‘Die a Little’ by Megan Abbott
Published by Pocket Books . ISBN:-  9781847393463

Die a Little is a gem of a book to read.  Set in 1954 it evokes the age of noir perfectly.  Pasadena schoolteacher Lora King lives in contentment with her brother Bill who works in the DA’s Office as an investigator.  Their life is pretty much perfect until Alice Steele comes into Bill’s life.  Alice is a Hollywood seamstress with a mysterious background.  Soon Alice and Bill marry but his sister cannot help thinking that there is more to Alice than meets the eye.  She is soon delving into the background of her new sister-in-law and what she finds leads her to a world that she has never known before; that of drugs, prostitution and eventually murder.

Die a Little is an excellent well-written book that is soaked in moody suspense and voyeuristic attraction.   It is full of interesting characters and the author has managed to evoke a sinister atmosphere that is dark, dense and murky.  Even the use of first person narrative by the author does not detract from the story.  In fact it gives it a sense of tension and tremendous feeling of trepidation.  Die a Little is a very satisfying read and if like me you enjoy reading noir novels and like that type of setting and style then this is certainly the book to read.  If all her writing is like this then I shall certainly be reading the others.

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Ayo Onatade