48. A book with a character dealing with death

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

As we near the end of the year, it seems an apt time to think about endings of all kinds, including the final ending of death. For this week's prompt, you could find a book in almost any genre. There are the more obvious genres of mystery, horror, thriller, and true crime of course, but any character dealing with grief would work for this prompt as well.

Some lists and links:
Best books about grief: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
YA Death and Dying books: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
Best Children's books about death: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Books that include a funeral: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Nonfiction books about death and death culture: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

ATY Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

What are you reading for this prompt?

Note from the mods: We understand that this can be a sensitive topic for anyone currently dealing with loss and encourage everyone to keep the discussion respectful as you always do.

[LeahS]

I am reading The Plague, where the MC is a doctor in the middle of an epidemic, and Chaos, where the MC is a forensic examiner.

[Pam]

I might read The Road by Cormac McCarthy since I just read the graphic novel. This one seems like it should be easy to fill.

[Charlsa]

I'm reading Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson.

[Dubhease]

A Skullduggery Pleasant book - he's a crime fighting skeleton brought back to life by his desire for revenge to the guy who killed him. I think he qualified as a character dealing with death.

[Marie]

I've had Working Stiff by Rachel Caine on my shelf since 2016, there's never going to be a more fitting prompt for it. It's urban fantasy about someone who works in a mortuary and the dead are being resurrected by her dodgy bosses.

[dalex]

In Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the protagonist goes on a quest with the Mayan god of death. Time to clear this title off my bookshelf!

[Kathy]

I'm looking forward to this prompt since I've found these books:

The Obituary Writer - Ann Hood
Mort - Terry Pratchett
The Collected Regrets of Clover - Mikki Brammer

[Charlsa]

dalex wrote: "In Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the protagonist goes on a quest with the Mayan god of death. Time to clear this title off my bookshelf!"

I loved Gods of Jade and Shadow and Mexican Gothic. Moreno-Garcia has become an auto-buy for me. I was in the independent bookstore in Dallas yesterday, Interrabang Books, and selected Silver Nitrate. The man checking me out said that she is a favorite of his as well and suggested I also read one of her backlist books, Certain Dark Things.

[Charlsa]

Kathy wrote: "I'm looking forward to this prompt since I've found these books:

The Obituary Writer - Ann Hood
Mort - Terry Pratchett
The Collected Regrets of Clover..."


I loved The Collected Regrets of Clover.

[Kathy]

Charlsa wrote: "Kathy wrote: "I'm looking forward to this prompt since I've found these books:

The Obituary Writer - Ann Hood
Mort - Terry Pratchett
[book:The Collected Regrets of Cl..."

Good to hear Charlsa!

[NancyJ]

A friend highly recommended this book.

The Collected Regrets of Clover

[Denise]

I meant to read these this year for prompts and didn’t, so maybe next year:
Thirteen Reasons Why
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

[Angie]

Honestly, I'll probably read a mystery. Maybe The Body in the Library.

[John]

Under consideration:All the Dangerous Things
-The Reading List by by Sara Nisha Adams
-All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
-Killers of a Certain Age By Deanna Raybourn

[Isabel]

I recommend this reddit thread as inspiration for romance readers: https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks... All books with the trope 'death and the maiden'.

Death and the Maiden is a popular motif throughout art history. Traditionally, one character is death personified - dark, broken, winter, and maybe even literally the bringer of death. The other character is the opposite - light, rebirth, spring.

In several books one of the love interests is a grim reaper or Death himself, for example River of Shadows by Karina Halle.

[Samantha]

This prompt is the reason I am doing the challenge backwards so I am happy to be done with it. I ended up reading The Widow's Husband's Secret Lie. I hadn't read anything by Freida McFadden and have been a little skeptical so thought a novella would be a good taste test. Before starting, I failed to notice it is a satire so it ended up being a very odd book and I have a feeling nothing like her other work. In any case a good one for me and this prompt, I have a lot to worry about death in the real world so just wanted to be done with this prompt, I am so I am happy to move on.

[Severina]

I read The Three by Sarah Lotz, a paranormal-tinged tale of the aftermath of four plane crashes.

[Alistair]

I read Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel.

[NancyJ]

✅ The Collected Regrets of Clover
I really liked this book about a death doula who helps people at the end of their lives. It starts off a little slow but it was engrossing. (It’s not ghoulish.)

[Marie (UK)]

The Passing Storm I listened to this book on audio and the narration was excellent. I think the story line just teetered under the mark for it's mystery MPG . However I didnt dislike it - perhaps just an average read for me

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

It seems like this is all I'm reading lately, though I didn't intend to -

Kitchen, Goodbye, Vitamin, Laurentian Divide, even the romcom The Merry Matchmaker.

Then of course there are all the mysteries with serial killers, pathologists, coroners, etc.

[Lorna Boyd]

I read The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett for this prompt. I adored this book. I found myself laughing out loud one minute, then seriously thinking about how most of us have no choice on how, or when we’ll die. At 85 yrs old Eudora has decided she wants to be in control over these decisions.

[Michelle E]

I read The Deep Dark Descending by Allen Eskens for this prompt.

[Joy D]

For this prompt, I read:
Joe Nuthin's Guide to Life by Helen Fisher - 4* - My Review

[Odette]

I'm reading The Missing Brides by Helen Goltz. This is the first book in The Lady Mortician's Visions Series.
Also came across Also One Last Dance: My Life in Mortuary Scrubs and G-strings by Emma Jane Holmes

[Michelle E]

I changed my previous book for this prompt to another prompt. So I'm going to read The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer. The main character is a Death Doula.

[Michelle E]

Joy D wrote: "For this prompt, I read:
Joe Nuthin's Guide to Life by Helen Fisher - 4* - My Review"

Sounds like a great book -- just added to my TBR. Thanks!

[Kathy]

I read Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. Set during the 1980s AIDS crisis, 14-year-old June deals with the death of her beloved uncle. Very heart-felt.

[Michelle E]

Kathy wrote: "I read Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. Set during the 1980s AIDS crisis, 14-year-old June deals with the death of her beloved uncle. Very heart-felt."

I LOVED that book!

[Kathy]

Me too, Michelle. It was way more than I thought it would be, although I don't really know what I expected. The two girls are so authentic.

[LeahS]

I read The Plague in which the MC is a doctor in an Algerian town locked down by a plague epidemic.

This book is partly an allegory about fascism, particularly occupied France in World War II, and there is a pertinent warning in the last paragraphs, but after the Covid pandemic, it is an excellent description of dealing with (or not dealing with) such a threat.

I also read for my 2016 round, The Tidal Zone, where the narrator is a father reframing his life after his teenage daughter almost dies from an allergic reaction, and will thereafter be at risk from this unknown allergen. I thought this was a very good book, with the fear and stress of the situation leavened with humour and good observations of family life. The book has two 'digressions' - extracts from a guide the narrator is writing about the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral, which fits as a sort of resurrection, and passages about the narrator's youth in the States, which didn't fit so well. Despite that, this was one of the best books of the month.

[J]

When I read this prompt, it immediately made me think of book's where the main character is literally making a deal with the personification of Death, such as Mort, On a Pale Horse, The Sandman, Vol. 2: The Doll's House.

I used it to read A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore, which wasn't as good as any of those.

[Sherri]

I read Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

[Misty]

I read The Door by Magda Szabó. The book is all about the MC's relationship with her housekeeper and dealing with the housekeeper's death. It's a very odd book. I loved Abigail, and I was so looking forward to this book. It was a bit of a disappointment.

[Andrea]

I used The Bone Houses for this one. The main character works as a gravedigger.

I was reading the synopsis of some books on my TBR and they seemed applicable to this prompt:
-Origin: main character is a fingerprint expert investigating a series of crib deaths
-Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng: main character is a crime scene cleaner
-I See You've Called in Dead: main character is an obituary writer

[Robin H-R]

I read:
A Killer in the Crystal Palace by Deb Marlowe

REJECT: A book about a strong woman

Finished: 07/09/2025
Rating: 5 stars

First in a series. This book was excellent! I was hooked from the first pages. Loved the characters and the chemistry between them. Great plot. Looking forward to the next installment.

[Anne]

I am reading West of Sunset by Dirk Bogarde. It is about several people dealing with the death of a celebrated writer as the life he lived comes back to haunt them.

[Phil]

I read Here Goes Nothing by Steve Toltz for this topic (Read September 2nd; 3*)

[Pearl]

I read Dear Edward
😭

[Denise]

Pearl wrote: "I read Dear Edward
😭"

Loved that book

[John]

I read Death: A Life by George Pendle, a satirical autobiography of Death.

[Denise]

John wrote: "I read Death: A Life by George Pendle, a satirical autobiography of Death."

That sounds really cool. Thanks for making us aware of it. Added to my ever growing TBR