I'm sadly stretching to give this a solid 3 star.

Here's what I liked: A spouse found dead with the opposite sex truly happens. So good plot. This duo wrote the Frieda Klein series that I will FOREVER LOVE. The group of friends the wife has as her support system reminded me of Frieda Klein.

Not so much: I was maybe 17 Chapters in before things felt tense or drama started to build. Some actions felt really far out there. And here's an odd one for me, the slap. Really? Wasn't that out of left field and was the response slap worthy? Random.

I stayed with the story not so much for the ending as much as for this author duo. I didn't have all the feels for this one. ( )

El marido de Ellie ha muerto en un accidente de coche. Junto a él viajaba una misteriosa mujer. Sacudida por el dolor, la sospecha y los celos, Ellie investiga la identidad de la desconocida en un intento de averiguar si la muerte de su marido ha sido de veras accidental... y descubre que, a veces, cuando alguien muere, es mejor no preguntar.

What to Do When Someone Dies by Nicci French is a recommended drama.

Ellie Falkner’s husband Greg Manning has died in a car accident. There was a passenger in the car who also died, Milena Livingstone, a woman Ellie doesn't know. The assumption of everyone is that Greg was having an affair with this woman. Ellie refuses to believe this. In her grief, Ellie sets out on a seemingly obsessive mission to to prove that Greg was not having an affair and discover who Milena was and why she would be with Greg. Ellie is certain that there is something more disturbing behind Greg's death. Even though she has a group of supportive friends trying to care for and encourage her through her grief, Ellie secretly sets off on her own search for more information.

Ellie's thought process as she grieves for Greg and tries to prove he was not being unfaithful is the focus of the plot. It is heartbreaking when she learns of his death and initially tries to deal with the aftermath and all that must be done. Some of the subsequent choices she makes and actions she chooses to undertake are not quite as understandable and the reactions and results of her search do require readers to suspend disbelief. Her search does help increase the suspense and tension, and raises doubts about Greg's death.

There were several times I questioned the reactions of characters in this novel. The first and most glaring was the assumption by seemingly everyone that Greg was having an affair because he had a woman in the car with him. How many people would really jump to this conclusion and then openly share this with Ellie when offering condolences? Perhaps I have a different group of friends, but this would never be something they would openly speculate over, jump to that conclusion, and then share their thoughts. After this point there were several other questionable occurrences, which I won't share due to the fact that they would be spoilers.

Setting aside my question over the character's reactions, What to Do When Someone Dies does create enough tension and suspense to hold your attention and keep you reading to the end. I predicted the ending early on while reading, but I did keep reading. I was reading a 2021 re-release of the 2008 novel.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of William Morrow.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/06/what-to-do-when-someone-dies.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4083610636 ( )

gek., geh. ein Thriller ist das nicht, eher ein schwülstiges Trauerdrama um Verlust, Affären, Verrat und Betrug. Zu viele Worte die vom eigentlichen ablenken und denen man nicht mehr zuhören kann. ( )

Tot nu toe het enige boek dat ik gelezen heb van deze schrijvers, en blijkbaar niet het beste. Ik vond het nog wel aangenaam, heb niet het gevoel gehad dat ik mij erdoor moest worstelen. Waarschijnlijk zal er nog wel een ander boek van deze twee volgen. ( )