Maz Evans

I love the idea behind this book: misanthrope whose murder has been disguised as a suicide hangs around as a ghost seeking vengeance that she can only achieve by talking to the one woman who can see and hear her, a neighbour she has always disliked.

I think this would make great television. The novel has lots of funny lines and the scenario is fresh and full of possiblities.

So why did I abandon this at 25%?

I think my mistake was in taking the audiobook version. It's narrated by the author. I think engaging a professional narrator would have been a better choice. Maz Evans reads with gusto but she gabbles at times and constantly rushes the text rather than let it settle. She also doesn't differentiate the voices of the two main characters as well as I would expect a professional narrator to.

Maybe it was the narration but it seemed to me that the story had no variation in pace or in the type of humour. I don't think that stand-up vitriol can be sustained across an entire novel.

This is a debut adult novel from a successful children's author. Maybe I needed to stick with the book for longer to discover its strengths. Maybe I should have just swapped to the ebook version. These days, I seem to have less and less patience with maybes.… (mer)

“Never say sorry. It’s a simple mantra and one that has served me well. It has everything you need from a guiding philosophy: it’s pithy, it’s achievable and it sounds good in Latin: Numquam deprecaris.”

In this sharp, funny novel by Maz Evans, Dr Miriam Price must prove she’s been murdered or spend the next fifty years in the lobby of the afterworld.

With her corpse found on her bedroom floor amid bottles of scattered pills and empty vodka bottles, the consensus is that Dr Miriam Price died by ‘misadventure’. It surprises none of her family or friends, who were well aware of her drinking problem, and the police are satisfied with the evidence of the crime scene. Miriam however is convinced that she was murdered and overcrowding in Eternity (due to CoVid) means if she can’t prove it before the coroner’s official ruling in five days, she’ll be stuck in limbo for the next fifty years.

Over My Dead Body made me laugh, and quite a lot. A workaholic A&E consultant with a drinking problem and an uncompromising personality, Miriam is quite a character. Not a particularly likeable one at first to be honest, but definitely entertaining. She does grow on you though, and I really liked the redemptive path Evans developed for her.

Being incorporeal and all, Miriam needs help if she is going to find her killer, unfortunately for her, the only person that can see or hear her is Winnie, the elderly neighbour with whom she’s been waging war for years. Winnie is more than capable of giving as good as she gets and their scathing banter is hilarious as the two begrudgingly work together.

There is no shortage of suspects in Miriam’s murder given she’d recently left her husband for her married lover, fought with her best friend, and lost a young patient unexpectedly. The deadline Miriam and Winnie are working to enhances the tension, and the mystery is well plotted. I found the identity of the guilty party to be a surprise but really enjoyed the drama and chaos of the denouement.

Despite the general hilarity of the novel, Evans touches on serious themes such as grief, addiction, regret, atonement, and redemption. There’s also some thoughtful commentary about life, and death, and a moving, happy conclusion.

Irreverent, witty, with plenty of heart, Over My Dead Body is such a fun read, and I won’t apologise for recommending it.… (mer)