Murder by Natural Causes

Product Information

It is hard to believe this is debut novel as the story is so well crafted and the prose is of a high quality and written with an assurance one would expect of a more experienced author. On the side, she is able to take on jobs of her own but as things develop we see the lines becoming blurred. Her speciality is the dry job, a method of murder that leaves no outward traces and mimics death by natural causes. When working for her pay masters she finds herself in London working for a new boss. Is she happy in her work? She seems to be ; but as time passes her position seems to be changing and she seems be more and more unhappy in her work. And is she seeking a way out. This is the question she and the reader are asking themselves. A fast paced thriller that asks more questions than giving answers. As the storyline unfolds, we learn of Cilla's childhood and education - born in a very communist Soviet Union, she was whisked away at a young age and trained at the specialist academy 43 where she excelled. Take a Look at Our Summary of November Highlights, Whether You're Looking for the Latest Releases or Gift Inspiration

The characters in the book were very well done. I liked Cilla overall and the author does a good job of making you warm to her, despite the awful things she’s done. I also really liked Smithy’s character, even if his name made me think of Gavin & Stacey. 😂 We follow Cilla in her present day life, working, part time, for Vlad - drug lord, club owner, impaler! - definitely not a man to be messed with. Currently, she kills people for the owner of TGR's bridge club in London, Vladimir Haugr, in return for a flat, a retainer and expenses: five jobs a year for the man also knows as Haugr the Ogre or, to those who get on the wrong side of him, Vlad the Impaler. And under conditions she very strictly controls, she does a bit of selective freelance work. Her attitude is pragmatic to the extreme, rather chilling, in fact. Murder by Natural Causes is not high literature. It’s more of a ripping yarn. If it does well I might embark on a prequel. I’d like to like to write about bridge in the 1950’s and 60’s when the game was still glamourous and people dressed for the occasion. I’ll make sure to include a few more murders, just for the non-bridge players you understand. Muswell Press has landed Murder by Natural Causes, a thriller about a female assassin by début novelist Helen Erichsen.Cilla used to live a normal, merely boring life. The days and weeks passed on and all resembled the same routine.

She also knows that her main client, Vladimir Haugr, would rather kill her than let her go. Will Cilla be able to reinvent herself? And if so, at what cost?” I loved that Cilla, although completely invisible, she was the bravest, cleverest and strongest character I've read about in a while. A very engaging audiobook, didn't lose concentration once, enjoyed the narrator's voice as Cilla and even sped it up to 2x speed to keep the flow! Not too gory for its genre, but with plenty of detail on training, plants and toxins, Communist ideology and hit-planning. Overall, the grammar and syntax are good! Erichsen enjoys using semicolons, something I fully approve of. Variety is important, even when it comes to punctuation.I'm really hoping that it's because there is going to be a sequel, but even if not, this is definitely an author that I'll be reading again! Brilliant read! When I was lent this book recently my heart sank. I thought it was going to be a bridge book with a murder in it. Always badly done, why oh why would anybody do another one. But, take heart dear reader. This very clever writer has managed to put a bridge setting into her book without having any bridge in it. A central theme is that of escape from an existence that is predetermined and one where once she has served her purpose, she becomes superfluous to requirements. The reality is assassins don’t get the chance to retire, they are erased by their successors. Here the stark reality faces Cilla as there are parallels in her life. She escapes the Russians only by working under the protection of Vlad. If she is to escape from Vlad who is going to protect her then? What do you thinks makes a psychopath? are they born or can they be trained? read this book and you may find some answers.This is the story of a young girl who is taken from her family by the Soviet authorities and trained to be a killer . What marks Cilla, as she becomes, is her ambivalence to her family and her unquestioning loyalty to the regime. Is she a natural psychopath or can she be trained. The narrator was amazing especially depicting all the different characters and accents. It really brought the story to life and helped to add context to the plot.

Dystopian Fiction Books Everyone Should Read: Explore The Darker Side of Possible Worlds and Alternative Futures

This is exclusive content.

A dual timeline and limited third person point of view put me in a good mood, technically speaking. Michael’s POV at the very beginning is the only exception, and it doesn’t bother me at all since the transition is flawless. Nice rhythm and pacing as well—nothing sounds mechanical, nothing drags. But what if that’s not what you want in life? What if you’d like to live a somewhat normal life? How easy getting out of it would be? This was a decently enjoyable read, as you got to see both the beginning and the end of Cilla’s career as a contract killer- what made her the way she is, and both why and how she decided to move on from killing people. This isn’t my normal sort of read, but I did find some fascination in the way the story makes you increasingly sympathetic to Cilla. I listened to the audiobook of this, and it was narrated skillfully by Natalie Pela. When I’m not involved in bridge, I write dark psychological thrillers and garden obsessively. My debut novel: Murder by Natural Causes comes out in May 2023. It's not high literature, more of a ripping yarn. And there is some bridge involved. This week's blog is from bridge player and novelist Helen Erichsen, her debut novel " Murder by natural causes" launched this week in London.