The Death of Us

A Novel

De: Abigail Dean

Narrado por: Claire Skinner, John Hopkins

“A page-turner par excellence, written with unobtrusive brilliance, [and] full of sharply observed lines . . . The Death of Us lives up to the hype.”—Stephen King

“The Death of Us is astonishingly good—Abigail Dean’s the real thing.”—Mick Herron, bestselling author of Slow Horses

“A devastating exploration of the long-term effects of violence . . . [b]y focusing on the victims rather than on, say, the drama around the police investigation, this wrenching book subverts the normal conventions of a serial killer novel. It’s an unusual and effective approach.”—The New York Times Book Review

It’s the night we never talk about.

It’s the story the world wants to hear.

But this isn’t the story of that night. This is the story of us.

Together, Edward and Isabel move to London. They are young and in love, occupied by friends, work and fun. But late on a spring evening when they are thirty years old, their home is invaded by a serial killer. In the wake of this violation, each tries to come to terms with a night that changed everything—and their marriage begins to crumble.

Twenty-five years later, their tormentor is caught, and Edward and Isabel reunite for his sentencing. Isabel has waited years for the man who nearly ended her life to be brought to justice. Edward has tried to think about anything else. As they prepare to deliver impact statements in the public eye, it is time to revisit their love story. Will they finally be able to confront the secrets, longings and lies that tore them apart?

Or will the horror of that night be the death of them?

A captivating portrait of a marriage and its implosion, The Death of Us digs into the stories we tell ourselves about love—and everything love can bear.

©2025 Abigail Dean (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“This wonderful novel is a page-turner par excellence, written with unobtrusive brilliance, [and] full of sharply observed lines . . . Dean has taken a case that closely resembles California’s Golden State Killer and combined it with the story of Isabel and Edward, a couple whose love is put under a breaking strain by an almost unimaginable tragedy . . . The Death of Us lives up to the hype. Read it for story, always appreciating the no-showing-off clarity of its prose.”—Stephen King

“Abigail Dean has already proven to be a skilled observer of ordinary humans in extraordinary circumstances, and her latest is her most affecting study yet.”—CrimeReads (Most Anticipated list)

“Dean transforms tragedy into art with surgical prose and a steely gaze. It’s a triumph.”—Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

Abigail Dean understands human psychology like so many authors try to do but fail all the time!

I love how Abigail Dean can make the most mundane parts of marriage and life take on a deeper and suspenseful meaning than other authors are able to do.

Not as good as her other books

I kept waiting for the twist, for the thing that would set this one aside, It never came, The writing of a very good, it’s just not as original as her first two and some of it is over wrought.

Absolutely fantastic - 6 stars

Where do I start? This book was simply gripping. It tells a tale of a couple who survived a home invader and how it impacted them over the years. But it also tracked the hunt for the serial killer and described all of the people that worked to track him down. As someone who loves thriller books, this kept my interest, but the real story here was a love story between a couple. But the way it was told was so honest and relatable that I could not put this down. I don’t remember getting through a book this fast. The narration was simply superb. I would highly recommend this book.

wonderful writing!

A story about how a traumatic crime slowly unraveled a couple who separately dealt with the aftermath of the event. Presents as a crime story but is also a love story, and all the good and the bad that comes with relationships. I found myself routing for the main characters throughout the story despite their treatment of eachother & was sad when the book ended. It vaguely reminded me of another great read from this year, Broken Country. Wonderful writing & enjoyed listening to the narrartors.

Very tragic but beautiful story.

The whole story was gripping. I did enjoy the 2 different POV’s and how one told the past time line and the other the present timeline.