July book club - The Deaths by Mark Lawson

I too am finding it hard to 'understand' the individual characters as I cannot picture them in anyway so far. The nearest I have got too are our political leaders and their wives!
Before I give up I will follow Nonnanna's lead and create a chart of who fits where.
My question at this stage would be 'who would be your target audience whilst writing this book?'

Just finished reading this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I found it a bit hard to get into the characters at the start but it got better as it went on. I didn't guess who it was in advance - found that part very moving.
Having done cleaning work some years ago for a nice couple who were very much middle class 'keeping up with the Jones's' types I can see that some of that is how it seemed to me the characters are very true to life of some people.
I felt the ending a bit of a let down - we are led in one direction but did he?

I would like to ask Mark if he intended it to be slightly tongue in cheek moralising - Money doesn't make you happy and certainly trying to keep up appearances is not a good idea - as that is how I felt but maybe I am reading too much into it and being too deep.

I have been rereading most of the salient parts of the book, just to make sure I had got the story right in my mind.

I'm so glad I have given up my Nespresso machine, I don't think I could have carried on using it with a straight face! The trouble is we've gone over to roasting and grinding our own coffee and I suspect this may be even more middle class

What a fantastic book. Its a page-turner and I have not been able to put it down so far, I am so involved with the plot and characters. Thank you!

Although I enjoyed reading this book,I did find it difficult to keep the couples matched up as I read.It seemed as though I was just getting into into one character,then another was focused upon and I lost the thread.As a result it was hard to develop sympathy with any of them.
A little too complex for my tastes,the plot was well written but easy to lose concentration.Perhaps it is just my memory getting worse with age!
It does seem to true to the "keeping up with the Jones's" set and highlights the pretentious way of life of the "new" aristocracy.Mark Lawson is an excellent writer and there are people I would recommend him to but just not for me.

I really enjoyed this book although I did have trouble to start with remembering who was married to who. I don't think I've read another book where you didn't know who was actually killed until quite near the end - never mind who did it.

I would like to ask Mark whether he had decided at the start of the book, which family had been killed or whether it evolved as he wrote the story.

I commented earlier but that was before I had finished the book. Now that I have read it and had time to reflect on it I want to pick up on something said in an earlier comment and that is about the mis-match between the reviews on the back cover and the 'bleakness' of the story. It really wasn't 'hilarious', or a 'social comedy'. I found it bleak and nihilistic and I would like to ask Mark Lawson is that how he interprets his characters, does he see them differently and are they as he planned them to be or did they evolve during the writing?

I've loved this book and am now busily recommending it to all and sundry. I even like the expensive soft feel of the cover! It was bleak, as Helen2014 says, but I did find a lot to laugh at in the way six of The Eight behaved and perceived themselves. Yes, most of the characters were obnoxious, but we weren't supposed to like them and they rang true to me, on the whole. I've overheard (and been mightily amused by) snippets of conversation between some of the self-styled elite that could have sparked a class war and would have dropped nicely into the dialogue of the book. I agree with an earlier poster - there's a lot to be said for having to travel second class.

Of course there are always quibbles - like others, I found the juvenile sniggering about and obsession with sex, particularly from Libby, very tedious and not at all convincing. Also, I don't think Dr Emily would have kept company with the rest of them, though I appreciate she was there for a reason. And no, I don't think condoms would have been the birth control of choice for these couples either, unless there was a localised STD issue.

I'm sure the final hinted-at event did happen and I think it was completely in character, given the worries and events that had gone before and the pressures that this person was under and knew he would continue to be under for some time.

My question to Mark Lawson would be:

Do you think the Loadsamoney culture of conspicuous consumption is on the wane in the current economic climate, when even those with money are giving Lidl a try? Or do you think it's primed to bounce back as big as ever and twice as nasty?

I too enjoyed the book, though I did find the childish names for bodily functions a bit tedious! There also seemed to be a bit too much childish reference to sex, though maybe I'm just getting a bit Puritanical in my old age!
I did enjoy trying to work out which family had been murdered and I liked the twist in that it involved the estranged son as well as the other two children.
It was good start to the book and added to the interest...who's it going to be?
Not sure whether I'd have said it was a comedy, though some of the characters were laughable!
My question to mark would be:
Do you know a group of people like 'The Eight', or were they purely a figment of your imagination?

Thanks Grannynet for my copy!

I would like to ask Mark how the kind of people he is satirising in this dark novel have received it, if, of course, they have read it. I'd say that it's a must for their book groups, wouldn't you?

None of the characters seemed to read much, so perhaps these people don't in real life?

Now I've read it again I'm really getting rather fond of some of the characters although I think I feel most sympathy for Jenno who didn't quite fit anywhere. As a second wife she must always have felt a bit insecure and being younger than the other women she always seemed to be trying to catch up.

I do keep adding to this!!! I'm wondering about the actual shootings? From the descriptions he seems to have been using a rifle, although there's been no mention of him having one or hunting with one. There is also a mention of both barrels at one point which would suggest a shotgun, but he couldn't have shot the dogs with a shot gun as there wouldn't be one neat bullet hole and the noise would have woken the entire household. The noise also means he must have used a rifle for his family. It seems odd that he could have shot both his daughter and her half brother without causing some sort of disturbance when they were apparently still awake - especially as a long barrelled gun can be very awkward to use at short range against someone who doesn't want to be shot. Sorry to nit pick but my husband used to do a lot of shooting and the lack of detail niggles a bit.

I have finished the book! Having created a chart of whose who and who belonged to which family I began to enjoy the book and look for clues and reasons. I did guess which family. Sadly I still didn't like any of the characters, I think they were too cliched. As humans we all feel insecure at times. We go through good times and bad and it is called living. I suppose my finally summing up is sadness if indeed there are people like that out there.
Thank you for my book.

Thank you so much for sending me a copy of The Deaths by Mark Lawson. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The plot was a clever one although I did get a little confused with the characters at the start of the book. I think this was as a result of them all arriving at the same time, but realistically it couldn't have been done any other way. Would I buy another of Mark's books? Definitely!!

I have just returned from holiday and find my neighbour had taken in a parcel for me - hooray - a new book, The Deaths. Thank you Gransnet.

I took it to bed last night and read the first chapter and the beginning of the second and can see I am going to enjoy it, but will be a long way behind everyone else so must hold back from reading the comments and answers from Mark Lawson until I have finished it. A bit of self control needed!
Milly.

Re. questions for Mark Lawson:
Did you have to draw up a family tree for each of the families in 'The Deaths' in order to help you keep clear in your mind who was who and doing what, or did you manage to keep everybody and everything neatly filed away in your head?
By the way, we really miss you on 'Front Row' and longer listen as much as before.

I've just finished reading The Deaths so I hope I'm in time with my question.

I've enjoyed reading this book especially as not only was it a murder mystery with a difference - not knowing who the victims are until almost the end - but also because Aga Sagas are not normally written by men.

I loved the red herrings especially the unknown teenager whose death added to the sadness of the horrific shootings. The hints at well known financial scandals used as building blocks to the story also added to the mystery and suspense.

The hopelessness of the final death didn't surprise me at all.

My question to Mark is: Was it difficult to balance the dark humour and satirical observations in the novel with the build up of tension so essential to revealing the tragic events? Also was your intention to leave the reader wondering whether it really was a massive wake-up call for the remaining characters?

Oh and I have added Mark Lawson to my list of authors to read - although I found it bleak, I really did enjoy reading it.

Thank you - book has arrived. I am just starting the big read and already feel intrigued by the modern setting.

Yesterday when I first got The Deaths on returning from holiday
I posted a message saying I couldn't catch up with you all and ask a question in time, but today being nearly half way through the book, I feel I want to say that the way the book is written is very good and I didn't want to put it down, but why oh why must we have such explicit sex details. They seem unnecessary and if one is on ones own and therefore reads with meals, it quite puts one off ones food!!!!!

I don't like the characters except perhaps with the exception of the GP and her husband, and am having difficulty in remembering which of the others are married to each other, but as they are all fairly unpleasant I don't really care and am looking forward to them being murdered! I shall now pick it up again, and hope they have satisfied their sex drives and we can get on with the story.
(I am on page 128)
Milly.

I think this is a very well written book in general. It does take a little time, and rereading to get the characters properly established in your head but I'm happy with that. Nowhere near as complicated as Wolf Hall in that respect. I would like to ask Mark Lawson how he wrote a book like that. Did he deal with one character at a time and then slot them all together, or was he able to write them in the order we read the book in?

My third message! (Is this allowed)
I wonder if Mark Lawson based these characters on people he knows?
Also I feel it would have helped elderly readers like me if there had been
a list of the families on a page at the beginning. I have just finished the
Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard, and they had this at the beginning of the books which I kept referring to.
I am making my own as I work out who belongs to who amongst this lot.
Milly.

I too found it hard to keep track of the various partners and also ended up making a note of them. I find this very frustrating as it makes you lose the flow of a story if you have to stop and think who is being written about.
After reading the back cover, I expected it to be at the least amusing, if not hilarious, but was sadly mistaken.

The murders seemed only incidental to the story. They were rarely mentioned in the first half of the book, as its the main purpose seemed to be to develop the characters. I found the characters quite unlikeable and for this reason I'm afraid I did not enjoy this book.

Thanks for this book, a pleasant suprise.
I read the book over a few days , wanting to find out what happens.
I did find it a little frustrating at times, with so many characters they way the story flowed I was unsure who I was reading about.

I did want to know more about some of the characters, to learn more about how they were in their 'day jobs', so to speak, especially the husbands. Were
they different people in their macho environments.

I had guessed early on that Max was in trouble, but not necessarily how he would solve his issues.

Overall, a good read.

Thanks