Until It's Over by Nicci French

 

Astrid Bell isn't sure what she wants to do with her life.  At the moment, she's a bicycle messenger.  She lives in a house with six other people, some of whom she's known since university, some who come and go.  The house belongs to Miles.  He, Pippa and she were the original occupants and they have been friends for years.  Astrid and Miles had a relationship for a while but are now back to being just friends. Pippa is an attorney as is Miles.  Astrid studied law but never followed through after graduation.

The other occupants are all men.  Owen is a photographer.  Davy is the most recent person in the house and works construction.  Dario supposedly is renovating the house in lieu of rent but mostly hangs out and stays stoned.  Mick is the quiet one; he has traveled everywhere and is just marking time until his next trip.  The house is an easy place; everyone gets along most of the time.  Owen and Astrid are starting a relationship.  Pippa believes sex is something everyone should do to relieve the uncomfortable sexual tension in most male/female relationships and she's slept with most of the men in the house.  

One day as Astrid is riding her bike home, she has an accident.  Her neighbor, a middle-aged woman named Peggy, opens her car door just as Astrid is riding past and Astrid flies through the air.  She is hurt but not seriously.  Peggy is appalled and apologizes and insists on paying for any damage to the bike.  That would be that but a few days later Peggy's body is found near her garbage cans.  Who would kill such an inoffensive person?

Then a second murder occurs.  Astrid finds the body of one of her customers, a rich woman whom none of the bike messengers like.  The police now find Astrid a mystery and feels that her connection to the two cases cannot be a coincidence.  At home, tensions are rising also.  Miles has decided to live with his girlfriend Leah as a couple and that means he wants all the other tenants to leave his house.  They are outraged and many have been there long enough that they may have legal claims.  Everyone is upset and there is a lot of rage against Leah who makes no secret of her dislike for everyone except Miles. The roommates start to look at each other with suspicion, wondering if any of them could be the killer.  When Leah becomes the third victim with Astrid discovering her also, it becomes even more evident that this whole situation is moving around Astrid as its center.  

This is a stand alone novel from Nicci French.  The story is told from Astrid's viewpoint and then from the killer's.  It is interesting to read the same events told through two filters and see the difference in how events are processed.  The reader will cheer for Astrid while wondering if she could be the killer and if not, why everything seems to happen around her.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.