The next to die

Format:

Book (regular print)

Title:

The next to die

Uniform Title:

Narrow bed

Author:

Hannah, Sophie, 1971- author

ISBN:

9780062388353

9780062388360

9780062906533

9780062887443

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Publication:

New York, NY : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2019]

Physical Description:

399 pages ; 24 cm

General Note:

"New York Times bestselling author"--Jacket

Originally published as The Narrow Bed in the United Kingdom in 2016 by Hodder & Stoughton.

Summary:

A stand-up comedian wonders who she can trust when she anonymously receives the same token clue, a small white book, that has been found at each scene of a serial murder case.

A psychopath the police have dubbed "Billy Dead Mates" is targeting pairs of best friends, and killing them one by one. Before they die, each victim is given a small white book. Detectives have failed to catch Billy, or figure out what the white books symbolize and why the killer leaves them behind. Stand-up comedian Kim Tribbeck has one of Billy's peculiar little books-- a stranger gave it to her at a gig she did last year. Was the stranger Billy, and is he targeting her? Kim has no friends and trusts no one, so why would Billy Dead Mates want to target her? -- adapted from jacket

Subject(s):

Women comedians -- Fiction.

Psychopaths -- Fiction.

Serial murders -- Fiction.

Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction.

Best friends -- Fiction.

Books -- Fiction.

Genre:

Detective and mystery stories.

Detective and mystery fiction.

Fiction.

Novels.

Psychological fiction.

Thrillers (Fiction)

Suspense fiction.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... McMinnville Public Library	Hannah, S.	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Dallas Public Library	M Hannah, S. Next	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Monmouth Public Library	Fic Hannah, S. 2019	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Newberg Public Library	MYSTERY HANNAH	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Salem Main Library	Hannah, S.	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Silver Falls Library	MYS HANNAH	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stayton Public Library	HANNAH Sophie	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Woodburn Public Library	Hannah	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

The New York Times bestselling author of The Monogram Murders and Woman with a Secret returns with a disturbing tale of psychological suspense and obsession that hits at the heart of some of our most precious relationships.

What if having a best friend could put you in the crosshairs of a killer?

A psychopath the police have dubbed "Billy Dead Mates" is targeting pairs of best friends, and killing them one by one. Before they die, each victim is given a small white book.

For months, detectives have failed to catch Billy, or figure out what the white books symbolize and why the killer leaves them behind. The police are on edge; the public in a panic. Then a woman, scared by what she's seen on the news, comes forward. What she reveals shocks the investigators and adds another troubling layer to an already complex case.

Stand-up comedian Kim Tribbeck has one of Billy's peculiar little books. A stranger gave it to her at a gig she did last year. Was the stranger Billy, and is he targeting her--or is it something more nefarious? Kim has no friends and trusts no one, so how--and why--could Billy Dead Mates want to target her? If it's not her, then who will be the next to die?

Sophie Hannah raises the stakes with each successive page in this haunting and twisting thriller that reaffirms her place as one of today's most talented suspense writers.

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In this underwhelming standalone from bestseller Hannah (The Mystery of Three Quarters and two other Hercule Poirot pastiches), a team of British Major Crimes officers, who spend more time sniping at each other than investigating, search for serial killer Billy Dead Mates, so-named because his four victims consist of two pairs of best friends. In the weeks before their deaths, the three women and one man murdered by Billy Dead Mates each found a small white book, with a blank cover and a few handwritten words inside, in her or his possession. Meanwhile, British comedian and author Kim Tribbeck, an obnoxious narcissist, inserts herself into the case. Kim even insists that her strict rules for interviews, which include specifications for exact punctuality and having a "packet of pickled-onion-flavored Monster Munch crisps" on hand, apply when she comes in to help the police with their inquiries. The unsatisfying ultimate reveal will only add to the disappointment of fans of Hannah's much better efforts. Those looking for an offbeat, comic police procedural will do better with Lynne Truss's A Shot in the Dark. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

A task force of police officers from across England struggles to apprehend the killer they've imprudently dubbed "Billy Dead Mates."The nickname, mercilessly ridiculed by feminist Lifeworld columnist Sondra Halliday, stems from the fact that the first two shooting victims, Linzi Birrell and Rhian Douglas, were best friends. So were the next two, Angela McCabe and Joshua Norbury. Shortly before getting murdered, each victim received a little white notebook whose pages were blank except for a single line from a poem by an American writer. As DI Gilles Proust and DC Simon Waterhouse of the Culver Valley Police work with their counterparts from Bournemouth and Poole and the London Metropolitan Police to identify Billy, comedian Kim Tribbeck, already stressed out by her long-estranged grandmother's drawn-out demise in Rawndesley Hospital, has an alarming recollection: Somewhere, sometime during her most recent circuit of stand-up performances, someone slipped her a little white notebook as well. When she reports the matter to the police, she's chagrined to find her own most urgent question (who's planning to kill me?) humiliatingly transformed by them (since she received the notebook at least a few weeks ago, why hasn't she been killed yet, and who's the best friend who's slated to be killed along with her?). Under every rock Proust, Waterhouse, and DC Chris Gibbs turn over, they find fresh suspects, from Kim's ex-lover Liam Sturridge to Marjolein Baillie, the self-styled Ishaya of Bright Path (don't ask). While Sondra Halliday loudly insists that the crimes are nothing more or less than femicide, Kim's transgressive, tightrope-walking wit provides a welcome fulcrum between the extravagantly inventive mystery and the unrelenting exploration of even minor characters' psychology.Hannah (Keep Her Safe, 2017, etc.) strews clues and complications with such prodigal abandon that even readers who rub their eyes in disbelief at her solution will be impressed by the range and weight of her impassioned plotting. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Books are not only everywhere in this serial-killer investigation, they are also the key to identifying the murderer. A perpetrator dubbed Billy Dead Mates by police (a play on words for the English term Billy No Mates, meaning a person who has no friends) has already shot two pairs of best friends. Each of the victims was given a small, white handmade book bearing a single handwritten line of poetry shortly before being killed. When stand-up comedian Kim Tribbeck realizes that she also received such a book, which she either mislaid or trashed, she becomes part of the investigation and begins writing her own book, excerpted here. As a member of the team on the case, DC Simon Waterhouse, both brilliant and unorthodox, calls on his wife, Sergeant Charlie Zailer, for assistance in working with Kim, and Kim assists Charlie in uncovering what Charlie's sister, Olivia, is lying about. Accusations of misogyny aside, this tenth in the Waterhouse-Zailer series has a lighter tone than others and a motive that seems insufficient for taking multiple lives. Still, it's a wonderfully played-out puzzle, with food for thought about the importance of books.--Michele Leber Copyright 2018 Booklist

Library Journal Review

Hannah's tenth "Spilling CID" title, originally published as The Narrow Bed in the UK (after Woman with a Secret), leavens a grim story of a serial killer with the darkly funny narration of protagonist Kim Trebbick. But as in all Hannah novels, the narrative shifts among many characters and plot lines. Det. Simon Waterhouse and his colleagues at the Spilling CID are stumped by the seemingly unconnected murders of two pairs of best friends linked only by the existence of small homemade books they received before their deaths. When this information is made public, the police catch a break, as Kim, a misanthrope comedian who doesn't have a best friend, was also given one of the books before the killings occurred. This provides Simon with a fresh jumping-off point; Kim is intrigued, but she worries that the murderer will be after her next. VERDICT When it comes to complex plotting, internationally acclaimed Hannah ("Hercule Poirot" mysteries) has few equals. Her trademark slow build, as she introduces characters and the threads of their lives, may cause some readers to struggle, but those who stick with it will find the adventure well worthwhile. [See Prepub Alert, 8/20/18.]-Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.