Book Summary and Reviews of Isabella's Not Dead by Beth Morrey

Isabella's Not Dead by Beth Morrey

Isabella's Not Dead

by Beth Morrey

  • Critics' Consensus (7):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • Published:
  • Aug 2025, 336 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

A hilarious and thought-provoking murder mystery about the death of a friendship, and one woman's quest to track down the best friend who disappeared, for fans of Where'd You Go, Bernadette.

Isabella's NOT dead.

That's what Gwen tells anyone who asks about the friend who ghosted them all fifteen years ago. But if Isabella's not dead, then where is she? And why did she leave, just when Gwen needed her most?

Freshly fifty-three, out of a job, and with children who are starting to fly the nest, Gwen decides to turn detective. Setting out to solve the mystery, Gwen embarks on an adventure across England—then across Europe—that will test her marriage and put her on a collision course with reluctant acquaintances, a mother-in-law best described as eccentric, and a rabbit hole full of clues. But Isabella's not the only one who's lost.

A tale of deep, frayed friendship, fractured memories, and skewed perspectives, Isabella's Not Dead is the story of one woman's quest to reclaim her best friend—and herself.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
  1. Isabella's Not Dead explores the death of a best friendship and the hunt to figure out what happened. Why do you think it's important to highlight these types of stories or narratives? What was one lesson you learned from this novel?
  2. As Gwen searches for answers, she's joined by a wacky cast of characters, including her eccentric mother-in-law. Who, if any, of Gwen's companions do you think you'd be friends with in real life?
  3. Have you known anyone like Isabella in your life? Can you understand Gwen's desperation to have Isabella in her life, and repair the rift? Why or why not?
  4. What was your favorite scene in the novel, and why?
  5. As the novel unfolds, you come to know Gwen and her feelings of inadequacy in ...
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Reviews

Media Reviews

"[S]parkling … With its wild goose chase plot and quirky cast of characters … a rewarding tale of second chances." —Publishers Weekly

"Morrey explores the common desire to recapture one's youth in this tale of midlife misadventure ... Readers who liked Fran Littlewood's Amazing Grace Adams will enjoy Gwen's expedition to rekindle her lost friendship." —Booklist

"Sharp, smart and relatable … A proper feel-good mystery." —Samuel Burr, author of The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers

"[An] exuberant, suspenseful, hilarious tale of female friendship and frustration. Isabella's Not Dead is not only an addictive mystery, it's also brilliant fun." —Jo Harkin, author of The Pretender

This information about Isabella's Not Dead was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Cloggie Downunder

Another Morrey winner.
Isabella’s Not Dead is the fourth novel by British author, Beth Morrey. It’s when fifty-three-year-old Harrogate mother of three, Gwen Mortimer heads to Windemere for a reunion with her high school hockey team, the Harpur Harlots, that it hits home: Isabella Harris won’t be there. And no one seems to know where she is. In fact. Gwen hasn’t seen her one-time best friend for a shocking decade and a half.

Each of the Harlots has a sighting or a story about where Izzy is now, but no-one really knows. When Gwen tries to dredge up the memory of the last time she saw Izzy, she recalls a dinner with too much alcohol and the sort of brain fog that goes with juggling part -time work with childcare, and for some inexplicable reason still trying to breastfeed. Was it a careless comment that caused Izzy to walk out?

Looking back on it, fifteen years later, and talking to others who lost contact, she realises she’s not the only one whom Izzy ghosted. It just makes her more determined to find her, even as her husband tries to dissuade her, saying that letting it go might be easier than knowing why.

When internet searches turn up nothing, she asks a missing persons podcaster who promises to search, but advises chasing up Izzy’s friends, exes, colleagues, employers, flatmates, teachers, and former homes. She gets over her embarrassment at having let her friendship lapse so long and visits Izzy’s parents, but gets no joy there, except for confirmation that Isabella’s not dead.

Her investigations take her to Edinburgh, where she picks up a few enigmatic clues and the unwanted company of her mother-in-law; in London, a work colleague shares an email address, messages to which go unanswered. Even as it looks more and more like Isabella doesn’t want to be found, Gwen keeps at it, neglecting her family in the process, lying to her husband and taking a secret trip to Rome.

Morrey gives the reader a wonderful protagonist: Gwen is a very relatable character, moreso for her very human flaws. The plot is wholly credible, with a few distractions to keep even the most astute reader from guessing the twist, and a very satisfying resolution. Another Morrey winner.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Harper Collins UK.

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Author Information

Beth Morrey

Beth Morrey's work has been published in The May Anthology of Oxford and Cambridge Poetry, and long-listed for the Authors' Club First Novel Award. She is the author of The Love Story of Missy Carmichael, Delphine Jones Takes a Chance, and Clover Hendry's Day Off. She lives in London with her family and dogs.

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