The First Time I Died Book Review

Book Title: The First Time I Died

Author: Jo Macgregor

My Rating: 4*

Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Supernatural

Pages: 320

Format Read: E-book

Goodreads: The first time I died, I didn’t come back alone.

When Garnet McGee returns to her small Vermont hometown for the holidays, she vows to solve the mystery of the murder which shattered her life ten years ago.

But then the unexpected happens — she dies in an accident and gets brought back to life by paramedics.

Now she’s hearing words, seeing visions and experiencing strange sensations. Are these merely symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and an over-active imagination, or is she getting messages from a paranormal presence?

Garnet has always prided herself on being logical and rational, but trying to catch a killer without embracing her shadow self is getting increasingly difficult. And dangerous, because in a town full of secrets, it seems like everybody has a motive for murder.

Garnet Mcgee returns to her childhood home 10 years after the murder of her boyfriend Colby Beaumont. The case was never solved but when she is brought back to life after an accident in the same pond that killed Colby, she makes it her mission to find out once and for all what happened 10 years ago. Garnet starts to dig into the past but some of the neighbours are less than eager to bring up old memories and in a small town like Pitchford, everyone has secrets to hide and no one is to be trusted. The friends she left 10 years ago who never left town seem to be hiding more than Garnet expected and with the addition of some peculiar characters – Hugo, the hardware store owner and Lyle, the homeless man – she slowly gets answers to what happened all those years ago. Questioning the local residents to find answers and with a little supernatural help, Garnet leaves no stone unturned to put all of the pieces together and gain closure for herself and Colby’s family.

This book started off a little slow for me but once it got to the heart of the story I could not put this book down. I loved how the chapters swap between the past and the present to give the reader an insight into what happened all those years ago to shape the present day in Pitchford. The book is written brilliantly and in such a way that there are many twists and turns to keep the reader guessing and every interaction with each character causes you to rethink what possibly could have happened. Whenever I thought I had a theory about the murder, another twist in the story changed everything and forced me to consider every character as a possible suspect. The plot kept me on the edge of my seat in eagerness to find out who the murderer is.

I found the psychology aspect of it really interesting but it wasn’t spoken about too much so that it wasn’t overwhelming and the big words were explained clearly which made it easy to understand and follow through the story for how it relates to Garnet’s character. The supernatural touch also adds to the plot, giving Colby’s character more depth and showing the reader more of their relationship even from beyond the grave and to show Garnet never fully lost him and that their love never died, as her and Colby always used to say: Always. Forever.

This is the first book of Jo Macgregor’s that I have read but if this one is anything to go by I will definitely be reading more of hers in the future. A thrilling read from start to finish, I would recommend this book to anyone who has a love for the mystery and supernatural and who likes to be kept guessing right until the very end.

* I voluntarily reviewed this book after receiving a free copy *

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