Title: My Best Friend’s Murder

Author: Polly Phillips

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 22nd January 2021

Rating: 4/5

Cover:

Summary:

There are so many ways to kill a friendship . . .

You’re lying, sprawled at the bottom of the stairs, legs bent, arms wide.
And while this could be a tragic accident, if anyone’s got a motive to hurt you, it’s me.

Bec and Izzy have been best friends their whole lives. They have been through a lot together – from the death of Bec’s mother to the birth of Izzy’s daughter. But there’s a darker side to their friendship, and once it has been exposed, there is no turning back.

So when Izzy’s body is found, Bec knows that if the police decide to look for a killer, she will be the prime suspect. Because those closest to you are the ones who can hurt you the most . . .

Review:

I find toxic friendships really fascinating in books, especially between women so I was very intrigued by My Best Friend’s Murder and it turned out to be a really fun read! The story follows childhood frenemies Bec and Izzy whose lives seem to have involved constantly trying to one-up each other. When Izzy’s body is found, Bec realises she may be one of the prime suspects in the murder of her so-called ‘best friend’.

Lately I seem to have been reading quite a few books filled with truly horrible people and this was no exception. Izzy is apparently the perfect woman – beautiful, smart, accomplished and in possession of a perfect husband and daughter. However, she has an extremely icy, cunning and controlling personality which makes her an intimidating and looming presence in the life of her best friend, Bec. Bec is constantly second-guessing herself and questioning every move she makes whilst also nursing an unhealthy level of obsession with Izzy and a need to have everything Izzy appears to. Honestly, there was no one I really liked in My Best Friend’s Murder, except perhaps Bec’s dog Missy and Izzy’s little daughter Tilly but I did find it quite fascinating to watch the unraveling of a very dysfunctional friendship and the demise of several terrible relationships. The story did not go in the direction I originally thought it would which I appreciated as it kept things unpredictable and interesting. Whilst I am lucky enough to have simply friends and not frenemies I did recognise some of the volatility and competition which is sometimes unfortunately present in unhealthy female friendships and I was intrigued to find out how things got to the place they did, with Izzy dead at the bottom of the stairs. Whilst I didn’t feel overly invested in these characters, probably because they are all terrible human beings, I found this an enjoyable read full of jealousy and insecurity!

Thank you so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour and organising it. I kindly received an e-copy of the book from the publisher. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.