Death in Her Hands

Death in Her Hands is a 2020 novel by Ottessa Moshfegh.^[1]

Death in Her Hands

U.S. first edition cover
Author	Ottessa Moshfegh
Audio read by	Ann Marie Lee
Language	English
Genre	Psychological fiction suspense fiction mystery fiction
Publisher	Penguin Press
Publication date	June 23, 2020
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print, e-book, audiobook
Pages	272
ISBN	978-1-9848-7935-6 (hardcover)
OCLC	1110450886
Dewey Decimal	813/.6
LC Class	PS3613.O77936 D43 2020
Preceded by	My Year of Rest and Relaxation

Synopsis

Vesta Gul, a 72-year-old widow, is walking her dog in the woods and finds a note that reads: "Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn't me. Here is her dead body." However, no body is in sight. Vesta becomes obsessed with discovering who Magda was and the circumstances surrounding her death.

Background

Death in Her Hands was originally scheduled to be published by Penguin Press on April 21, 2020,^[2] but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3] The novel was ultimately published by Penguin Press on June 23, 2020.^[1]

Reception

In its starred review, Kirkus Reviews called it an "eerie and affecting satire of the detective novel."^[4]

In a mixed review, Publishers Weekly criticized the novel's narrative as being overly unreliable and wrote that the novel "lacks the devious, provocative fun of Moshfegh's other work".^[5]