#BookReview ‘The Death Of Me’ by Michelle Davies

About the book..

Is one of music’s greatest mysteries about to be solved?

‘He was a massive star until he did a headline grabbing retreat from the spotlight – but his disappearing act was FAKED. Fans won’t be happy when they find out – his reputation was dead in the water.’

When Isaac Naylor committed suicide after a teenage fan was found dead in his hotel room, the world thought it had lost one of the greatest rock stars of a generation. Naylor, lead singer of The Ospreys, had been arrested for causing the girl’s death and was on police bail when he drowned himself in the sea off the Devon coast.

Now, eight years on, music journalist Natalie Glass stumbles across a blind item on a US gossip website that suggests Naylor’s death wasn’t quite what it seemed – and he might in fact still be alive.

But as she delves deeper into what happened, Natalie finds she has a stark choice: give up trying to find out what happened to Naylor or risk her own obituary ending up in print.

Published in luscious paperback by Orion books just this week, ‘The Death Of Me’ is a standalone novel from bestselling author, Michelle Davies. Huge thanks to Orion for providing me with the e-arc in return for an honest review.

Tackling the thorny subject of public obsession with household names, and the way in which the clamour for the most vice riddled gossip, or the picture drives journalists to compete with paparazzi’s to hit the payday motherload , this twisting and intriguing story had me completely hooked.

Struggling single mother tropes are thrown on their head and given a very relatable sense of nuance where a casual reply to an innocent question by her husband, taken out of context, has led to journalist Natalie living in a borrowed flat, on borrowed time, calling in favours in order to make enough money to pay her bills, as well as treat her young son , Daniel, on their scheduled visitation days.

Daniel lives with her odious ex, a man who has raked her over the coals and is stalling on selling the marital house, leaving Natalie in penury sending emails on spec to editors, for stories she does not really care about.

And then, one day, a blind vice item brings back the legend that was Isaac Naylor, record breaking frontman for a legendary Brit Pop band, The Ospreys, who died in ignominy several years earlier.

Except did he?

Was it the most elaborately staged publicity stunt in recent memory?

One thing is for sure, the opportunities for the journalist who breaks this story will be endless.

Unless, of course, that blind vice disappears within minutes of showing your best friend, who also works in the music industry. And when she starts digging, the messages for her to stop and back away from Isaac’s story become more close to home, and life threatening.

Beginning with a jaw dropping seat of your pants  scene, the story rewinds to the first spotting of the blind vice and the ensuing chase to prove what actually happened the night that a supposedly sober Naylor, was found in bed, clearly intoxicated, with the dead body of a teen fan next to him.

You begin to care about Natalie very deeply as the book goes on, she is a vulnerable woman with a core of steel that she has forgotten she has, so deep is it buried. Life has dealt her some awful knocks and she is merely looking for a way to connect with her child, pay her legal bills, and start a new life

But what about the cost?

Is her journalistic integrity really so far removed from those who hounded Isaac to his death?

It really made you think about the way in which those in the public eye are portrayed, and what we demand of them-complete honesty at all times but don’t ever break the illusion of the life you are projecting to us from every magazine cover.

Watching a programme last night, about ‘When TV goes Horribly Wrong’, the interviews with celebrities who I have never heard of, for events I hadn’t seen (apologies, I am not the most up to date tv watcher and don’t know many reality stars), I began to question what was I watching it for?

Well a) it was because I lost the tv buttons and was too lazy to pull the settee apart to find them, and b) I got sucked into the discussion they were having about being a celebrity. Commenting on the paparazzi who had surrounded the car of a Hollywood A-Lister who was unable to move away from the area safely, resulting in him getting angry and shouting at the mob, one of the celebs stated that that was the price of fame, they shouldn’t be in movies if they weren’t prepared to put up with it.

And it really hit home, this man was just trying to drive away from a hotel and was unable to do so safely, because of the crowd of people flashing lights in his face. I think that was probably a very mild incident compared to many the programme probably went on to show, but that wasn’t tv going wrong, that was purely poor behaviour that would have made anybody rightfully angry.

Is the price of fame a waiving of you and your family’s anonymity, a waiving of your right to behave like a human and have opinions on things in case you cause offence (a VERY broad topic these days as people’s rights to be offended seems to precede any claim to common sense!) because there are people in business who are invested in you ?

How far do we go before the tragedies we demand to fill the columns of magazines and newspapers aren’t enough to satiate a lust for more?

In this thriller, a rabbit hole to the darker side of the music business is written about with a wry humour, style and grace, wrapped in an intriguing mystery that will satisfy any fans of psychological thrillers. It kept me on my toes and guessing to the very last page!

About the author…

Michelle Davies was born in Middlesex in 1972, raised in Buckinghamshire and now lives in north London.

Her debut crime novel, Gone Astray, was published in 2016 and features Family Liaison Officer DC Maggie Neville as its central police character. Gone Astray was part of a two-book deal with Pan Macmillan and the follow-up, Wrong Place, also featuring Maggie, is out now. Her third in the series, False Witness, is due out in July next year while a fourth will follow in 2019.

When she’s not turning her hand to crime, Michelle writes as a freelance journalist for women’s magazines including Marie Claire, YOU and Stylist. Her last staff job before going freelance was as Editor-at-Large at Grazia and she was previously Features Editor at heat. She began her career straight from school at 18, working as a trainee reporter on her home-town newspaper, the Bucks Free Press.

Links-https://michelledavieswriter.wordpress.com/

Twitter @M_Davieswrites @OrionBooks