Death in Her Hands

A Novel

By: Ottessa Moshfegh

Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

"[An] intricate and unsettling new novel.... Death in Her Hands is not a murder mystery, nor is it really a story about self-deception or the perils of escapism. Rather, it's a haunting meditation on the nature and meaning of art." (Kevin Power, The New Yorker)

From one of our most ceaselessly provocative literary talents, a novel of haunting metaphysical suspense about an elderly widow whose life is upturned when she finds an ominous note on a walk in the woods.

While on her daily walk with her dog in a secluded woods, a woman comes across a note, handwritten and carefully pinned to the ground by stones. "Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn't me. Here is her dead body." But there is no dead body. Our narrator is deeply shaken; she has no idea what to make of this. She is new to this area, alone after the death of her husband, and she knows no one.

Becoming obsessed with solving this mystery, our narrator imagines who Magda was and how she met her fate. With very little to go on, she invents a list of murder suspects and possible motives for the crime. Oddly, her suppositions begin to find correspondences in the real world, and with mounting excitement and dread, the fog of mystery starts to fade into menacing certainty. As her investigation widens, strange dissonances accrue, perhaps associated with the darkness in her own past; we must face the prospect that there is either an innocent explanation for all this or a much more sinister one.

A triumphant blend of horror, suspense, and pitch-black comedy, Death in Her Hands asks us to consider how the stories we tell ourselves both reflect the truth and keep us blind to it. Once again, we are in the hands of a narrator whose unreliability is well-earned, and the stakes have never been higher.

©2020 Ottessa Moshfegh (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Cleverly unraveling, linguistically brilliant, and limning the limits of reality, [Death in Her Hands] will speak to fans of literary psychological suspense." (Booklist)

"An eerie and affecting satire of the detective novel." (Kirkus, starred review)

"No one’s work inspires better discussion than Ottessa Moshfegh’s. It seems that for every person who loves her work, there’s someone who completely disagrees - which is, in my opinion, one of the best things about reading. Her latest is a sinister tale of an elderly widow who finds a distressing note pinned to a tree near her new neighborhood." (BookPage)

Good book, Annoying Narrator

Otessa Moshfegh is one of my favorite writers and her previous books are brilliant. This novel is captivating, but unfortunately not up to the high standard she set with ‘my year of rest and relaxation.’ The narration was painful and made it hard to get through an otherwise interesting story. Warning to those trying to listen, I’d get the hard copy.

Nope

I finished this despite the narrators voice
Story wasn’t worth it.
I really loved Death Becomes Her.

addicting in its own way

I liked this book. It kept me intrigued and wanting to know what would happen next. Moshfegh lets you into a woman’s mind to reveal how dark and lonely it can be...
The narration is a bit over the top at first but it think it works.

Not the dog

I love a delusional woman who is floating through life. Also of course this woman is fatphobic name an older lady who isn’t- not saying it’s right but it’s how they were raised (on propaganda). I’ve seen a lot of people say it’s slow and confusing but I breezed through the audio book and was not that confusing so I recommend this audio book.

Vivid, but meandering

A descent into madness following an unreliable narrator as she navigates fantasies of murder mystery as a way to address her anger toward her abusive late husband. A rich character study, but a bit of a slog. Felt cartoonish in its portrayal of mental illness.

Not Her Best Work but Worth a Read

I love her other books but this one seemed a bit rushed. Still, her prose is so good that this quick read is worth it.

Not my favorite

I have enjoyed other works by this author and hoped this one would be the same. I found the narration to be annoying and abrasive. I found the story to be one dimensional and boring. Disappointing.

Narrator sounded too old

I loved the book but I thought the narration was distracting. I’m 71 and the book is written in the first person of a 72 year old, but the narrator sounded like a little old lady of 90 or so. The writer’s thoughts would have been more clearly conveyed without a voice that sounded like a doddering kook, instead of a realistic person whose mind was becoming confused. I had to put that aside in my mind to relate to the character.

Didn't capture me

Struggled to finish. The story lacks excitement and was predictable. I would not recommend this book

Omg get ON with it

I was intrigued by the description of this book and the rave reviews. It’s like listening to a doddering, elderly relative rattle on about N O T H I N G. Such an interesting premise...I’m still listening, and maybe it’ll get better. But I think I’ve already figured it out. Thus far, though: meh