When a strange woman slips a note into grieving widow Paula’s pocket at her husband’s funeral, everything suggests that he was not all that he seemed … A devastatingly moving, explosive psychological thriller from the international bestselling author of A Suitable Lie. ‘Disturbing but compulsive … I loved it’ Martina Cole ‘Bristling with unease, this is domestic noir at its very darkest, … domestic noir at its very darkest, twisting the marriage thriller into a new and troubling shape’ Eva Dolan
‘Vivid, visceral and compulsive’ Ian Rankin
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You need to know who your husband really was…
When Paula Gadd’s husband of almost thirty years dies, just days away from the seventh anniversary of their son, Christopher’s death, her world falls apart. Grieving and bereft, she is stunned when a young woman approaches her at the funeral service, and slips something into her pocket. A note suggesting that Paula’s husband was not all that he seemed…
When the two women eventually meet, a series of revelations challenges everything Paula thought she knew, and it becomes immediately clear that both women’s lives are in very real danger.
Both a dark, twisty slice of domestic noir and taut, explosive psychological thriller, After He Died is also a chilling reminder that the people we trust the most can harbour the deadliest secrets…
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Praise for Michael J. Malone
‘Gripping and suspenseful fare that reinforces Malone’s renown for producing psychological thrillers’ Herald Scotland
‘It’s a tough high-wire act, balancing believability with surprise, but the author pulls it off with aplomb. Excellent stuff’ Doug Johnstone, The Big Issue
‘Michael J Malone has portrayed this beautifully and managed to get the balance just right … A well-paced, excellent read’ Promoting Crime
’After he Died is a fantastic read packed with engaging characters and a compelling narrative’ CrimeSquad
‘An explosive tale, one that takes hold, bites, and doesn’t let go’ LoveReading
‘A stark, gripping storyline’ Scots
‘A fine, page-turning thriller’ Daily Mail
‘Original, engrossing and scary’ The Times
‘Brilliantly creepy’ Daily Record
‘Genuinely shocking’ Crime by the Book
‘Delightfully disturbing’ Chapter in My Life
‘Michael Malone has a way of telling a story that just leaves you more than a little disturbed yet breathless with admiration’ Live & Deadly
‘Enthralling, wonderful, intense, full of suspense and twists that had my head in a spin! Crime Book Junkie
‘Michael J. Malone is quickly making his way up my list of favourite authors’ Always Trust in Books
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A dark and unnerving psychological thriller that draws you deep into the lives of the characters and refuses to let go. This is a brilliantly written book; I could not put it down.
For me, there’s a fine line between depicting grief and falling into melodrama. Given that Paula’s healthy and fit husband dies unexpectedly at a business lunch, I can imagine her inability to believe her husband is dead. But. Sometimes … she goes on and on a bit too much. I also find it hard to grasp how much alcohol she can imbibe. As with so many characters in fiction these days, she veers between functioning as if she’s stone sober after enough alcohol to stun a moose and blacking out. The author writes both extremes well, but I still was left unconvinced. What kept me reading was the setting (Glasgow–again from extremes: Paula in her wealthy enclave and Cara in the slums). Despite the stark contrast, the two women become friends; and the subtlety of their developing respect deepens the story. Among the twists revealed, the one I had the most difficulty with is Paula’s learning that her brother-in-law was present when her husband suffered his heart attack. The climactic twist caught me by surprise. I still can’t decide if I accept it because of some other scenes in the book that could then border on manipulating the reader. The writing is stellar, and the relationship between Paula and her BIL, Father Joe, is one of the best parts of the book. The conclusion rings with a nice touch of poetic justice. So, I liked this one enough to try another one of his novels soon.
Informative, soul bearing, heart breaking, and all the while still comforting to know you and your family are not alone.
Paula Gadd is attending her husband’s funeral when a young woman walks up, hugs her, and hands her a note. Then she leaves. The note suggests that her husband was not the man she thought he was.
Losing her husband of almost 30 years was bad enough, but she had also lost her son just a few years ago and practically on the same date. And now someone has placed doubts in her mind about her husband.
When Paula meets the young woman, she expected to be told that her husband had had an affair. But what she’s told is something worse … much worse. And they are both in danger.
This is a well written psychological thriller. It’s an action packed page turner with finely drawn characters. There are twists and turns that appear out of nowhere. Some characters have dark terrible secrets in their pasts that they don’t want anyone to know. Sometimes they kill someone close to them ….
Many thanks to the author / Trafalgar Square Publishing – Orenda Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological thriller. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Ugh. I wanted to like this book- I really did. But nope. I wanted to slap the main character so many times. She kept insisting that nothing was going on yet 4 people around her were dead- and I don’t think that’s a spoiler.
You know when you’re watching a game show and the contestants don’t know the answer, but it’s so simple and blatant so you’re screaming at the TV and cursing the contestants stupidity? That’s how I felt during this whole book.
I had to re-read the ‘climactic’ part because I apparently didn’t realize that was it.
Also, the accents and the vernacular was probably correct, but I had a hard time figuring out what they were saying.