Bec and Izzy have been best friends their whole lives. They’ve been through a lot together – the death of Bec’s mother, the birth of Izzy’s daughter, Bec’s engagement. But there’s a darker side to their friendship, too – and Bec is about to reach breaking point.

Then Izzy is found broken and bloodied at the bottom of the stairs.

It could have been an accident – perhaps she fell – but if the police decide to look for a killer, then Bec is sure to be their prime suspect.

I was attracted to this book because of its title and premise and it was definitely an engaging read. The pacing of the plot was good especially that the suspense was maintained throughout. There were enough twists to keep me hooked.

The one thing that came to my mind while reading this book was that who needs enemies or haters, when you have best friends like Izzy! The relationship between all the main characters is actually toxic. The only relationship that was real was the one between Bec and her brother, Rob.

Since I found almost all the characters shady, I had a doubt on all of them but even then, when the culprit was finally revealed at the end, I was actually surprised because it was kind was unexpected!

Overall, an excellent debut novel. Looking forward for her next!

Thank You NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for this ARC! ( )

Bec and Izzy have always been close, too close. It seems to Bec that she has always come off second-best, and now that she is becoming engaged she finds Izzy's interference and "help" almost too much.

For example, Izzy took Bec's boy friend Rich from her and married him. And whenever Bec tells Izzy something in confidence, it somehow leaks out, and there is a back lash. Izzy always wants to know everything. Izzy's house is perfection, and Bec always feels under criticism. But Izzy doesn't always tell Bec everything and sometimes she feels left out. And then there is the fact that Izzy is returning to work, and she will be working with Bec's fiance. And so tensions ramp up to the point where Bec would like to kill Izzy. ( )

My Best Friend's Murder is the debut novel by Australian author Polly Phillips.

Bec and Izzy are best friends but at the beginning of the book, Izzy's body is found at the bottom of the stairs in her house and Bec knows she's going to be considered the prime suspect.

Set in London, the book then takes us back to a time before the incident and we become acquainted with Bec and Izzy's close circle of family and friends as well as their home and work situations. With the title telling us to expect a murder, an accident seems unlikely so the book becomes a 'whodunnit' of sorts.

Both Bec and Izzy are vain, materialistic and unlikeable characters. Their friendship - if you could call it that - is toxic and unhealthy but they find themselves unable to move on in this unfolding domestic drama.

"Looking at Izzy is like looking through a kaleidoscope. Fragments of my childhood whirl around us. Her teaching me to smoke at a bus-stop when we were fourteen. The night she held my hair back when I vomited all over her parent's kitchen. The moment we laughed so hard during a Friends marathon that I snorted Diet Coke over the sofa. Her hair might be glossier and her face thinner but she's still the one I called the moment I lost my virginity. The guy had barely left the room before I picked up the phone. Then there's how she held me up after my mum died. We've got so much history that sometimes I wonder where Izzy stops and I begin." Page 130

I always have a couple of books on the go at the same time, however being in the middle of reading The Swap by Robyn Harding (a Simon & Schuster title from last year) probably impacted my reading enjoyment of My Best Friend's Murder. The unhealthy relationship between the women in both of these books made me want to shake all of the characters by the shoulders and yell 'Get a grip, she's not worth it!'

Don't you hate it when characters don't behave the way you want them to? Bec did two things in this book that made me want to scream!

I'm not convinced My Best Friend's Murder has enough tension or suspense to be called a thriller. I was mildly surprised by the 'whodunnit' reveal, but too annoyed with one of the characters to be swept away by the revelation. My Best Friend's Murder is very readable domestic noir and a contemporary story about friendship, jealousy and envy. Friends or frenemies? You be the judge.

* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster * ( )

My Best Friend’s Murder is an entertaining domestic thriller from UK journalist Polly Phillips, who currently calls Australia home.

“You’re lying, sprawled at the bottom of the stairs, legs bent, arms wide.”

Bec and Izzy have been the best of friends since they met, aged eleven. In the years since, Bec has mostly been content to let Izzy set the terms for their relationship, but recently she’s begun to sense that contempt lurks behind Izzy’s backhand compliments and seemingly solicitous advice. Hurt and angry, Bec is determined to confront her best friend, but could she really be responsible for her murder?

My Best Friend’s Murder is told from Bec’s perspective, beginning with her standing over a broken and bloodied Izzy, before moving back three months previously as Bec and her new fiancé, Ed, celebrate their engagement at home of Izzy and her husband, Rich. The occasion is not the first time that Bec senses something awry between herself and Izzy, but she is surprised by her best friend’s cool behaviour.

Well-paced, this is a suspenseful novel as Phillips reveals the history of the friendship between the two women and it’s increasing toxicity. To Bec, Izzy’s behaviour is inexplicable- beautiful, married to her handsome highschool sweetheart with an adorable child, wealthy and ambitious, Izzy has everything, yet she seems to resent Bec’s recent small successes - her engagement, and a potentially career altering opportunity. Phillips skilfully explores the complex dynamic of their friendship, the role each of them play in maintaining the status quo, and how difficult it is for them to let go. With Izzy’s death, Bec is left to grapple with her grief, and her guilt.

I admired Phillips subtle, and not so subtle twists, in the plot, and though I wasn’t so enamoured with an element of the ending, it’s a minor flaw in what is otherwise a well told tale. My Best Friend’s Murder is an absorbing read and an accomplished debut. ( )

I am not typically drawn to fiction featuring toxic friendships. In real life I run a mile from anything that has even the whiff of ‘frenemy’ about it. But in so boldly naming her debut novel, Polly Phillips piqued my interest.
From the chilling vignette that begins My Best Friend’s Murder we know that Izzy, the narrator’s friend, is very badly injured and that there is considerable animosity between the women. The narrative then jumps back to a time before that incident, and we experience the events that lead up to it from Bec’s perspective.

Neither of the leading women is particularly likeable. But unlike many domestic dramas, childhood trauma and longstanding family, work and romantic entanglements make their persistence with the ‘friendship’ plausible. The series of events depicted within this narrative is a slow-motion train wreck that is difficult to look away from. I read it in a single day. Continue reading >> https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2021/01/my-best-friends-murder-by-polly-phi... ( )