Book Review: The Murder After the Night Before

Freelance journalist, Katy Brent creates another funny and mysterious story for us. The Murder After the Night Before keeps you guessing throughout with twists and turns leaving you till the last page to find out all the answers. I have read a lot of mystery books and normally figure out the answer but with this it kept changing.

The plot starts with Molly, a journalist, who has a rowdy night out and finds the next day that she is viral but her best friend has died in her house. The cause of death is brushed off as a tragedy but Molly uncovers that her friend, Posey was killed. With cloudy memories of the night before she tries to uncover who the real killer is and some other secrets on the way. 

I did enjoy this book as it had a comedy aspect. This is different for a muder mystery novel but was fun. It created a different atmosphere when reading and also changed how you thought about different points within the plot. You were more careless to figure out who could be the murderer. That it could be anyone, when normally you could have an idea with from the odd ball characters. 

It was relatable as I have been a University student myself; her lifestyle and chaoticness was way relatable. It felt comforting and like a blanket I needed back and made me giggle in some parts because I have been that girl. 

It was touching in parts involving grief not only losing her friend but her mother in the past. Having a mix of both worked well and was clever involving the two conflicting feelings. It made you realise they all intertwine and not healing from the past it creeps back up. 

The one downside to this book for me as much as I did enjoy it overall, I found I wasn't intrigued. I wouldn't have called it a 'page turner'. It was more pleasant to read, there were a few moments where I would want to read the next part but I wasn't hooked constantly. This in some ways made it a nicer read than my normal but I expected it to have more grit and substance to it. Reflecting back now the story may have been a focus of grief and being a girl in their twenties not a story about crime.

With the author being a journalist and the main character she reflected her real experiences that journalists do face like media law, interviews and the pecking order of making it. As a journalism student it made me enjoy it more as I could relate and understand parts from my life too. Which is a niche aspect of the story which I am aware that other readers may not enjoy as much or add anything to their reading experience. 

Overall I would rate it 3 stars out of 5.