56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

56 Days

by Catherine Ryan Howard

Winner of the An Post Irish Book Awards 2021 Crime Fiction Book of the Year

A Book of the Year for 2021 in the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Irish Times
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** THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER **


'As good as suspense fiction gets' Washington Post


No one even knew they were together. Now one of them is dead.


56 DAYS AGO
Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin and start dating the same week COVID-19 reaches Irish shores.

35 DAYS AGO
When lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests they move in together. Ciara sees a unique opportunity for a relationship to flourish without the scrutiny of family and friends. Oliver sees a chance to hide who - and what - he really is.

TODAY
Detectives arrive at Oliver's apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.

Can they determine what really happened, or has lockdown created an opportunity for someone to commit the perfect crime?

'Compulsive, intriguing and fantastically entertaining' Liz Nugent

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on

5 of 5 stars

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Catherine Ryan Howard's latest thrilled, 56 Days is one that will hit readers close to home, thanks to the setting and chilling nature of events.

How would you commit the perfect murder? Could you do it – and get away cleanly? This question sits high on the minds of the characters within 56 Days.

56 days ago, Ciara and Oliver had the perfect meet-cute. They found each other in the supermarket, and it was all thanks to one item she was carrying. Now, they're talking about moving in together. Just short-term, while they try to cope with the early days of Covid-19.

Now? Now the police are investigating a body, and I'll give you three guesses where it was found.

56 Days wins the honor of being the first thriller novel I've read that was actively set during the pandemic. Having 56 Days set during the earliest days of the pandemic was chilling. Literally, it gave me the chills, as this setting was borderline too real for me, and it certainly added to the impact of the story.

I know that this is probably not something all readers will appreciate, though! Sometimes we want an escape, and a reminder of the past year is not precisely that. Still, I have to give Catherine Ryan Howard so much credit for what she did here.

56 Days is told through three different perspectives and unfolds at a cautious pace. Ciara and Oliver's story primarily takes place in the past (granted, it's not a distant past – only 56 days ago), while our good detective is stuck in the present, trying to work her way through what happened.

This shifting nature allowed the mystery to hang in the air than it otherwise could have. It kept me on the edge of my seat, trying to guess the who, what, why, and how. It kept me perfectly entertained for the evening.

Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks>

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 2 August, 2021: Finished reading
  • 2 August, 2021: Reviewed