BWG Contact Magazine January 2022

Book Club by Lynne Smith The book we read this month was Exit by Belinda Bauer In Bauer's darkly comic thriller, an elderly widower discovers no good deed goes unpunished when his act of charity goes horribly wrong.

As a member of the Exiteers, an anonymous, secret group in Devon that supports the right to die, 75year-old widower Felix Pink witnesses the suicides of terminally ill patients. Afterward he disposes of the evidence to ensure that the deaths appear natural. But on an outing with new partner Amanda, a normally smooth operation quickly turns disastrous when the duo accidentally helps the wrong patient to die. Was it an accident or a setup for murder?

After urging Amanda to leave so he can take the blame, Felix awaits the police before remembering his dog at home.

"But he couldn't be arrested. Not yet. Not until he had made sure Mabel would be alright." The septuagenarian flees over a garden fence just as PC Calvin Bridge and his partner arrive to investigate. The unambitious Calvin is happy to be back in uniform after a brief stint as a plainclothes detective, despite DCI Kirsty King’s belief in his investigative talent. But this odd case forces him to leave his comfort zone. Bauer’s lively and amusing comedy-of-errors narrative alternates between Felix's and Calvin’s perspectives as both men seek answers. In the process, the endearing, gentlemanly Felix, who has stocked his own