You’d Look Better as a Ghost by Joanna Wallace
Dark humor, murder, and just enough sass to make you question your morals

You know those moments that make you go “hmm”? Yep, cue C+C Music Factory vibes—though if you’re born after 1990, you might be scratching your head. This book made me go “hmm” in ways I never expected. I even started jotting down my thoughts before I finished, because wow, what a twisty, weird ride it was. Where I started, and where I ended, felt like two entirely different books. Let’s dive in.

Where I started…
Murder? Not funny. Serial murder? Definitely not funny! And yet… somehow, You’d Look Better as a Ghost is “bloody” hilarious. Claire, our part-time serial killer with a full-time schedule of ridiculous inner monologues, has a way of making even the darkest of thoughts absurdly funny. Imagine if Dexter had a sense of humor (or maybe a bad sitcom writer on standby)—that’s Claire. She’s grieving the loss of her father, and her way of coping is by going to grief counseling. She is also pretty much fantasizing about killing almost everyone she meets. Totally normal, right?

But here’s the thing…
Claire knows she’s far from normal, and that’s where the laughs come in. The wild thoughts that run through her head about everyday people—thoughts you’d never admit to having—are so over-the-top that you can’t help but laugh, even when you know you really, really shouldn’t.

Take 2… A serious take.
This book gets so dark that I forgot it was a comedy.. Like, really dark. And I say that as someone who listens to true crime podcasts like they’re bedtime stories. Do I like Claire? Well, I love her razor-sharp, off-the-wall humor. Do I hate her? I feel like I should, but somehow I don’t. Do I understand her? That’s a resounding no.

There’s also an amazing supporting group of characters in her grief club, who are equally outrageous in their own way. Throw in a blackmailer and a childhood so traumatic it should come with a trigger warning, and this book is a rollercoaster ride. You’ll keep turning the pages, partly to find out if Claire gets any sort of redemption—and partly to see just how far down this darkly sometimes comedy, sometimes Stephen King novel rabbit hole goes.