Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh

1. When Vesta Gul finds the note about a murder that kicks this narrative off, why doesn't she call the police? What would you have done?
2. How does Vesta come up with "Blake," the supposed identity of the supposed murderer? Does she use random association, research, logic, imagination? Is the author poking fun at mystery novels?
3. What do we come to learn about Vesta as she begins to determine the plot and characters of her "murder mystery"? Is she writing a mystery… or living within one?
4. Talk about Vesta's marriage to her late husband, Walter Gul. What kind of man was Walter?
5. Vest recalls how Walter playing chess with himself--that by switching chairs, as he told her, "the psyche confronts itself." He goes on: "The mind must be spoken to, Vesta, otherwise it starts to atrophy." Vesta doesn't buy it: "But if the mind talks to itself… isn't it just saying what it wants to hear?" Is Vesta suggesting that our attempts to understand our own lives and selves are simply efforts in delusion or illusion? Does this rule apply to Vesta herself?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Penguin Press. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.