I am delighted to share my review today for Death and Other Occupational Hazards by Veronika Dapunt. This is a fun book about Death and well what she does when she needs a break…
My huge thanks to Penguin Random House for accepting my request to read this title via NetGalley.
Her job is to die for. Literally.
Most people think that when they meet Death, it’ll be a skeleton in a black potato sack. Maybe with a scythe. Truth is, she’s just a woman doing a job and she’s very good at it.
But when Death takes a much-needed break to live on earth, things start to go terribly wrong. Someone’s killing people not on her list (well, not yet anyway) and it’s down to her to find the culprit before it’s too late.
To make matters worse, her sanctimonious sister, Life – whom Death hasn’t got on with in millennia – won’t stop blaming her . . . And then there’s the slight problem of the charming (sexy) parasitologist she’s suspicious of.
But she’ll be fine, right?
After all, who better to investigate a murder than Death herself?
MY REVIEW
This was a fun read, and I do like the idea of Death being a woman! Death has been doing her job forever, and she helps those at their final moments, whether human, animal, insect, or other. Time works differently for Death, and it just as well.
She decides she needs a sabbatical and so gets a job in London. The one thing about being Death is that she knows when people are to die. While she is in London she does have a temp standing in for her. She is shocked, though, when there is an unauthorised death, something that should not be possible.
She is trying to work out if this death and then another are connected and how. But when you are living a mortal life, with a basic wage and a small and cheap flat, well, money becomes an issue… welcome to real life, Death! She does have her sister Life to talk to, yes, her sister is called Life… but Life is not that fussed with her sister, so they have a slightly tentative relationship that goes back to something that happened a very, very, very long time ago. The Boss does have a say, and he puts Death in danger.
This is a humorous book at times and there was a lot I really enjoyed about it. It definitely made an impression, and there is, of course, the murder and the mystery to be solved behind said murder. Once I got into this I enjoyed it a lot and it is something that I think those that like fantasy murder mysteries would enjoy. It is a book I would be happy to recommend.
Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx
