You'd Look Better As A Ghost by Joanna Wallace

 

Struggling with the grief of losing her father Claire receives some unexpected positive news during the funeral. One of her paintings has been shortlisted for a competition. The following day when she receives an email explaining it was an error (the email was sent to the wrong Claire), she decides to seek revenge on the person who sent the email. This sets in motion a series of shocking events.

The genre of the young female killer/serial killer seems to be on a high at the moment, with many of them being full of dark humour. You'd Look Better As A Ghost from Joanna Wallace fits nicely into this category. 

The opening chapter really doesn't prepare you for what is about to come. There is a fairly mundane scene of small children performing a dance routine for an audience of parents. Everything is completely normal, even funny until the very end when there is a shocking confrontation and we realise that this is a very young Claire and her evil mother.

As Claire seeks revenge on the person who has upset her I initially thought that her grief may have been the trigger that tipped her over the edge, however, we quickly learn that she is an established serial killer, although we never really find out how many people she has killed in the past.

Claire isn't a people person, she tolerates people at best using stock statements and cliches in an effort to fit in and pass for normal. Claire has her own moral code, sometimes it's a slight against herself, other times it's abuse she has witnessed. 

Every now and again we get a glimpse into Claire's childhood. For me, these events are the crux of the story. Is Claire a serial killer because of nature or nurture? It's obvious from a very early age that she's different but is it the emotional abuse she suffers at the hands of her mother that brings out this nature? Thankfully she has a loving father who is sometimes there to temper the situation. Over time her father realises exactly what she is capable of, this reminded me a little bit of the father/son relationship in the Dexter series.

I couldn't help but like Claire. As she solved one "problem" only for it to reveal another I was worried about how she would resolve everything by the end. I certainly didn't spot the twist at the end but loved the way it was concluded.

You'd Look Better As A Ghost by Joanna Wallace will be published on 21st September 2023 in hardback and ebook format. My thanks to NetGalley and Viper Books for a review copy.