Vivian Dies Again by C. E. Hulse

 

Vivian is stuck in a loop. Someone keeps murdering her. After each murder, her life resets to the start of the same family event she was attending when the murder took place. Who's behind the murder, and how can she stop the same thing from happening over and over again?

I just loved the synopsis for Vivian Dies Again by C. E. Hulse. The idea of a murder mystery, combined with the sci-fi element of a time loop, fascinated me. 

There is a slow buildup to the event in which the murder takes place, this is to give us a very clear picture of Vivian. Although she's thirty-six, her lifestyle is anything but stable. She's bounced around from job to job, rents a room from her closest "friend", and is considered to be the black sheep of the family. As far as her family is concerned, she's a failure. Once the life and soul of the party, she's now just an embarrassment; her actions are completely unpredictable, and she refuses to take responsibility when things go wrong.

Vivian knows she can't go on in this way and is hoping that attending a family memorial will give her the chance to mend some bridges. What she doesn't expect is for another attendee to murder her. It's only after the eighty-fourth attempt that she begins to understand what is happening.

The concept of the time loop is clever. Imagine Groundhog Day, but you have no memory every time the loop restarts. The only person who has any idea is Jamie, a waiter at the event. By the eighty-fourth reset, Jamie is quickly able to persuade Vivian about what is happening and convinces her to find out who is set on killing her, hoping that this will be the only way to prevent the endless cycle.

The introduction of Jamie is what makes this story ingenious. While everyone else could keep repeating the same few hours, Jamie is living things in real-time and is exhausted. This poses many questions, mainly what will happen if he's not around when Vivian is killed? Will the loop end?  The investigation becomes very much a race against time.

I really liked the concept, and the mystery elements kept me guessing right to the end. Unfortunately, the pace, particularly at the beginning, stopped me from loving the story.

Vivian Dies Again by C. E. Hulse will be published in hardback and ebook format on 29th January 2026. My thanks to NetGalley and Viper Books for a review copy.

Author Details

C.E. Hulse lives in Manchester with her husband and a small controlling dog. She is the author of four books under the name Caroline Hulse: The Adults, Like a House on Fire, All the Fun of the Fair, and Reasonable People. Her work has been published in fourteen languages, optioned for television, and – surreally – one book is being produced as an opera. Vivian Dies Again is her debut crime novel.