Book Review: THE MENOPAUSE MURDERS

Title: The Menopause Murders
Author: Mary Maloney and Ed Markel
Publisher: Ubiquitous Press
Pages: 534
My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
 

At 47, fulltime housewife and part-time painter Debbi Dickerson is suffering the worst of menopause. She’s a case study for menopause, suffering all the symptoms relentlessly. Her teenage children, Brad and Chelsea, don’t care about her, and her cop husband Jerry is having an affair, though she doesn’t know that yet.

It seems that there is only one relief from her symptoms and the misery they inflict, and that is giving vent to rage. Very soon, Debbi begins to hear Ted-talks, imaginary talks by Ted Bundy that egg her on. But when bodies begin to drop dead and Jerry is given the case, what’s an upcoming serial killer to do?

The book is set during the presidency of one of the most sexist presidents the US has ever had. This dark comedy has been written in a light-hearted, fantastical vein, that stops short of going into the implications of snuffing life out.

Beneath the breezy tone, there are issues of significance being raised. How there is much ado about sex and not enough emotional connection in marriages.

This was a thriller with a higher goal, to blow the dust off the misconceptions surrounding menopause, albeit in a darkly comic way. The book throws light on how so many of modern pharma’s solution to the travails of menopause are just experimental. It also puts the spotlight on real issues such as opioid addiction, ageing and the rejection and discrimination that menopausal women face.

The authors bring their own female and male gender-centric perspectives to the writing. This is an asset, especially given the exaggerated nature of Debbi’s situation. In fact, between the two of them, Jerry and Debbi represent the pro- and anti-Trump support groups.

The chapter names were fun and funky, often referencing popular songs. The narrative referenced lines and ideas from popular books and movies such as Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, Dylan Thomas’ poem, Rage, Rage, Against the Dying of the Night, Gone With The Wind, Silence of the Lambs, Aretha Franklin’s songs etc. Lorena Bobbit who added the word, Bobbitisation, to the dictionary, also finds a place here.

The book was very long, but it didn’t feel tedious, thanks to the writing.

The time slipping away like a boat drifting downstream, unnoticed from the docks.

Chocolate and wine were temporary corks.

New wrinkles on her face and neck erupted every day, as if tectonic plates under her epidermis were shifting and pushing up land masses and creating deep trenches in the landscape of her body.

The imagery was graphic. When she kissed him good-bye, he reacted as if she had dog poop on her lips instead of lipstick.

It’s easy to sympathise with Debbi, even though she’s far from perfect. For one, Jerry is no paragon of excellence himself. He is an unabashed racist, faithless in his marriage and secretly a criminal. Egged on by her menopause woes, we find ourselves sympathising with her plight, and watching to see how she reacts to situations around her.

From being an accidental killer, Debbi morphs into a deliberate killer in front of our eyes, and the transformation is believable. Of course, the menopause symptoms described here are highly exaggerated. I doubt any woman suffers every symptom attributed to menopause, certainly not to the heightened extent that poor Debbi suffers.

The authors do not glorify Debbi, letting a minor character do that instead. But Debbi is punished for the impunity with which she kills with the sight of best friend, Ellen, slowly declining in health as cancer ravages her.

There was humour, as in Debbi’s use of the coffee enema. Of course, the humour in this case was slapstick but it worked well.

The book needed some proofreading. In one place, the author refers to a whole ‘gambit’ of symptoms; it should have been gamut.

I never thought I’d root for a killer but that’s just what these two co-authors made me do. I would definitely read other books they write.

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.)