Til Death by Busayo Matuluko

"You know gossip doesn't sleep, and neither do I."

True crime obsessive Lara is on route to Lagos for her cousin (Dérin's) wedding. With Dérin being labelled as an IT-girl, all eyes are on her soon to be nuptials. Not long after arriving in Lagos, Lara discovers that her cousin is being threatened to cancel her wedding by an anonymous online stalker. Lara's true crime obsession comes in handy when she begins to uncover the truth behind Dérins mysterious & dangerous stalker.

This was a VERY good debut. I found 'Til Death' very easy to read. The characters were layered & the plot was really engaging. I would definitely mark this as a binge worthy novel if mystery novels are up your street.

As with most fiction that centres around a Nigerian family, this book focused heavily on the impact that parents have on their children's educational & career prospects. And where would we be without family dramas. But, the most important element that this story brought to the forefront was that of Sickle cell.

While I would have liked for this to have been highlighted much earlier on in the story, I cannot deny the impact that this will have on those who are affected by sickle cell. I liked that Busayo was able to highlight that even within the community that it affects, there is still so much learning & unlearning that needs to be undertaken, especially if we wish to destigmatise sickle cell.

The story flowed really well with little to no plot holes. However, a few critiques/issues:

I guessed the culprit/s very early on into reading, so I wasn't particularly blown away by the reveal (I may just be a good detective 😆).

I found myself questioning who the target audience was + whether I was the intended reader. This thought stemmed from what I thought were unnecessary explanations of cultural practices + meals.

Lastly, I felt that 'Til Death could have naturally come to an end 60 pages earlier.

Other than those 3 points, I THOROUGHLY enjoyed 'Til Death & I hope to read more from this author in the future.

If you are a fan of mystery thrillers, Nigerian fiction & YA books, then be sure to add this to your TBR list.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.85