Quite the Way to Go

Written by Prisha

edited by Vanshika

This book begins as many mysteries do, with a death. But the situation changes when the death is that of a man wealthy beyond imagination. So when Anthony Wistern dies at his own birthday party, it’s unfortunate. But what follows after, is worse. Everybody is suddenly very busy. Mourning is a performance more precise than ballet. And suspicion falls on those who were set to inherit a fortune, which includes…the entire family.

In What a Way to Go, Bella Mackie portrays death less as the loss of a loved one and more as a minor disruption to the schedule. Death becomes a unifying force, because the Wisterns come together for just long enough to remember why they disliked each other in the first place. Oh, and I forgot to mention, Anthony Wistern himself has front-row seats to the aftermath of his death. So he spends his time in an afterlife that can only be described as bureaucratic, observing and disappointed by his family’s lack of grief, and unable to pass on till he remembers exactly how he died.

Following his death, Anthony’s family assembles one by one, full of fake tears, complaints, suspicions, but above all, with a sense of self-righteousness that only comes with immense wealth and a lack of morals. Complicating matters even further, is an online sleuth who starts documenting this high-profile death in real time, convinced that they can piece together the truth.

The greatest strength of this book is its characters: obnoxious, highly unlikeable, entitled beyond measure, yet entirely entertaining. As readers, we don’t sympathize with the characters, far from it, actually. We do, however, observe them, caught in laughter and the borderline discomfort that comes from witnessing their extravagant bubble of selfishness and entitlement.

By the end of the novel, Anthony Wistern’s death has been pulled apart and dissected from every possible angle: by his absurd and suspicious family, by the obsessive sleuth, by the ever-curious public, and by Anthony himself with his ghostly commentary. The Wisterns’ antics are grotesque, infuriating, and utterly hilarious. Bella Mackie delivers a book that is both a satire of the lives of the extremely wealthy, and also a clever and dark story that ends with the most perfect, ironic finale. Truly, what a way to go.