#AD #Gifted

I was excited to be invited to review The Significant Others of Odie May by Claire Dyer – and I am thrilled to be kicking off the tour for this fabulous book.

We’ll start with the synopsis and the author details – scroll a bit further down to find my review.

 

The book

Any one of them could have murdered her… but who did?

On the night Odie May and her married lover are due to celebrate him leaving his wife, Odie goes out to buy a bottle of his favourite wine and, on her way home, is murdered by a woman in a lime green coat.

The next thing Odie knows is that she’s in a waiting room and there’s a man called Carl Draper saying he’s her Initial Contact. He is carrying a clipboard and invites her into an interview room.

Over the course of her interview, Carl and Odie track back to the significant others in her life to date to try and work out where she’s gone wrong, who might have killed her, and why.

In the meantime, Carl also shows Odie what’s happening in the life she’s left behind as her mother and her lover, Michael, learn of her death and manage the tricky days that follow it.

But nothing is as simple as it seems. Although Carl has it in his power to return Odie to the moment before she was killed, this comes at a price she may not be able to pay.

The author

Claire Dyer’s novels are published by Quercus, The Dome Press and Matador. Her latest, ‘The Significant Others of Odie May’ was released in July 2021. Her poetry collections are published by Two Rivers Press. She curates Reading’s Poets’ Café, teaches creative writing and runs Fresh Eyes, an editorial and critiquing service. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London and is a regular contributor on BBC Radio Berkshire. Her website is: www.clairedyer.com

My review

This is a book that really stopped me in my tracks and gave me pause  for thought. It’s such an unusual premise and the way the story is so expertly told is very unique – I’ve never read anything quite like this before.

As the story unfolds, we learn more about the main character, Odette Briony May and some of the people she has loved and lost throughout her life. This story is big on detail; there is mention of a pencil case containing some felt tip pens and it made me as the reader want to reach into the book and snatch it away to have it for my very own.

There are parts of this book that are heart breaking and horrifying on some level, but there is humour too.  Most of the story is told in a form of flashbacks and Odie May wryly pokes fun at her younger self with some of her memories.

I urge you to read this book – it is not your average murder mustery, and it’s all the better for that.  It will make you think long and hard about your own life, chances and choices and all those what ifs that we all secretly cling to.

Outstanding.  5/5

My thanks to the author, the publishers (Troubador/ Matador books) and Love books Tours for my gifted copy and the opportunity to take part in the tour.

Buy your copy here (affiliate link)

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