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

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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. This reading group guide for A Tidy Ending includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. I really enjoyed everything in this book, except how exaggerated the main character’s cluelessness was. At first I couldn't understand why Linda was so intent on befriending Rebecca but I soon understood her ulterior motive.

Meanwhile, Terry's behaviour is becoming increasingly erratic, and a series of vicious attacks on young women are keeping the town in a state of ghoulish agitation. She presents as naïve, a bit simple, and is used to people underestimating her, doesn’t mind that, in fact. I get it; her father was the only one who understood her, unlike her mother who scoffs and scolds her nearly all the time. People start receiving letters that they are next, until Rebecca, the previous tenant in Lynda's house, receives one as well Lynda has to find her and warn her. Joanna Cannon reveals in the interview that she always leaves Easter eggs in her books, connecting them together.Linda is a middle aged woman in an unhappy marriage, with an unhappy past who also has a dysfunctional relationship with her mother, when young local women start being found murdered she becomes very interested indeed. Very persistent, they are, standing outside the house all hours of the day and night, ringing the doorbell, climbing garden walls, and knocking on windows.

The novel was longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize, shortlisted for The Bookseller Industry Awards 2017 and won the 2016 BAMB Reader Award. A sinister but darkly funny tale full of shocking twists, A Tidy Ending asks whether the grass is really greener and if we can ever really know even those closest to us. But she’s good at solving puzzles and there are times she sees things other people might have overlooked. A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon is a book that had me very intrigued and I must admit I wasn’t sure where the storyline was going.She is too sure of herself and her capability to judge people and situations, but it is very clear to us that she always jumps to the wrong conclusions. The story is written in the first person perspective of Linda and comes from two timelines – Now' and what I suppose is 'Then'. Terry isn’t perfect – he picks his teeth, tracks dirt through the house and spends most of his time in front of the TV. Joanna has been interviewed in The Guardian, The Observer, The Sunday Times, The Times, and Good Housekeeping magazine, and her writing has appeared in the Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail, and the Guardian, amongst others. A Tidy Ending has a sinister tone from the very first sentence, and that drew me into the heart of the story.

I may have been right about the twist, in the end, but the journey getting there was something I never could have imagined! They moved into their house somewhat recently, not all that far from their former house, and continue to receive mail for the former resident whose taste was apparently richer than theirs. The reader can see what is happening when others edge away and pretend to be busy but Linda appears oblivious, bless her. A Tidy Ending is thoroughly absorbing… Cannon carefully unspools this character-driven mystery using the superb storytelling we’ve come to expect from her.

While there is an underlying thread connecting everything, it doesn’t become apparent until the final 10% or so.