The Late Lamented Molly Marx by Sally Koslow

On a rainy, February night, Molly Marx went for a bike ride along the Hudson river and there she died. Was it an accident? Suicide? Murder? It's the question her family, friends and Detective Hicks are asking themselves. In fact, it's the question Molly is asking herself.

She doesn't remember much of what happened that night. It's all too new. As she watches her loved ones from The Duration, she remembers the events in her life that led to her last few days on earth.

There have been other books written from the Afterlife, of course, but this one is unique for several reasons. The author, Sally Koslow, gives Molly new "powers" in the Duration. She is able to hear the thoughts of the living and she can blink from New York to Chicago in an instant. It's a clever device which allows us to know the thoughts of the other characters, while remaining a 1st person narrative. We're also given "flashbacks" to Molly's life, but unlike some other books, these aren't prompted by anything other than Molly herself. While Molly does have a guide to the afterlife, he's more like a mentor who helps her acclimate to her new surroundings.

The ending was poignant, and not at all what I expected. It left me thinking about my own life and the people who are important to me. If this was the author's intention, as I believe it was, then her ideas were realized.