Murder by Natural Causes

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This week's blog is from bridge player and novelist Helen Erichsen, her debut novel " Murder by natural causes" launched this week in London. In this novel, the POVs of Cilla’s upbringing, future and her lifeline leading to the point of wanting to get a fresh clean slate. What do you thinks makes a psychopath? are they born or can they be trained? read this book and you may find some answers.This is the story of a young girl who is taken from her family by the Soviet authorities and trained to be a killer . What marks Cilla, as she becomes, is her ambivalence to her family and her unquestioning loyalty to the regime. Is she a natural psychopath or can she be trained. A very engaging audiobook, didn't lose concentration once, enjoyed the narrator's voice as Cilla and even sped it up to 2x speed to keep the flow! Not too gory for its genre, but with plenty of detail on training, plants and toxins, Communist ideology and hit-planning.

But what if that’s not what you want in life? What if you’d like to live a somewhat normal life? How easy getting out of it would be? Cilla reminded me of Villanelle from Killing Eve. There are some dark, gruesome parts in the book but there’s also some humour too. The synopsis caught my eye from the get-go, and the actual novel didn’t disappoint. I’m so pleased by Murder by Natural Causes 😀

Cilla is a 22-year-old contract killer, specialising in the dry job: a murder interpreted as death by natural causes. Neither strong, nor beautiful, she isn’t your typical female protagonist. In fact, she is so unremarkable as to render her almost invisible, an advantage in her line of work. On the side, she is able to take on jobs of her own but as things develop we see the lines becoming blurred. Cilla used to live a normal, merely boring life. The days and weeks passed on and all resembled the same routine.

Naturally with the story centring on murder there are some gory descriptions and a little casual torture but it’s not visceral and ‘in your face’ as dry jobs are supposed to look like natural causes. If your spouse suddenly takes an interest in archery or buying lots of cherries, you might want to start paying attention though.

I'm really hoping that it's because there is going to be a sequel, but even if not, this is definitely an author that I'll be reading again! Brilliant read!

This is the author’s debut novel and I was intrigued by the synopsis. The eye catching cover drew my eye too. Cilla’s story is told in a dual timeline: one follows young Alexandria’s metamorphosis into the accomplished assassin, Cilla, and how she ends up with Vlad; the other details her present-day activities and her attempt at freedom. Cilla is certainly an interesting protagonist, proving eventually to not be quite as cold-blooded as she first seems, and making it hard not to cheer her on towards her goal. Take a Look at Our Summary of November Highlights, Whether You're Looking for the Latest Releases or Gift Inspiration I adored Cilla, our main character. She's completely unremarkable in her outwardly daily life....but that's exactly what is needed in her line of work - a dry job assassin.I wasn’t sure how I felt about the ending, I had hoped for more of a conclusion, but I think it has been left open to allow for a sequel. If there is a sequel I’ll be keeping an eye out for it. When I’m not involved in bridge, I write dark psychological thrillers and garden obsessively. My debut novel: Murder by Natural Causes comes out in May 2023. It's not high literature, more of a ripping yarn. And there is some bridge involved. As the storyline unfolds, we learn of Cilla's childhood and education - born in a very communist Soviet Union, she was whisked away at a young age and trained at the specialist academy 43 where she excelled.