Exit: The brilliantly funny new crime novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of SNAP

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The narrator of this audiobook has done a very good job, I don’t think I would have read it otherwise. At first I thought this was a story of a future world in which "Exiteers" were individuals going to the beds of the dying to assist with voluntary suicide. All previous arrangement are to be made by the person or their family, to have a tank of nitrous oxide present.

But just fifteen minutes later Felix is on the run from the police - after making the biggest mistake of his life. Very readable AND re-readable, it's entertaining and a nice breath of fresh air, in the gore, evil and death absorbed UK-USA thriller genre. I would say I preferred Snap to this one because I just came away with the feeling this book was rushed to get into print. He lives with Mabel, their dog, makes himself egg with buttered bread soldiers, and keeps things as they always were. A story that would be a perfect subject for an 'Ealing Comedy' style thriller harking back to the days of farce, dark comedy and multiple plot twists, but with a 21st century setting.The main two characters are Felix, a seventy-five year old widower who became an Exiteer after his son died of cancer, then his wife of dementia. When Felix lets himself in to Number 3 Black Lane, he's there to perform an act of charity: to keep a dying man company as he takes his final breath . I had gone in hoping for a smart and insightful commentary on assisted suicide, something that would give me a new way of thinking about this complicated topic.

This is the story of how one simple mistake alters the lives of a handful of residents in the small village of Bideford.The atmosphere of the novel, set mostly on this wild Greek island, echoes strongly the classical tragedies of Greece.

There are frequent humorous asides, such as when he tries to help take care of a cat, his accidentally developing relationship with the elderly neighbor lady, and when he tries his luck standing on a boat. Without giving too much away, there were several characters who were barely mentioned throughout the novel. Calvin wasn’t stupid, but constantly thinking about things — like crime, for instance — required a lot more effort than he imagined it would.Narration jumps around, at first sticking with Felix, and then alternating with Constable Calvin Bridge, who is assisting DCI King with the investigation. Wracked by guilt, Felix wants to confess, but he needs to care of his beloved scruffy old mongrel, Mabel. Elderly Felix Pink, whose wife fought a years long battle with dementia, has been recruited into a secret society who help the terminally ill put a painless end to themselves.

Even Calvin who comes from a corrupted family and his colleague Kristy were well crafted, unique characters. He’s a wonderful human being, has impeccable manners, and he’s also extremely amusing, though he doesn’t realise this himself, which makes it even more amusing. Michaelides takes a literary turn in his latest novel, employing an unreliable narrator, the structure of classical drama, and a self-conscious eye to dismantling the locked-room mystery. This intriguing, tender, funny and sometimes (in the best possible way) farcical novel about life and death is a sheer delight. Not withstanding it's nice to see a 75 year old protagonists, that is more than the sum of his years.And I loved the silly comradery of the police headquarters, with their constant battle against the thieving snack machine, jokes about ever present fruitcake, and Calvin's daily contest with his partner for who has had the "worst day ever". The main plot doesn’t take off until 11%, and the wrinkles that really give it spark aren’t until 35%. Just as he’s contemplating his future as an Exiteer, the latest one goes terribly wrong and soon Felix and his fellow Exiteer (a brand-new recruit) are on the run.