Exit by Belinda Bauer

 

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You can buy Exit....Here

The Blurb...

Meet Felix Pink. The most unlikely murderer you'll ever have the good fortune to spend time with.

When Felix lets himself in to Number 3 Black Lane, he's there to perform an act of charity: to keep a dying man company as he takes his final breath . . .

But just fifteen minutes later Felix is on the run from the police - after making the biggest mistake of his life.

Now his world is turned upside down as he must find out if he's really to blame, or if something much more sinister is at play. All while staying one shaky step ahead of the law.

My Review..

Felix Pink is a lovely old gentleman who has suffered loss. He is a widower whose only son died at the age of 19. Felix is heartbroken and melancholic but he is also altruistic and caring. He is an "Exiteer" a group who advise the terminally ill on assisted suicide. Felix will come and sit with a terminally patient, as a comforting presence, while they commit the final act. But this time something goes wrong, this time the wrong man dies. Is it an accident or is Felix being set up. The old codger only has one thing left in this world... his integrity so he sets out to find the truth.

The background of assisted suicide can be controversial in the media but I believe on the ground most people believe that the terminally should not have to suffer a long drawn out painful death. You literally wouldn't treat a dog like that. However we do not have this "Dignitas" type set up in the UK and so in the absence of an organised, government led alternatives the desperate seek aid wherever they can. All very emotive, serious and depressing. The book could have been a misery fest, and although it is thought provoking and poignant is it also warm and humorous. Bauer is a master at getting the delicate balance just right and her eye for social observation (rather than social commentary) is quite superbly clinical.

Characterisation is spot on and often darkly comic. On occasion my sub conscious brain will cast just one character in a book and the others remain a shadowy amalgam. The one that really popped into my head this time was Reggie Can. The put upon grandson of the terminally ill "Skipper Can" to me Stephen Merchant is Reggie. A bit fed up and a bit lonely and carrying his troubles dutifully but with a bit of a whinge.

Another favourite strong lead character is the hapless PC Calvin Bridge yet to fully mature, unlucky in love, and ashamed of his hidden criminal family. The whole minor character ensemble is really vibrant. Some traits have been thickened slightly to provide  caricatures with a small c. They are larger than life but only slightly so and you could recognise the type in your own (working class) life. The  background cast is like a scene from a West Country "Boys from the Blackstuff." And the whole North Devon setting also adds to the narrative. Again evoking warmth and slightly dark gentle comedy but with a sinister ambience.

With this book I flitted between reading the written word and the audiobook. I feel I must mention the superb narration. I looked up the narrator to mention his name here only to find that it is in fact well known actor Tim McInnery of Blackadder fame. This is probably the best narrated book that I have ever listened to. His various West Country accents are excellent as is his pacing, diction and delivery. 

This is a really good book. I have read two previous books by Belinda Bauer. "Rubbernecker" which I thought was good and "Blacklands" which I thought was OK but not as good as Rubbernecker. Exit is by far the best book of hers that I have read. 

Fans of Richard Osman of the Thursday Murder Club will love this book. I personally think Exit is even better than The Thursday Murder Club and The Man Who Died Twice, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. 

Thought provoking, heart warming and funny. One of those where you slow down towards the end because you don't want it to end. A master at work.

Selected Quotes...

"Felix Pink’s days of buying clothes were over. He had bought his last three-pack of Y-fronts a year ago, and the socks he had now would see him out. It was a strange feeling – that he would be outlived by his socks."

"Of course it wouldn’t help. Nothing would help. Not even time, whose billing as a great healer was vastly overrated, in his experience."

"There was a paperback book, open and face down, which almost made Felix have palpitations. He always used a bookmark and it pained him to see a book treated so shabbily– even a Clive Cussler."

"Petty theft. Common assault. ABH. Cheque fraud. Who commits cheque fraud any more? thought Calvin idly. Might as well steal a pig!"

"Nobody ever spoke of the relentless parking that was demanded by a relative in hospital with a prolonged illness."

"Feeding somebody’s cat was like trying to plan a mini-break in Brigadoon."

About the Author..

Belinda Bauer grew up in England and South Africa and now lives in Wales. She worked as a journalist and a screenwriter before finally writing a book to appease her nagging mother. With her debut, Blacklands, Belinda was awarded the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year. She went on to win the CWA Dagger in the Library for her body of work in 2013. Her fourth novel Rubbernecker was voted 2014 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. In 2018 her eighth novel, Snap, was longlisted for the Man Booker prize. Her books have been translated into 21 languages. She has also written the thriller High Rollers under the pen-name Jack Bowman.