Review: "Death and Other Occupational Hazards" by Veronika Dapunt

Death and Other Occupational Hazards by Veronika Dapunt
Published January 2026 via Poisoned Pen Press
★★★★

Death needs a sabbatical: Life is exhausting, the Boss takes centuries to mull over every change in their image (really, he needs a marketing department), the VP for Pandemonium & Perdition is up to all his usual shenanigans, and the Human Communications Director has stretched his three-day vacation into more than two millennia. (He hasn't been totally slacking, though: He has a side gig as a hair model.)

So yes—Death needs a sabbatical. Unfortunately, her sabbatical coincides with the first Unplanned deaths she's seen in her career...and those deaths could have devastating consequences if she doesn't figure out who (or what) is behind them.

This was just about as tongue-in-cheek as I could have hoped for, with a serving of murder on the side. It's a pretty delightful romp (if that can be said about a book about Death): Death is fed up with the black robes and scythes and eager to mix and match the loudest patterns and brightest colors she can find, but for all her experience, she doesn't always quite...get...humans, and she often doesn't understand when she gets things not quite right, or why.

It's worth noting that the setup here is oriented in a very Specific Western Religion direction; although Death mentions having spent time all over the world (picking up souls—it's not clear how she is managing the workload of tens and tens of thousands of people dying each day, but that's kind of beside the point), nearly the entire book takes place in London, which for whatever reason seems to be favored not only by Death but also by the VP for P&P and the HCD, and there's never any mention of how Death comes into play when, for example, a Hindu or Buddhist or Muslim etc. etc. etc. person dies. In some ways it's maybe for the best that that isn't explored (I do not want a book that tried to make it global but in which the answer is "it's all the same outcome for everyone! But oh, haha, it just so happens that it looks a lot like a very white version of Christianity!"), and it would have had to be a very different book to get into the weeds without making it super problematic, but...well, just a heads-up that the vision here is pretty specific.

All that said—it was a ride. I'd love to have a coffee with this version of Death.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.