60th Birthday Party. We then follow the fall-out from his event, and its impact on Anthony's awful family, and also, hilariously, on Anthony himself. Will we find out what happened to Anthony, and will there be any redemption for the Western family?

I loved How to Kill Your Family, so I was really excited for this book and it did not disappoint. As well as having a good mystery at its centre, it was so funny. I laughed throughout. Mackie’s writing style really draws you in and the characters are so well constructed. Already cannot wait for her next one.

Anyone who enjoyed Bella Mackie's previous book 'How to Kill Your Family' will not be disappointed by this one.

The story starts with Anthony Wistern's 60th Birthday party, where he is found dead - no spoilers here on how. The question is, how and why. Was it the wife, one of his 4 children, one of the mistresses, or someone else.

The book is a great romp through the story, told from the perspectives of the dead man, the wife and a sleuth who is convinced he was murdered. Thoroughly entertaining and fun I found it difficult to get to a point where I could stop reading each evening.

DNF @ 69%

I loved HOW TO KILL YOUR FAMILY. But I found this to be such a slog to get through. It’s quite flat and nowhere near as interesting as the authors previous book. Such a shame since I expected to love it!

2.75⭐️

Thank you Netgalley and Bloomsbury for the ARC and the opportunity to read this book pre-release. All thoughts are my own.

Oh dear, what a drag this was for me. I had quite high expectations (for myself and for this book both) as I was really into a thriller/mystery mood, but unfortunately it didn't hit the spot.

What a Way to Go covers the mysterious death of british millionaire Anthony Wistern that is found impaled to a decoration of his extravagant 60th birthday party. The story is narrated by multiple characters, among which literally himself from the afterlife, his wife and a very annoying and stubborn crime-obsessed blogger that is determined to prove that his death is indeed a murder.

I truly found the idea of the afterlife and Anthony's POV to be so refreshing and smart when I started the book, but I am afraid that was not enough to carry the story. I was expecting more investigation but this book is so very centred toward the (personally, unrealistic and overly-dramatic) family dynamics between the surviving family members, that all have something to hide.
I cannot say that I found their secrets particularly interesting or pertinent to the death, so I almost felt like I was reading a very long tangent to what I thought was gonna be the main topic of the story.

The writing style isn't exactly bad, but also very simple and easily digestible, which I wouldn't associate with the genre. On top of this the characters are so unrelatable, and not because they live an extravagant lifestyle, but because they have the emotional depth of a teaspoon. The children are all spoiled and delusional, the blogger is potentially clinically and mentally unwell and the wife needs to get her priorities checked.

Maybe I am missing the point of this book, so that's why I struggled with it even if I genuinely really wanted to know the truth behind the death. Can I say, even that was disappointing eventually.
I don't think I will be reading anything else from the author as I don't appreciate it, but I would probably recommend it to people that enjoy some family drama and wild takes on the lifestyle of the rich.

Brilliantly written, I'm not sure if its correct to find a story about death and murder funny but What A Way To Go is darkly humorous.
The Wisterns are a family of obnoxious, snobby, spoilt and self entitled people and I loved them all. I found Jade Evans very annoying but again this is a good thing as I would find her annoying in real life.
I love the way the story moves between Anthony, Olivia and Jade and it unfolds from their individual perspectives, piecing together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Thanks to NetGalley and the authors for allowing me to read What A Way To Go.

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
...
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.
...
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.