Book Review: Death and Other Occupational Hazards by Veronika Dapunt
About the book
Her job is to die for. Literally.
Most people think that when they meet Death, it’ll be a skeleton in a black potato sack. Maybe with a scythe. Truth is, she’s just a woman doing a job, and she’s very good at it.
But when Death takes a much-needed break to live on earth, things start to go terribly wrong. Someone’s killing people not on her list (well, not yet anyway) and it's down to her to find the culprit before it’s too late.
To make matters worse, her sanctimonious sister, Life – whom Death hasn’t got on with in millennia – won’t stop blaming her...
And then there’s the slight problem of the charming (sexy) parasitologist she’s suspicious of.
But she’ll be fine, right? After all, who better to investigate a murder than Death herself?
Why we love it
There have been quite a few novels by various authors over the years that feature a personification of Death, most notably Terry Pratchett's Discworld version, and I can honestly say that Death and Other Occupational Hazards is a fantastic addition to the genre.
This is a brilliantly humanised version of Death: less of an omnipotent, omniscient force and more of an overworked employee in desperate need of a holiday. Think Reaper Man, except this Death is less skeletal, much more colourfully dressed and currently taking a holiday in modern-day London.
Leaving a temp in charge, she temporarily inhabits a mortal body and finds a job at a private detective agency. Investigating crime scenes should be straightforward - after all, she is Death - but her holiday takes an unexpected turn when bodies start appearing that aren’t on her to-die list.
Veronika Dapunt writes with a wonderfully dry, deadpan humour, cleverly avoiding all the usual cliches of the big black scary cloak and glowing scythe to instead focus on workplace frustrations that everyone can all relate to - feelings of monotony and boredom, being misunderstood and unappreciated by colleagues.
Add into the equation a murder mystery, a bit of sibling rivalry and a potential love interest, and you end up with a book that had me quietly sniggering away with every turn of the page.
It's a brilliantly quirky fantasy crime novel that balances cleverness, humour and absurdity, all while still somehow feeling like a fresh and entirely original take on an old idea - a definite must-read!
