I really enjoyed listening to Bella Mackie’s book What a way to die. Millionaire Anthony Winston dies on his 60th birthday, getting skewered in the families ornamental lake. He ends up in the South Gloucestershire holding area for dead people where he has to find out how he died. He can see and listen to his family on a monitor to help him. Was he murdered, the Sleuth seems to think so.
It is funny listening to the very dysfunctional family, the sleuth and Anthony. Made me giggle.

The narrators were excellent, really capturing the characters

And the ending, I didn’t see that one coming

Oh my goodness, when you really want to listen to a fun absolutely bonkers story this is it. It tells the story of the afterlife in a completely different way and from the perspective of some completely selfish rich? people. and their family left on earth. I have loved Bella's other book and this didnt disappoint it worked so well.

Narration was perfect.

I really liked Bella Mackie’s other book, but this one wasn’t as good. All the characters were really mean and kept fighting with each other, like a bad TV show. At first, I was interested, but I got bored after a while and just wanted to finish it. The ending wasn’t very good either. It wasn’t terrible, but it was kind of boring.

3.5⭐️ Just didn't quite make the 4 on this one for me, which I will explain further on.

This, however, is an amusing take on a possible murder plot scenario with the novel opening with very well to do couple having an outlandish 60th birthday party for Anthony, which his wife Olivia has organised.

They have 4 children together, and this family can not be any more entitled than they all are shown to be in their own ways. Their are, of course, other characters such as friends, boyfriends, and husbands added into the mix to bring the twits and turns that we hear in this audiobook.

Then we have our young Internet inspector sleuth, who is determined to uncover the root of how Anthony died. Meanwhile, Anthony is in a holding place in the afterlife to figure out how he died. He has to remember before he can move on and transcend to the next part of his journey.

Where I felt this audiobook was overall Well written, funny and well narrated the first half had me gripped however from litrally 50% till around 70/75% of the audiobook it lost me a little bit, just felt like it was a little unnecessary detail and just dragged a little for me then it picked up pace again for the end.

This is where it went from 4 to 3.5⭐️ the humour was absolutely brilliant, and the plot commendable was a fantastic different approach that I've never read before, and I'd definitely read this author again.

With thanks & gratitude to Netgalley, Harper Collins UK Audio & Bourough Press for this ARC in return for my review.

Bella Mackie is an author I've had on my list of "books I'd like to read" for quite a while, so when I had the opportunity to read this new book, I was really pleased. Even better that it was on audio as I had received a recommendation for a previous book of hers on audio.

I was able to get through this entire book within an evening/night. Once I had started, I couldn't stop. The characters and the plot were super engaging and I think the whole vibe off the book was a great balance between enough mystery to keep me guessing, but light hearted enough to keep it fun.

My favourite aspect of the book was 100% the South Gloucestershire processing centre. The idea of a place like this existing between death and after life (whatever that looks like) really struck a chord with me and I loved the idea of everyone sat there, watching and judging their family members after their death. These were some of the scenes that I found hilarious.

Every character in this book was vile. Entitled, spoilt and rotten. But I loved reading their antics, seeing them scramble around to protect themselves and in most cases, fail miserably. This was such a fun listen and I had a great time with the story.

The three different narrators do this audiobook make the story easy to differentiate and follow.
An interesting premise of the afterlife, with the dead stuck in Sorting Centres until they find out how they died. Anthony’s cause of death is kept secret until the very end, with a very appropriate ending.

Cosy crime with humour.
The different voices and perspectives in this book were terrific. A great light-hearted read for walks and house-keeping

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio | The Borough Press for a free ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, this entire character group are all insufferable. The story itself is fine - it's not breaking any boundaries, though having a third POV from the dead character in the 'sorting' centre was definitely something a bit different that was enjoyable. The plot is your typical whodunnit playing on the rise of true crime bloggers but whenever it feels like we're about to see something unique the plot takes the obvious route and loses the chance to make What A Way To Go memorable.

Having not read anything else by Bella Mackie, I can't say I'd reach for another of her books, however the cast for narration were great and I would keep an eye out for their works going forward.

I listened to this on audiobook with great narrators. Best way to describe this is a crime with comedy along the way. Multiple points of view in a story which starts with a death and basically the book is about how it happened.

Definitely recommend. Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy

I listened to the audiobook version of this story and I really liked how it had 3 narrators.
I liked it how it was told from 3 different points of view, from very different characters. This made it more interesting.
I liked that you weren't really left with questions at the end, it tied it up quite nicely.
I thought the premise was interesting and it was an enjoyable read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anthony Wistern has it all. Enormous wealth, beautiful houses, social standing, business success, and a family that any self-made man would be proud of.

He’s also dead.

What A Way To Go opens at Anthony’s 60th birthday party, a wildly extravagant and artfully-lit demonstration of his wealth and success. By the end of the evening he is gruesomely dead, and there is no shortage of suspects who may have caused his demise.

The book rotates around three narrators - Olivia, Anthony’s wife; an internet ‘true-crime’ sleuth whose name we don’t discover until much further on into the book; and Anthony himself, speaking to us from a liminal afterlife. The audiobook I listened to had different narrators for each voice and while I’m not always a fan of multi-voice narration, it really worked for this one. Each of the accents, tone, and pacing was accurate and distinct, and I didn’t even employ my normal increase of playback speed, as there were so many small nuances that I didn’t want to miss.

As well as being a well-paced whodunnit, with drip-fed clues and red herrings, What A Way To Go is also an immensely clever social commentary. Without being heavy-handed, Mackie addresses social isolation, online clout-chasing, relationship challenges (many thereof), class issues, wealth gaps, privilege and power imbalance. She does so with a healthy dose of humour - sometimes dark, often subtle, but always there. I especially appreciated the character of the citizen investigator, and the delicate building of the background that brought her to this case.

The icing on this particular murder cake for me is how Mackie manages to deliver an entire cast of characters who were irremediably unlikeable, and yet entirely engage the reader with their stories and experiences. Each time the narrator shifted I was happy to come back to their thread, and this kept the book moving well.

By the time all the guilty parties and their comeuppances were revealed, it felt like a really annoying itch had been thoroughly scratched. If you’re looking for a new read, it’s hard to do better than this.

*
Ad - PR copy. Thank you Harper Collins for providing this book for review consideration. The review is unpaid and all opinions are my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to What A Way To Go by Bella Mackie. It was expertly narrated by Kimberley Capero, Gabrielle Glaister and Colin Mace.

Antony Wistern unfortunately dies at his 60th Birthday Party at his ‘house in the country’ in the Cotswolds.

The story moves along from the perspective of his wife Olivia, from Antony himself as he’s in a purgatory type of wait room and from someone known as ‘the sleuth’.

The Sleuth is working on a true-crime podcast and believes that Antony was murdered and is keen to prove it leaving no stone unturned. Her listeners grow as the book goes on. Antony can’t remember what happened to him and watches on as his family come to terms with his death. Olivia is trying to navigate her position in society after her husband’s death and the aftermath of that.

It’s a fun listen with some truly laugh out loud moments.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Harper Collins UK Audio, for making this book available to me in exchange for a fair and honest review.

After dying on his 60th birthday, Anthony is put in an afterlife waiting room with the task of trying to figure out how he died. The problem? There’s quite a number of people with a good motive.

Told from the point of view of three different narrators, Anthony, his wife, Olivia and amateur true crime detective ‘the sleuth’ - all of whom keep you guessing. Listening to the audiobook, the narrators did a fab job of bringing to life each character, too.

Bella Mackie does a fab job of creating not one likeable character in the whole book, yet you still can’t help but slight root for them.

A fun listen and an entertaining guessing game!


Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Audio for the ARC.

ACR audible from netgally review.

I love listening to this while doing my my daily tasks. It made me giggle and made me wanna listen more to want to know more about the family story about the demise of the main character. I loved how it is written in different points of view of the characters and how the publishers have used different voice actors for them. Instead of just one like some audiobooks I have listened to do. I like harpercollins did and amazing cast on this on. And bella mackie writing is perfectly perfectly performed. I have her books in physical form and can not wait to start them.

A pleasant enough listen, but I found the story, although quite original, was a bit slow and lacked some humph. The characters are highly unlikeable in a funny way and Bella Mackie does a great job of making them come alive for the reader. The narrators are also really good, but I do think that it had been reading this instead of listening to it I might not have been able to continue.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for letting me review this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Not the best! Not the worst! Good fun.

I enjoyed this as an easy listen. The voice choices were perfect and set the scene for the book perfectly. The book was light and very funny in places. The story was ok, nothing exciting but enjoyable all the same.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for the ARC

This was an interesting plotted thriller. I enjoyed the aspect of following a deceased character as they're trying to solve their own murder. It was fascinating and fun. We also follow the deceased's family and a amateur sleuth trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. While all the characters were unlikable they're were entertaining to follow. The mystery was great, I couldn't predict the culprit.

Oh no, I was so disappointed by this.
I quite enjoyed Bella Mackie’s previous work, but sadly this one did not live up to same standard as its predecessor.

I did enjoy how utterly awful every character was, every opportunity was used to get some sort of snipe or betrayal in, giving it the feel of a long episode of Succession.

In the beginning I was intrigued, but my interest waned quickly as the story went on and on and I found myself reading quickly just to get to the end.

Unfortunately, not even that paid off because the ending was so unsatisfying.

Not awful but just a bit meh, sadly.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley.
3/5 ⭐️

This is a dark and humourous story and a good book for audio. The plot is different and gets your attention i didn't love it but didn't hate it either same with the authors first book. I gave this 3.75 overall rounded to 4. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this audio arc.

A darkly humorous thriller that is highly entertaining. What a Way to Go keeps you guessing as to why the rich patriarch Anthony Wistern has been murdered at his own lavish 60th birthday bash. We are given the perspective of Anthony himself, his Widow Olivia and a keen sleuth. The Wisterns are extremely wealthy and highly disagreeable. Their questionable characters are exposed and mocked throughout. The tone is scathing, frivolous and suspenseful, and is perfectly captured in audiobook format by the narrators Kimberley Capero, Gabrielle Glaister and Colin Mace. You should read/ listen to this if you love books like Death of a Bookseller, How to Kill Men and Get Away with it and How to Kill Your Family. #whatawaytogo #bellamackie #darkhumour #audiobook #netgalley