Heather’s Bookshelf: Better Off Dead
Author: Glenda Carroll
Released: 03/07/25
Genre: Adult Thriller
“It didn’t matter how I felt a week ago; I was now involved in this death. Could Harrison be right? Was it murder? I needed to talk to the brother, Marty, and his family, and I also wanted to see the infamous boat.”
“Better Off Dead” is a “Trisha Carson Mystery”, read as a standalone. The story follows Trisha Carson, an amateur investigator, who is asked to look into the death of Andy Barlow, a California financier.
Andy is partners with his brother, Martin, and the company is thriving when tragedy strikes. Andy is swimming in San Francisco Bay, training for a long-distance swimming competition, when his support boat runs him over, killing him.
Everyone believes this to be an accident, except Andy’s son Harrison who hires Trisha to find the truth. Eager to leave behind her broken marriage, Trisha dives into the case but encounters more than she bargained for. Everyone she encounters, all attached to this case, seem to be lying.
Will Trisha figure out the truth before it’s too late or will the culprit make her the next victim?
Trigger Warning: violence, murder, reference to pedophilia, adult language, sexual assault, assault
Overall, I enjoyed this book. Though this is part of a series, it was read as a standalone. The author did well in including enough details that it felt like its own story and did not lack character development. The story is told through the POV of Trisha. Trisha’s a flawed, but likable protagonist. She pretty much makes every poor decision she can throughout the tale. If she should go left, she inevitably will go right. This hold true for her investigation as well as her personal relationships. Trisha and her sister, Lena, have a strained, but sisterly relationship. The tension between them felt authentic and a lot of Trisha’s background was relayed in response to the sibling situations. Another facet that revealed quite a bit about Trisha was her interaction with her husband. I won’t give anything away, but Brad really deserved a punch to the face. On the other hand, I wanted to squeeze The Babe- an adorable canine addition. There are quite a few suspects in this story and the author does well in providing each of them with motives through enough secrets and reveals to keep you guessing. However, several portions of the story and several theories were divulged early on with repetitive prose between characters and scenes. Many leads seemingly led nowhere and the ending didn’t quite sit well with me as far as explanation and the events that transpired.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
An adult thriller with a flawed protagonist, many suspects, but an ending that felt forced and incomplete
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