Still Life - Joy Fielding

Joy Fielding's latest book Still Life has just been released by Random House Canada. And like many of her previous novels, it's sure to be a bestseller.

Casey Marshall is 'that' girl. Beautiful, wealthy, successful in everything she attempts - business and love, with a great life and wonderful friends. She is leaving a restaurant after lunching with friends when she is hit by an SUV that flees the scene. Miraculously Casey isn't dead - but she is in a coma.

Here's the great twist - she can hear everything going on around her, but can't respond, verbally or physically. Once Casey had thought it would be great fun in life "to be able to eavesdrop, to listen in on private conversations, to find out what people were really thinking, to discover their deepest secrets, witness what they did when they assumed they were alone."

But then she hears the detective in charge of her case say that it may not have been an accident, it may have been an attempt on her life. Who could want her dead? Her loving husband, her troubled sister, her two best friends, someone from work?

"How bitterly ironic... that her main reason for living had come down to finding out who wanted her dead."

The entire story is based around Casey - what she can hear and what she learns about those closest to her. We learn the back story through her memories.

If you're looking for a terrifically entertaining read this is definitely a good choice. Not an overly elaborate whodunit and the characters are a bit formulaic, but a satisfying page turner, perfect for a bit of escapist reading on the beach or on a rainy day.

Read an excerpt of Still Life.

Fielding is a Canadian. I just found out about this promotion that took place over the weekend. The National Post newspaper gave away 10,000 paperback copies of Fielding's previous novel Charley's Web this weekend to subscribers in the Toronto area! Pretty good insert eh?