Not my cup of tea

 ⭑⭑⭑  This is the first book written by Ottessa Moshfegh that I have read and, quite possibly, the last. There is nothing wrong with Death in Her Hands. In fact, someone more patient will certainly enjoy the tricksy fashion in which this book is constructed. It is not what I expected it to be but isn't that a good thing? We want mystery and the unexplained and this book delivers both in spades.

The premise made me curious - a mature, lonely woman, Vesta, finds a note whilst walking her dog that informs the reader that Magda is dead, the writer was not involved but Magda will never be found. Great stuff, right? I thought so, too, and it is if you don't mind spending the bulk of the book rummaging around in Vesta's cluttered mind space. Her history, life with her dead overbearing husband, her loneliness and general prejudices against everyone she meets all flows by in endless monologue like a slow moving train. There were a handful of interactions with other people but I am not convinced they actually happened. Most frustrating to me were her fictional stories she builds around the person that could be Magda and what may have befallen her. She gets hysterical over her constructed account of events and that tipped me into no longer caring. I have my theories as to why things unfolded as they did but given I didn't feel to invested I am willing to write them off. Someone with an interest in psychology and the general workings of the human mind will take away a lot more from this novel than I did.