The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker isn't your typical young adult mystery — it's a genre-defying, original spin on investigating your own murder ... after the fact.

Ellie Parker is just your average teenage girl who suddenly finds herself with a slew of not-so-average problems when she wakes up on a riverbank with large gaps in her memory. Last night might be a blur, but she has the unsettling certainty that she was drowned the previous evening.  And it's not just Ellie's memory that's gone—she's missing her sense of smell, can't stomach food, and is absolutely freezing all of the time.

How can you investigate your own murder when no one realizes you're really dead? Ellie struggles to determine who she can and can't trust, keeping everyone at arm's length as she begins trying to plug the holes in her memory. Her brother's girlfriend died in the river the previous year—is it connected? Or does it have to do with the mysterious man who's been spotted on the outskirts of town? Or with the way her boyfriend is suddenly hesitant to be around her? Wilkinson injects a witty humor into Ellie's voice that makes her mishaps and cynical societal commentary a joy to read. With far more suspects than clues, she must retrace her steps and solve her own murder, doing her best to ignore the fact it feels like time is running out, and she's not quite sure what will happen when it does.

I didn't realize just how literal Ellie's return from the death would be, but despite my initial surprise and wariness, I became fascinated by the unique plot. Not wanting anyone to find out the truth behind her not-so-alive predicament, Ellie does her best playing the expected role of best friend, girlfriend, sister, and daughter, even when she's doubting the intentions of everyone around her. It's a fun dichotomy, and I flew through this novel so much quicker than I had expected.

I love that we don't get bogged down by the existential technicalities of what happened to Ellie, but it does make her return from the dead come across as rather hand-wavy at times. I also wish there had been more focus on scratching beyond the surface of Ellie's interpersonal relationships. It felt like some of her friends and family were just plot points, which left me unsure where she stood with them at the end of the novel.

Nevertheless, The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker is a quite enjoyable young adult mystery novel. It's got plenty of unique twists and a refreshing protagonist that will keep you on your toes. Be sure to be on the lookout for when it's released later this month!

~An uncanny mystery filled with dark humour.~

Thank you so much Bookouture & Netgalley for sending me this ARC copy!

Ellie is dead.
Or at least that's what she thinks after "waking up" in the river.
We follow her while trying to find information about what happened the night before as well as what happened to her brothers girlfriend who was found dead a year before at the exact same spot in the river.
Most of the people in town still seem to suspect her brother is behind it and since he is the direct link
between the three of them, she starts to do too.


The story gave a dark, uncanny feeling, like the answer should be right there in front of me, but it still made me
doubt everything. Including things Eleanor told me.

I really enjoyed reading this book, so much that I don't have anything "critical" to add.

Story: 4,5/5 Everything added up really well in the ending.
Characters: 5/5 You get to know the character good enough for the time that you spend with them.
Writing: 5/5 It was clearly written with the serious things and the humorous were really well alternating each other but also fitting together as well as very well timed.
Reread: Yes, I will be rereading this on for sure!

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The Life and Death of Eleanor Parker by Kerry Wilkinson
July 14, 2018Susan
Something I really liked about this book was that it was set in the UK. It also had that edge to it – part sarcastic, part afraid to appear boastful. This mix was a definite plus for me.

As psychological thrillers go, this one was appropriate within the YA genre. Enough murder and crime without overdoing the gory details. Add in an unexpected confession and you’ve got the plot here.

I would say I was entertained throughout this read. The only thing I wasn’t keen on was the paranormal aspect, I feel the book would have worked better either with a different resolution (i.e. hero has served purpose so is no longer required) or that it just wasn’t included at all. I think I’d prefer the latter.

Tape Deck is somewhere I want to go – although it did seem a bit Americanised in its location and description.

All in I’d say 3.5 stars, I was entertained and the writing was easy to digest.

Book provided to me free of charge by publisher through Netgalley.

You can trust everybody in your small village, can't you ...?

This is a very good coming of age book, but it can be perfectly read by adults as well. I liked the point of view from which the story was written. It was original and weird (I mean that in a very positive way) and the atmosphere reminded me of Twin Peaks. You always felt that bit of creepiness and you kept on wondering who was responsible.
When you get further along in the story, the pace picks up as well and then it's time to give to it that twist, like the cherry on the cake.. 4,5 stars

Thank you, Kerry Wilkinson, Bookouture and Netgalley.

I pushed myself, desperately trying to figure out if I was missing something. The pacing was slow, staggered, and I found myself skimming through the information more often than not. I was not intrigued by the secondary characters and did not see the charm in the main character that others did. The premise is interesting. Someone who drowned and woke up, dead but alive. Lacking senses. Seems paranormal but bordering magical realism. The mystery persuaded me to read more, to search for answers but the fact that she literally Googles whether she's a zombie? I mean, she woke up in a river, she's AWAKE. It doesn't mean that you're undead. I just don't understand the leap in thought process. Yes, question how you got to the river, why, and what happened, sure but that automatic, must be dead? I dunno, it didn't sit right with me and put her character into question. Then the cliche mean girls, the quirky friend, the bland boyfriend...it just wasn't for me.

DNF 79 pages

The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker by Kerry Wilkinson - This novel was...interesting, different. I'm not totally sure how I feel about it. It starts off with Eleanor waking up on a river bank after being drowned. That's right...drowned, as in she is dead. She is still physically here. People can see her, talk with her etc, but she can't feel anything, eat anything or sleep. So what's a dead girl to do? Figure out who killed her of course! Could it be the same person who drowned her brother's girlfriend almost a year ago? Now a third girl has gone missing. Ellie better work fast before anyone else dies.
Truthfully, I think I enjoyed this book. It's a bit quirky here and there and the ending (not the reveal of the killer) was not what I was expecting. #TheDeathAndLifeOfEleanorParker #NetGalley

The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker by Kerry Wilkinson is the sort of book that a reader like myself that enjoys many different genres craves. Even the author admits this one is tough to put into a genre as it’s a bit different for sure. I suppose I’d best describe this one as a young adult supernatural thriller that should appeal to many readers.

The story begins with seventeen year old Eleanor Parker waking up beside the river with no real memory of how she came to be there. As Ellie heads home and begins trying to piece together what happened to her she notices a lot of changes in herself. The feeling of being cold just won’t go away, food doesn’t seem to taste the same and she doesn’t smell the familiar scents around her. Ellie is quite certain that she died last night.

What is one to do when they are sure that someone must have killed them? Find the person responsible of course. With Ellie not knowing who to trust she steps back into her life and begins to investigate starting with the fact her brother’s girlfriend had been murdered the year before in the same river so she needs to know if there’s a connection.

After several books from the thriller camp not quite being overly thrilling The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker was a breathe of fresh air. I had a feeling going in though that I would like this one having read Kerry Wilkinson before but that was a straight up thriller and finding this one included so much was quite fun. In a way a character investigating their own death feels a bit cozy mysteryish without the laughs you might expect but whatever you want to call this one I found it very engaging and urge folks to give it a shot.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

An unusual blend of paranormal and thriller genres, this is a Young Adult book with more than enough bite to appeal to the wider market. The striking cover is definitely eye-catching , and really fits the book, making sense once you read the first couple of chapters.
Eleanor Parker comes to in a shallow river, cold and alone, and with no memory of how she got there in the early hours of the morning. Unable to figure it out, she heads for home, hoping to use social media to piece together the events of the night before. She soon finds out she has a bigger problem than she thought, she may not be entirely alive, and of course her thoughts immediately turn to identifying who may have wanted to kill her. There are a few potential suspects, and the fact that she is not the first girl to drown in that river suggests that something more sinister may well be afoot.
A clever and well crafted thriller, with clues and red herrings liberally sprinkled about, and a persuasive list of potential suspects, this book will definitely keep the reader guessing. As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, the blend of mystery and paranormal is well handled, and cleverly balanced, the paranormal aspect is not allowed to overbalance or detract from the mystery , instead adding an interesting extra dimension to the story.. The pacing is very good, the book is a definite page turner, but at the same time the characters are allowed to grow and develop in interesting ways.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own,

This is my first Kerry Wilkinson book but it won't be my last. The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker was a fast paced thrill ride from beginning to end. I was immediately pulled in to the story, and love every second of this story. I had no idea what was going with Eleanor nor did I have an inkling who was killer. I loved the build up of the story, and the focus it placed on family. The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker is intense, thrilling and hell of a ride.

Firstly, I am a big fan of this author and have been since the early days when he still self-published. I have read and loved all of his Jessica Daniel and Andrew Hunter series as well as his impressive back catalogue of stand alones. There is something about the way he writes, how he defines his characters, how he includes some great banter, humour and internal dialogue, all just hits home for me whatever the story he tells around them. With this book we also get an added supernatural element cleverly woven into the mix.
Eleanor Parker wakes up in the river in the wee small hours. She remembers some of the previous night but she has big gaps; how did she end up there? Picking herself up, she returns home, desperately trying to piece together the details of her movements the night before. She is more concerned however that her skin looks a bit grey and she has no appetite for food or fluid. And then there are the bruises, and the missing shoes. What could have happened? She is especially concerned with the fact that it is almost a year to the day since another girl, Sarah, was drowned at the same place. Sarah was her brother Ollie's girlfriend and, although he was questioned about her death, no charges have even been brought neither against him nor anyone else. Could what happened to Eleanor be linked with what happened to Sarah? And, if so, does Eleanor hold the key to getting justice once and for all? And then, another girl goes missing...
This was the best twisty turny plot which I avidly followed, desperate to get to the end. As with a few of this author's other books, this one did rely a bit on my trust in him to keep going. It did get a bit weird at times but I have never been let down before so I ploughed on. And I was rewarded with an ending that, wow, where did that come from!
As with all his books, here the author has provided the reader with a great cast of characters. Eleanor herself, her best friend Naomi, and both their respective boyfriends, brother Ollie, and the strange boy at the diner to name but a few. What a great place that diner was by the way - I want to go there and revisit my musical youth! But I digress... There are also the cool girls from school - The Ravens - and a bunch of adults, namely Eleanor's mother and her cop boyfriend. All of whom had their parts to play in the story and they managed them all very well.
I do love an unreliable narrator who is trying to solve a crime made against them; no spoiler, it's in the blurb. A bit of missing memory here, a false one there. All adds to the overall intrigue to be found in the best crime fiction. Specifically, I love how that can make the connection between reader and character stronger, as was the case here. I took to Eleanor almost immediately and, alongside her, I really need to know what had happened to her. Mostly just her but, as things went on, also what happened a year past. As for how her "behaviour" during that week is concerned, well, I can't explain exactly my feelings about that, just that, for me anyway, it really worked, especially how it ended. To understand what I mean, you'll have to read the book, I'm giving no spoilers here. I can understand how, for some, it wouldn't but, like I said, I have a track record with this author and I know that, occasionally, he does like to mix things up to keep his writing fresh and here, he has achieved just this, and very well indeed.
And the ending when it came was brilliant. Although I had that person on my list, along with a few others, I hadn't managed to completely narrow it down before it was revealed so, yeah, well done for that!
All in all, a cracking read to add to an already impressive back catalogue. If your reading this, Mr Wilkinson, can I put in my bid for more Andrew Hunter soon... and more Jessica, well, just more anything really!
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Kerry Wilkinson and Bookouture for my ARC of The Death & Life of Eleanor Parker. 
I've really been enjoying Kerry Wilkinson's stand-alone novels and this one was a great read. It's a little different to his usual style in that I think it skirts the edge of being YA while also still being a crime/thriller novel.
Eleanor wakes up in the early hours of the morning to find herself in the river on the edge of her village. She's freezing cold and wet and has no recollection of how she got there. All she knows is that now she's grey coloured, can't feel pain or touch, and her sense of smell has gone. Did she die in the river and how is she still here if she did? Who would want to kill a 17 year old girl with no enemies beyond the local mean girls and is it the same person who killed Ellie's brother's girlfriend last year?

As Ellie begins her own investigations the people in town continue to suspect her brother, the mean girls continue to bitch and everyone around her becomes a suspect in her eyes.

I found this story to be really interesting, I've not read anything written in this style or using this particular technique before and I really liked how different and intriguing it was. I liked Eleanor's character and I enjoyed reading about her suspicions and following the leads she came up with. The ending was a complete shocker to me I really didn't have it figured out at all!

I had high expectations going into the book because of the good reviews and the plot sounded interesting however i am disappointed. First, because i predicted who the murderer was early on and second the book was just boring and full of what felt like filler chapters. I did like the main character but most of what she did was just dead ends and I did feel the book was a weird mix of different genres that did not really go together. 

2/5

It wasn’t as suspenseful as I expected and I didn’t get everything, but still enjoyable!! I couldn’t guess the ending :P

The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker is hard to categorize. It's part mystery, part suspense, part coming of age YA novel and part supernatural. Despite the seemingly mismatched themes, this book really worked for me.

It hooks you immediately when you are introduced to the main character, Eleanor, after she wakes up the morning she's been killed. Eleanor has no memory of the event and she spends the book trying to figure out what happened to her and whether or not it is connected to the murder of her older brother Ollie's girlfriend a year prior.

My main issue with this book is that the ending felt rushed to me. It wasn't a surprise to me to find out who was behind the death of Eleanor and the disappearances of the other girls but that's only because it seemed deliberate that it would be the last person you would suspect so of course, then I suspected that person. Since it was such a 'left field' kind of person there was a lot of exposition explaining their logic and why they did what they did. The reasoning behind their actions felt a little awkward and unbelievable to me.

That being said, I still enjoyed this read and will definitely pick up another book by Kerry Wilkinson in the future.

I received this ARC as a courtesy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley and the Author for a copy of this book.

I really liked it and when I put it down I wanted to pick right back up again (always a sign of a good book in my opinion)!

Eleanor wakes up in the local village pond after a night out with bruising around her neck but is she alive or dead?

Ok, so I may have figured out who is kidnapping and killing local girls in the village a bit early but it didn't deter me from following Eleanor as she tries to piece together the night of her death, or find the killer of her brothers' girlfriend from the year before.

Good summer read - if you like this kind of thing for summer reading!

3.5-4 stars.
This was a good book, with well written areas, although at times it felt to be a bit slow. I did enjoy the premise of the story and thought that their were some good twists and turns, but definitely knew that the target audience was teens or young adult. I do think those who enjoy the thrillers that are written for a bit younger age would greatly enjoy this book. I will definitely read more by this author and be recommending this week in Chapter Chatter Pub!

Where to start? As a huge fan of the author’s Jessica Daniel series I always wonder if I will like his standalone novels, I’ve not yet been disappointed and this was no exception. That said this is totally different to any other of his books. I am not a fan of supernatural books and this at times has a feel of one, as the main character thinks she might be dead. Also from time to time I felt it was more a young persons book than an adult book. However this is a great read. It was a bit of a slow start for me but it gained my interest and held it and there is a cracking great plot twist. Never ever would I have guessed who the culprit was

I would like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read 'The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker’ written by Kerry Wilkinson in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Ellie wakes up in a river at 4.30am with bruises on her chest matching the shape of a hand where someone has been pushing her under, but she can’t remember what happened. Ellie returns home where she dresses with layers of clothing as she feels very cold, she’s unable to sleep, isn’t hungry, and has no feeling. She thinks she’s dead despite everyone being able to see her. As her brother Ollie’s girlfriend Sarah died at the same place in the river a year ago to the day, is the same person responsible for attacking Ellie?
This is an unusual novel, spooky with a supernatural atmosphere, and although I feel it would be better classed as Teen rather than Adult fiction, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It’s different to thrillers Kerry Wilkinson normally writes, and yet it has interesting characters that are out of the ordinary, a clever plot and a dramatic twist at the end that came as a surprise. ‘The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker’ is well worth reading.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review.

From reading the book's synopsis on Netgalley, I pretty much hit the request button instantly. This is pitched as a perfect book for fans of We Were Liars, Looking for Alaska and the TV show Riverdale. Well, I'm a fan of all three of them so that bold claim, coupled with the very intriguing premise, I really thought that I would love this one. That I did, to some extent.

Eleanor Parker, or Ellie, is our main character here. She has been through a lot, with people gossiping about her brother, not being able to eat or sleep, having no recollection of what happened to her, and not to mention that the person who tried to drown her was still out there. But she is just really dull for me. It's kinda hard to sympathize with the character when she lacks emotions and just goes on about stuff that I couldn't care less about. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike her. I just couldn't bring myself to care much for her.

There were also certain times in the book that, for me, felt like dragging. You know what I mean? Like, even though I kept reading, I kept wondering where the fun bits were.

Anyway, what I loved about this book though was the unpredictability. You know me, I try hard to act like Sherlock Holmes or Nancy Drew whenever I read or watch mysteries. I over-analyze each situation, thinking that it may be a clue to be one step closer in uncovering who the culprit is. But this book. I did not expect the plot twist here.

Overall, The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker was a fun read. Although I wasn't really biting my nails for the mystery in this one, I sure was blown away by the plot twist.

A very brilliant and entertaining thriller. It's fast paced, full of twists and turns and you're hooked since the first pages.
The plot is solid and kept guessing till the end.
I never read anything by Kerry Wilkinson and this was a very pleasant surprise.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for this ARC