This is a tough book to review without adding spoilers. I have read two of Moshfegh's previous books. I really liked My Year of Rest and Relaxation, but did not like McGlue at all, so I went into this book with reservations. I was hoping since this book was set in present times, it would be more like MYORAR, but it unfortunately read more like McGlue. The premise at first was exciting. What is the mysterious note all about? While I felt like it was a fast and "Easy" read, and the storyline should have made me want to keep going, I couldn't seem to pay attention to this book for more than 20 minutes at a time so it took me days to get through, where this could have easily been a one sitting book.
Once the lines between reality and imagination/insanity started to blur, I lost interest even more, but I still held out hope for there being a clear explanation for what had happened at the end. If there was an explanation, I missed it. Finally, there is an absolutely unnecessary horrific scene in the last chapter, which did in any hope of me liking this book.

Vesta Gul is physically and mentally isolated, having moved across the country at 70-some years old with her dog after her husband's death. Little by little, the reader gains insight into Vesta's unstable mind as she unravels clues about a menacing note she finds on her remote property.
A really unusual character study, will be appreciated by those who enjoyed her other books, I think. There is a building dread in this book that is just masterfully done. A bit meta in parts as Vesta creates scenes in her mind about the note's meaning - imagined or real. The open ending made me wish I could discuss what happened with another reader right away. Looking forward to any author interviews that reveal more about the book's meaning.

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Penguin and Ottessa Moshfegh for the advanced copy and chance to review this intriguing novel. Death in Her Hands is beautifully written with craft and great imagination. The protagonist Vesta lives in isolation from her community, her only companion is her dog Charlie. Vesta finds a note when walking that leads her to investigate the death of Magda. Without any physical evidence Vesta invents the characters and circumstances surrounding Magda’s death. Vesta’s becomes increasingly irrational and paranoid as she investigates. She perceives the police as antagonistic and her neighbours as unwelcoming.

This is a comment on the deficiencies of services in supporting the aging population and the failings of communities to care for one another. It is also a comment on the consequences of abusive relationships.
Definitely recommend.

Way too many questions unanswered! I felt cheated at the end of this book. I think there was a very good story in there somewhere but it missed the mark for me.

A definite departure from Moshfegh’s other works. Slow to start, but ultimately moving and interesting, though I did find it quite depressing.

Ottessa is the best. Her mind is amazing and I love the original works she produces. I also can’t wait to talk about this book with everyone I know. It’s in the vein of The Yellow Wallpaper examining mental illness and how circumstances can shape our mind space. Honestly, when I finished it I wasn’t sure I grasped everything, I just knew I liked what I read. Thank you Netgalley and Ottessa!!

Even though I didn't like My Year of Rest and Relaxation, I thought I'd give Ottessa Moshfegh another chance, and I'm so glad I did. Death in Her Hands is a unique, powerful stream-of-consciousness novel about the deterioration of mind in the wilderness and paranoia caused by solitude and the overwhelming feeling of being out of place. The main character, Vesta, is an elderly widow who finds a note in the woods that implies a murder has transpired and decides to "investigate". Her investigation, however, is simply imagining all the details about the "case", from the personality of the victim to all the potential suspects. As the case gets "unraveled," so does Vesta's mind. The end, in a typical Moshfegh fashion, is simultaneously predictable and shocking; depressing, yet somehow freeing. Her writing style is, of course, gorgeous.

My only critique is that the narrator is so unreliable that, in the end, it's not really clear what actually transpired. Was anything real at all? I'm not a huge fan of these narratives as they remind me of all those asylum/"it was all a dream" kinds of endings, which I think are a copout. Where Moshfegh succeeds, however, is in allowing us to enter specifically a female psyche, telling a story of a woman who, in her own unravelling, comes to realize just how abused and unloved she was throughout her life. I think this novel will resonate with a lot of readers and further establish Moshfegh as one of the best novelists of our time.

I love Ottessa Moshfegh, and I love the premise of this novel, but it really wasn’t for me.

Vesta is an old widow living by herself in a rural cabin with her dog, Charlie. Her husband, Walter, died recently and now she is all alone. While walking in the woods one day, she finds a cryptic note stating that Magda is dead, and becomes obsessed with it. She doesn’t know who Magda is, so she makes up a story about her as she attempts to solve her mystery. Lines between delusion and reality blur, and Vesta’s fixation on Magda brings her closer to her own truth.

Like most of Moshfegh’s novels, there’s a lot of internal monologue. But I just didn’t find Vesta a compelling enough character to want to reside in her mind for an entire book. There is some interesting commentary about death, and a meta component to it as Vesta meditates on what makes a good mystery. The tone is infused with subtle dread and menace.

I think many people will enjoy this creepy character study, but it just didn’t grab me the way I hoped it would, especially after loving Eileen and My Year of Rest and Relaxation.

I struggled to rate this book because there are things such as the writing style that are first rate but the story itself was hard for me to get into. I was able to finish this book in a day because Moshfegh's writing is just beautiful. I couldn't put the book down. So while the writing was engaging, the story itself didn't hold me. However I did find it to be a great character study and a really interesting look inside the mind of someone who is slowly maddening herself over an event that she cannot seem to get a grasp on. Death in Her Hands, dives very deep into the mind of Vesta and how she perceives her surroundings and the mysterious events that have fallen into her hands. I think that this book would be great discussion material for a book club.

Moshfegh's writing, as always, is incredibly descriptive and captivating. The reader will find themselves immersed in a dark character study, as they are witness to the downward spiral of our senior citizen (and very unreliable) narrator-Vesta Gul. As Vesta tries to solve a murder-paranoia and delusion abound. Another fantastic book for Moshfegh fans.