After He Died

by Michael J. Malone

When a strange woman slips a note into grieving widow Paula’s pocket at her husband’s funeral, everything suggests that he was not all that he seemed … A devastatingly moving, explosive psychological thriller from the international bestselling author of A Suitable Lie.

‘Disturbing but compulsive … I loved it’ Martina Cole

'Bristling with unease, this is domestic noir at its very darkest, twisting the marriage thriller into a new and troubling shape' Eva Dolan

‘Vivid, visceral and compulsive’ Ian Rankin


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You need to know who your husband really was…

When Paula Gadd’s husband of almost thirty years dies, just days away from the seventh anniversary of their son, Christopher’s death, her world falls apart. Grieving and bereft, she is stunned when a young woman approaches her at the funeral service, and slips something into her pocket. A note suggesting that Paula’s husband was not all that he seemed…

When the two women eventually meet, a series of revelations challenges everything Paula thought she knew, and it becomes immediately clear that both women’s lives are in very real danger.

Both a dark, twisty slice of domestic noir and taut, explosive psychological thriller, After He Died is also a chilling reminder that the people we trust the most can harbour the deadliest secrets…


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Praise for Michael J. Malone
 
‘Gripping and suspenseful fare that reinforces Malone’s renown for producing psychological thrillers’ Herald Scotland

'It’s a tough high-wire act, balancing believability with surprise, but the author pulls it off with aplomb. Excellent stuff’ Doug Johnstone, The Big Issue

‘Michael J Malone has portrayed this beautifully and managed to get the balance just right … A well-paced, excellent read’ Promoting Crime

‘After he Died is a fantastic read packed with engaging characters and a compelling narrative’ CrimeSquad

‘An explosive tale, one that takes hold, bites, and doesn’t let go’ LoveReading

‘A stark, gripping storyline’ Scots

‘A fine, page-turning thriller’ Daily Mail

‘Original, engrossing and scary’ The Times

‘Brilliantly creepy’ Daily Record

‘Genuinely shocking’ Crime by the Book

‘Delightfully disturbing’ Chapter in My Life

‘Michael Malone has a way of telling a story that just leaves you more than a little disturbed yet breathless with admiration’ Live & Deadly

‘Enthralling, wonderful, intense, full of suspense and twists that had my head in a spin! Crime Book Junkie

‘Michael J. Malone is quickly making his way up my list of favourite authors’ Always Trust in Books

• ISBN10: 1912374331
• ISBN13: 9781912374335
• Publish Date: 20 September 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 5 June 2024
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Orenda Books
• Edition: Not for Online
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 300
• Language: English

Reviews

[zooloo1983]

How well do we know anyone especially the person in the bed next to you? Well, that’s the question Paula asks after a random blonde, Cara we find out, puts a note in her pocket at her husbands funeral! The audacity!
This book has a bit of everything for everyone.

Jaw dropping moments -check

Twists and turns – check

New friendships – check

Betrayal – check and that is just to name a few!

The book speeds through the overwhelming grief that Paula has after just losing her husband Tommy and her son Christopher some years back. How one person could handle that much grief I will never know. I understood how she felt with grief and how it can just hit you, just doing the menial of tasks yet she carried on because what else could you do, especially when you have a note to tell you your husband is not someone you know!

That would be something that would shock you to the core to find this out! How can someone you have spent almost 30 years with, not be the person you thought? That there was a whole other life you didn’t know about. Shocking I know!

I do have to say I LOVED Joe! Or Father Joe, either way! The younger brother of Tommy, his relationship with Paula was a pure one and it was a strength that Paula needed.

This is not a fast paced action book, this is a beautiful slower burner, it is one that reveals secrets slowly, luring you in, and then bam. This is character driven, and it is a story that really needs to be, you need to have the people you like and the ones you don’t and the writing reinforces this. The short chapters hold so much information but because they are short they let you fly through the book without taking a breath.

It has made me also want to up sticks and visit Ettrick Bay, in Scotland as it sounds so beautiful. I do need to take a trip up there soon so maybe I should go up and go find the cottage.

So if you want to know who Thomas Gadd is, well you need to pick up this book and pronto.