Death in Her Hands is the title of award-winning Ottessa Moshfegh’s latest novel, and a metaphor for the plot, and literally a scene near the end of story when the protagonist, Vesta, wanders down the road in a fugue state with a “self-help” book titled Death. The story begins when Vesta, recently-widowed and living alone with her dog Charlie in a secluded house in the woods, finds a note on the ground that reads “Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn’t me. Here is her dead body.” But there is no body. Vesta becomes obsessed with finding the body and solving the mystery. But the detective story becomes more and more surreal, as Vesta imagines how the crime was committed and weaves characters in the town into the plot. We begin to suspect she is an unreliable narrator – and it’s not clear what else she might be. Here’s what Kirkus Reviews says:https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ottessa-moshfegh/death-in-her-hands/
