One of the hardest sub-genres for me in crime thrillers; murder mysteries, is the hit man saga.

Film and TV brought us Nikita, a memorable female assassin. My favourite in literature though is Lawrence Block’s Keller. I guess the balance is the ingenious assassinations against the victim’s innocence. How can a reader remain sympathetic in the light of cold hearted murder of strangers, passing over this to build engagement with a contract killer?

Of course outside of financial undertakings, the murders sanctioned by state are the basic elements of espionage stories and spy thrillers; indeed the very essence of James Bond, 007, licence to kill.

For me, Murder by Natural Causes is a breath of fresh air, adding to this genre and bringing something new and clever to the female assassin story.

Schooled by the state, but not to become a gymnast or Olympic athlete, rather selected to be an invisible killer, an instrument of dogma who can hunt out dissidents and defectors and end their lives.

The way the story unfolds maintains one’s interest in the story and binds the reader into the life and struggle of the protagonist, Cilla.

There is also a balance between duty, obligation and survival that reinforces the fine line between valuable asset and expendable liability. I thought the logic and steps Cilla takes, to not just survive but have a viable future were believable and brought a depth to the book, fully investing the reader in the process.

Nothing is straight-forward even in a linear story and Cilla’s best endeavours and planning are countered by a cunning and intuitive employer.

Overall, this isn’t a book that glorifies killing as much as demonstrates the human spirit and ability to learn, adapt and survive.

A wonderful strong female lead, bright and resourceful. Yet demonstrating a vulnerability that makes Cilla an unforgettable and enjoyable character.

"Murder By Natural Causes" by Helen Erichsen was a thrilling and captivating book from start to finish.
The story revolves around Cilla, a 22-year-old contract killer who specialises in making murders look like natural deaths. Her main client, Vladimir Haugr, is a powerful figure in London and provides Cilla with opportunities to carry out her assignments in exchange for housing and financial support. Despite her unassuming appearance, Cilla's intelligence, cunning, and luck have kept her alive in a dangerous world where betrayal lurks around every corner.
What struck me most about this book was the unique and complex character of Cilla. While she may seem ordinary on the surface, her inner strength, resourcefulness, and courage make her a truly compelling protagonist. As we delve deeper into Cilla's past, including her upbringing in Soviet Russia and training at a specialized academy, we gain a deeper understanding of the forces that have shaped her into the proficient assassin she has become.
The plot is beautifully crafted, blending elements of mystery, suspense, and action seamlessly. The narrative keeps you on the edge of your seat as Cilla navigates a dangerous world of government assassins, shady clubs, and high-stakes intrigue. The pacing was excellent, and I found myself eagerly turning the pages to uncover the next twist in the story.
The ending left me wanting more, and I sincerely hope there will be a sequel to continue Cilla's story. Helen Erichsen has crafted a fantastic debut novel that delivers a fresh and exciting take on the thriller genre. "Murder By Natural Causes" is a must-read for anyone looking for a gripping and unconventional tale filled with intrigue, action, and unexpected twists.

I really loved "Killing Eve" and its female assassin and anti hero Villanelle, and for me it has set a very high bar for any other similar story. While this was obviously different, and a good writing style, it didn't really grab my attention and I found I wasn't really interested in Cilla and her exploits.
Thank you to netgalley and muswell press for an advance copy of this book.

Who knew you could actually like and cheer on the villain in a novel. But with Cilla, a highly intelligent, trained and hired female assassin, the reader does just that. I loved that Cilla is a female, and small-statured and thin as well. She is definitely not your typical hired killer, but yet she does her job very well and with little emotion. However, it’s when Cilla starts to develop a conscience and feel some of the emotions she was trained to repress, that the reader begins to really enjoy her character. Does she want to be under someone’s control and continue to kill as she was trained to do, or does she realize that she may want to live a life of simplicity and honor? Cilla is so enmeshed in this assassin's world, is there anyway she could escape without being killed herself?
I really enjoyed how Cilla went from a one-dimensional character to such a complex, emotional one at the end.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC and opportunity to read another 4 star novel.
#MurderByNaturalCauses #NetGalley #ARC #FemaleAssassin

One of the tag lines for this book was a gripping read and it didn't lie.

I could not put this down. What a read. Kept me gripped from the first to th last page. Thank you for the opportunity to review

4 stars from me

I liked the idea of a female professional assassin, but try as I might, I could not get into this book. And I tried several times. A book needs to grab me right away. There are too many choices, and if I am not hooked by page five, I'm gone. Because this is a first time writer and I obtained this through Netgallery, I tried to stick with it. But I was lost by the end of the second chapter. The book opens with a detailed description of Maurice Malinowki. As I followed him around London and read about his interactions, I was certain he would be an important character. But by page 8, he is dead, never to be seen again in this book. I really resented being drawn into a character for so long at the start of the story only to have him vanish so completely. This should have been a prologue -- not the opening chapter. As Maurice dies, we meet Cilla, our heroine and a professional killer. At this point, the book should have really taken off. But it didn't. The exposition plods on. Cilla cooks, Cilla eats, Cilla meets another client. There is no action. Cilla herself is boring, a surprising trait given her profession. I don't expect great literary prose in a thriller, but I do expect some thrill. In this book, the words just pour on and on and on but nothing happens. The book could really do with some editing. Every verb is attached to an adverb -- a flaw my high school teacher warned me against -- but the story doesn't move. This is a first time writer, and I wish her editors had helped her polish this into a better piece of fiction.

Really enjoyed Murder by natural causes. The character of Cilla is an interesting one with an intriguing past and equally intriguing present. The story moving between her younger days and present kept me hooked to find out what was going to happen next. Highly recommend as a great read.

Murder By Natural Causes is an ingeniously plotted, impressive debut novel by Helen Erichsen. The main character, Cilla, is amazing, and I was completely immersed in her world.

Murder by Natural Causes is about a contract killer who at the age of 22 realizes she had pushed her luck to the limit. Her method of murder is to make it look like the victim died of natural causes. She has been working in this profession since she was 15.

The first part of the book talks about her early life at a private, elite university. It moves into her work and the man she works for, Vladimir.
As she tries to get out she finds it is not an easy thing. Of all the problems she encounters the biggest one is Vladimir - who is not one to let people just go on their way.

It is an enjoyable read - albeit dark.

I really liked this book and the main character

Just finished reading Murder By Natural Causes by Helen Erichsen and wow, what a ride! The protagonist, Cilla, is a contract killer with a unique specialty. Her character is so unassuming yet intriguing. You'll be on the edge of your seat as she navigates a double life and tries to stay one step ahead. Highly recommend this brilliant and clever book!

📱E- Book Review📱

Murder By Natural Causes
Helen Erichsen

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I absolutely loved this! It was quite different to anything I've read recently and I just couldn't put it down.

I adored Cilla, our main character. She's completely unremarkable in her outwardly daily life....but that's exactly what is needed in her line of work - a dry job assassin.

We follow Cilla in her present day life, working, part time, for Vlad - drug lord, club owner, impaler! - definitely not a man to be messed with.
On the side, she is able to take on jobs of her own but as things develop we see the lines becoming blurred.

I loved that Cilla, although completely invisible, she was the bravest, cleverest and strongest character I've read about in a while.

As the storyline unfolds, we learn of Cilla's childhood and education - born in a very communist Soviet Union, she was whisked away at a young age and trained at the specialist academy 43 where she excelled.
I really felt sorry for her missing out on a traditional childhood but given the status divide, certain areas of life were actually better where she was? It's a tricky one!

This was a complex plot but brilliantly written. I both read the book and listened on audio and loved them both.
The narrator was amazing especially depicting all the different characters and accents. It really brought the story to life and helped to add context to the plot.

The ending was one that leaves us wondering - no spoilers here - but it's a little ambiguous.
I'm really hoping that it's because there is going to be a sequel, but even if not, this is definitely an author that I'll be reading again! Brilliant read!


💕Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for my audio copy - this is my honest review💕

I loved this book and spent the whole day reading it!
Cilla is a contract killer who has had enough. We learn about her childhood which is beyond madness and are brought right up to date.
Its dark and bonkers and i found myself willing her not to get caught!
There was a hint of Killing Eve about it.
One of the best things i've read for a long time.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

Set in the recent past, this deliciously dark novel will have you coming back for more until it’s fully devoured in one sitting. It’s set not long after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and follows a young woman’s transformation from Soviet Union assassin to drug kingpin’s hitman, to what to do with her life. The story is all told as first person narrative, and as the protagonist is very matter of fact and not given to emotion, the story itself is told in this way, which I found refreshing in its difference to most other books. I would definitely recommend as I really enjoyed this read

“Murder by natural causes” follows Cilla, a 22year old who has been offing people since the age of 14. Over the years she has honed her skills as a killer and is an expert and making deaths look like the result of natural causes.

This book has the British vibes of London England, with a side helping of Vlad the Impaler and a dash of Soviet Russia.

We have training academies, government assassins, shady clubs for the elite and lots of action, plotting and genius.

This was definitely an outside of the box fun read and a great debut!

Thank you to Muswell press, Helen Erichsen and NetGalley for the EARC!

Publish date: today! April 26th

Murder By Natural Causes is the first novel by British bridge champion and author, Helen Erichsen. Plain, ordinary, unremarkable: Cilla Wilson finds these attributes useful in her career as a contract killer. She’s twenty-two, but she’s been killing since she was fourteen. She’s very good at it, an expert at making a death look like it is from natural causes.

Currently, she kills people for the owner of TGR's bridge club in London, Vladimir Haugr, in return for a flat, a retainer and expenses: five jobs a year for the man also knows as Haugr the Ogre or, to those who get on the wrong side of him, Vlad the Impaler. And under conditions she very strictly controls, she does a bit of selective freelance work. Her attitude is pragmatic to the extreme, rather chilling, in fact.

Despite her cut-glass British accent, Cilla is a product of Soviet Russia, plucked from the village school at the tender age of ten, and trained at Academy 43 to become an assassin for the government. The Academy’s training methods produce cold, efficient killers. The children start with intensive lessons on a wide range of topics, then later specialise.

They are trained in all manner of covert killing, but are assessed for their special quality to be harnessed in service to the state. Cilla enjoys botany and its importance in toxicology, making a myriad of poisons from plants in the Academy’s greenhouse. Her favourite subject, though, is English. She is thoroughly immersed in every aspect of English culture, which will eventually serve her well when she eliminates targets overseas. But never neglected is the children’s indoctrination into Soviet state dogma.

After two years doing jobs for Vlad, Cilla starts making preparations to leave: she doesn’t want this to be her whole life, and Vlad’s mercurial moods mean there’s always a chance of falling foul of this powerful, violent man. But, as Smithy, the talented forger whom she sometimes babysits for Vlad says, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll ever let either of them go…

Cilla’s story is told in a dual timeline: one follows young Alexandria’s metamorphosis into the accomplished assassin, Cilla, and how she ends up with Vlad; the other details her present-day activities and her attempt at freedom. Cilla is certainly an interesting protagonist, proving eventually to not be quite as cold-blooded as she first seems, and making it hard not to cheer her on towards her goal.

By necessity of the nature of the protagonist and plot, there’s a high body count and more than a little violence. Erichsen’s depiction of Cilla’s training in Russia is easily believable, and her extensive knowledge of botany and bridge lends authenticity to those aspects of the story. Natalie Pela’s narration is flawless. Original and utterly compelling, this is a brilliant debut novel.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Muswell Press

Murder By Natural Causes is the very assured,and gripping,debut by Helen Erichsen.
Cilla is a different kind of contract killer, an unremarkable young woman adept at blending unnoticed into the background, but with a very remarkable background.
Taken from her home in Soviet Russia as a child and sent to an academy of the dark arts ,she learns the skills of the cold-blooded assassin and is "remodelled" as a young English girl to blend in on covert missions in the UK.

There are 2 timelines to Cilla's story, from her selection and training as a lethal weapon of the Russian State and as a 22 year-old with a similar job but different employer when she's looking for a way out and a more normal life. Needless to say retirement for contract killers involves more than handing in your notice and collecting a carriage clock on the way out and Cilla knows her brutish and dangerous boss will be far from happy.

This is an excellent read that any number of big name thriller authors would be proud to have written. Cilla is a fascinating and enigmatic character, trained to be robotic and cold she slowly discovers things like empathy,attraction and morality ,albeit her own version of such emotions, and decides she wants the life other young women have. I was reminded of Gregg Hurwitz's "Orphan X"'s similar journey, though unlike Cilla that character's skill set doesn't include being able to do an excellent Ken Dodd impression.

Great stuff,an incredible debut and hopefully the first book in a series.