Safe Return Doubtful

Published 2024

This is a fascinating book whose summary premise quoted for selling purposes could easily put potential readers off.

Unexpected inheritances are nothing new in literature, and in this case the author doesn’t go into much detail to justify such an unlikely occurrence.

Cerys Jones, a single middle-aged office worker in London, seems to be just in the right place at the right time. Visiting her native Pembrokeshire, she shelters from rain in a church where an open coffin is resting. She is alone, and out of respect, though she is not religious, signs the visitor book. Hers is the only signature in the book, which leads to her unlikely inheritance, a magnificently designed house, car, and allowance; though there are rules as to what she can do and how she must live.
I was actually put off by the premise, but Owens’s skill is in creating a gradual atmosphere that something isn’t right.

Is it a reward or a punishment? And just exactly who are the overseers? It is best thought of as a sort of fable, with a dusting of folk horror. Rather than contemporary domestic bliss, there’s more of a Shirley Jackson type feel to the writing. Though any of the characters are difficult to warm to, they are not the problem, rather it is the dangers of a capitalist society.

My GoodReads 4 / 5