A Tidy Ending: The latest dark comedy from the Sunday Times bestselling author

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Sometimes, it's as though you haven't spoken at all, as if your world or their world are running quite happily side by side, but there isn't any way of moving between one and the other.

Linda becomes more and more bored with her dull life, but these murders keep happening in her area, and they go unsolved. ABOUT 'A TIDY ENDING': Linda has lived in a quiet neighborhood since fleeing the dark events of her childhood in Wales. She noticed something at the press conference, when they put up a picture of the victim, but Terry had already said the police hadn’t got a clue and switched the channel.

Rumors spread of a serial killer in their midst, and both Linda and her mother, who lives nearby, are reminded of the dark past they left behind in Wales many years ago. Linda prides herself on being observant, on remembering details, and she’s noticed that Terry is departing from his usual schedule, one of several things that are suddenly out of the ordinary with her husband. By the time a third body is found, people are talking about a serial killer, anonymous threatening letters are circulating, and Linda’s mother Eunice is getting anxious: the restlessness in the neighbourhood reminds her a little too closely of the reason she and Linda left Wales thirty years earlier. Cannon eludes expectations and defies traditions on her way toward a mind-bending double-whammy finale.

I really enjoyed this book, the writing is superb (see notes for some examples), and the author’s way with words captured me (Joanna Cannon - get OUT of my head! No matter the genre, I’ve always found Joanna Cannon’s combination of life experience and astute eye a potent mix on the page. Except people forget that keeping yourself to yourself isn’t always a decision you make on your own. I suppose they want to make sense of it all, and they’ll struggle because no one has all the pieces of the story, except for me. There it waits, trapped in a silver frame, watching me live my life and pointing out all my mistakes.It’s totally possible that I would have liked this book more if I hadn’t run into two quirky loners-losers who I didn’t like earlier this year. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion.