Review: A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon

I chose this book because I adore Joanna Cannon's style of writing and her brilliant, true-to-life characters never disappoint!

A Tidy Ending is about Linda, who lives an ordinary life on an ordinary estate, spending her days clearing up after her messy husband Terry and working in a charity shop. When brochures and catalogues addressed to the previous occupant begin to drop through the letter box,  Linda wonders if she's 'settled' for this dull, boring life of cooking and cleaning, married to the first man who asked her. If her mother had been more supportive, instead of constantly running her down, could Linda have followed her dream to be a hairdresser? Could she have become someone completely different, more glamorous, like the mysterious Rebecca, who lived in the house before her? 

A Tidy Ending puts the lives of 'ordinary' people under a microscope and reproduces their quirky foibles mercilessly. We all know people like this, with their supposedly perfect lives, completely wrapped up in themselves to the detriment of others, keeping secrets, the events that happened in their past still affecting their decisions in the present.

Running alongside the story of Linda and her dissatisfaction with her uneventful life is a murder mystery that has her neighbours completely agog. A succession of women have been killed close to where she lives and the police already suspect Linda's mild-mannered husband. But Linda has more important things to think about!

A Tidy Ending is a story of under-estimating people at your peril, with shades of Patricia Highsmith and Daphne du Maurier, and written with deadpan humour. Linda becomes completely obsessed with tracking down the mysterious Rebecca, oblivious to the way her own 'ordinary' life is collapsing around her. Brilliantly written with several jaw-dropping twists, A Tidy Ending is thoroughly recommended!

Thank you to Joanna Cannon and The Borough Press (HarperCollins UK) for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

Book Review: Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon

I must be the only person in the country who hasn't read The Trouble With Goats And Sheep, which was a huge bestseller for this author a couple of years ago. I was attracted to this book because of the clever cover, the title, and that so many readers had raved about TTWGAS.

Ostensibly Three Things About Elsie is a mystery. It opens with Florence, a lady of 84 years, looking back on the last few weeks of her life as she waits for someone to find her after a fall. This sounds depressing but Florence has a dry sense of humour and I was quickly drawn into her life at the home, her friendship with Elsie and Jack - and the trouble they cause the long-suffering staff. Florence, you see, is convinced that a new resident is not the man he claims to be but someone she knew sixty years ago - someone who is supposed to be dead.

In reality, Three Things About Elsie is about what it feels like to grow old. The frustration you feel as your health and mental agility slip away from you, and the way younger people start to treat you differently. And how eventually you even lose control over the way you want to live your life.

I loved the character of Florence, flaws and all, and the adventures she has with her friends as they investigate the past of this mysterious new resident. Think a more subtle version of Last of the Summer Wine without the slapstick. It is by turns funny, poignant, and desperately sad too - and I loved it. There are also some clever twists. Definitely recommended; I'm sure this will be one of my favourite reads for 2018.

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of Three Things About Elsie, which will be published on the 11th January 2018.

Thank you to Joanna Cannon, The Borough Press, and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.