What do you think?
Rate this book
Dead Lucky
Think of being on your deathbed and thinking about all them nights where you said no, just 'cause you were a bit short on money. That's not how I wanted to live.
Jamie Fletcher loves his job as an embalmer at a busy funeral home in Openshaw, Manchester, but he's hiding a big secret - his gambling addiction has left him in eyewatering debt.
When his girlfriend Rebecca piles on the pressure to buy their first home together, he knows he has to do something to cover his tracks. And fast.
So Jamie does what he knows best - he walks up to the bookies and places the biggest bet of his life.
Tonight could be the night that changes everything. You just never know.
Jamie Fletcher loves his job as an embalmer at a busy funeral home in Openshaw, Manchester, but he's hiding a big secret - his gambling addiction has left him in eyewatering debt.
When his girlfriend Rebecca piles on the pressure to buy their first home together, he knows he has to do something to cover his tracks. And fast.
So Jamie does what he knows best - he walks up to the bookies and places the biggest bet of his life.
Tonight could be the night that changes everything. You just never know.
- GenresFiction
304 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 10, 2025
11 people are currently reading
371 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 15, 2025
3.75 stars. Jamie is an embalmer at the local funeral home. He’s worked there since he left school, under his boss Janice’s watchful eye. He also has a busy social life and a lovely girlfriend, Becca, to come home to.
But Jamie has something else that keeps him busy - a gambling addiction. He’s kept it secret for years but now Becca wants them to buy a house together he needs to make some money, and fast. What are the odds of a happy ending?
This was quite the riveting read, I couldn’t help but like Jamie. Despite his many faults he’s such a likeable guy. I also found all the detail on his job in a funeral home morbidly fascinating. It’s an interesting book as while it’s filled with dark humour, it also focuses on addiction and the depths people can go to. Quite eye opening .
But Jamie has something else that keeps him busy - a gambling addiction. He’s kept it secret for years but now Becca wants them to buy a house together he needs to make some money, and fast. What are the odds of a happy ending?
This was quite the riveting read, I couldn’t help but like Jamie. Despite his many faults he’s such a likeable guy. I also found all the detail on his job in a funeral home morbidly fascinating. It’s an interesting book as while it’s filled with dark humour, it also focuses on addiction and the depths people can go to. Quite eye opening .
October 9, 2025
This is a dark comedy with an underlying message of mental health and gambling addiction.
I didn’t enjoy it, but I’m sure many will, and Hutchinson is to be credited in raising awareness of the need for men to open up to someone close, or to a professional.
I just about got through it.. the humour didn’t appeal to me, and the quality of writing isn’t great.
I didn’t enjoy it, but I’m sure many will, and Hutchinson is to be credited in raising awareness of the need for men to open up to someone close, or to a professional.
I just about got through it.. the humour didn’t appeal to me, and the quality of writing isn’t great.
December 29, 2025
What a way to end the year off! This book was very emotional and hit close to home. The true revelation is that there are layers—and I mean LAYERS—to this gambling shit. Here we have Jamie “Fletch” who is planning on getting a house with his girlfriend, Becca, but Jamie is hiding a dark secret that could ruin his life. Simple: he’s a gambler. He goes out to get pints with his good mate, Trick, and afterwords, blows the rest of his money on bets; horse racing bets, car racing bets—you name it! But, what happens when his lies starts to bleed into his everyday life and everything starts to fall apart?
Addiction is hard. It’s a catastrophic, repeated cycle that sucks the life out of everyone around you as well as yourself. It’s a never-ending dopamine rush that leaves you on a high that one can’t even imagine. I have a Jamie in my life that is going through similar circumstances and it’s tearing me apart. I’m like both Becca and Trick; an enabler but also someone who is left in the dark. All of it is so mentally exhausting! However, all of it can stop. The one thing about an addict is that they won’t stop until they are ready to stop. It’s a sad reality, but it’s the truth.
Jamie isn’t a bad person, but he isn’t a good person either. He was so incredibly selfish it angered me. He always emphasized how the betting was for Becca and the house, yet none of his actions exhibited that (and he acknowledged this toward the end of the book). He physically and mentally tortured his loved ones and disregarded all feeling. Reading what he did to Trick put my stomach in a twist! When you love someone who’s an addict, it’s like being around a ticking time bomb that’s ready to explode any minute. Why people stay, it’s inexplainable. Love is complex and when addiction is mixed into it, it’s a whole different ball game.
I didn’t know I needed this book until now. I loved every part of it and I hope people find the beauty in this too.
Addiction is hard. It’s a catastrophic, repeated cycle that sucks the life out of everyone around you as well as yourself. It’s a never-ending dopamine rush that leaves you on a high that one can’t even imagine. I have a Jamie in my life that is going through similar circumstances and it’s tearing me apart. I’m like both Becca and Trick; an enabler but also someone who is left in the dark. All of it is so mentally exhausting! However, all of it can stop. The one thing about an addict is that they won’t stop until they are ready to stop. It’s a sad reality, but it’s the truth.
Jamie isn’t a bad person, but he isn’t a good person either. He was so incredibly selfish it angered me. He always emphasized how the betting was for Becca and the house, yet none of his actions exhibited that (and he acknowledged this toward the end of the book). He physically and mentally tortured his loved ones and disregarded all feeling. Reading what he did to Trick put my stomach in a twist! When you love someone who’s an addict, it’s like being around a ticking time bomb that’s ready to explode any minute. Why people stay, it’s inexplainable. Love is complex and when addiction is mixed into it, it’s a whole different ball game.
I didn’t know I needed this book until now. I loved every part of it and I hope people find the beauty in this too.
August 12, 2025
Meet Jamie Fletcher — embalmer by day, gambling addict all day. This darkly funny and brutally honest debut dives headfirst into addiction, grief, and the grim (yet oddly fascinating) world of a funeral home.
I really liked Jamie — he’s not a bad man at his core, just incredibly flawed. A hardworking soul who clearly has good intentions, but like many addicts, his selfishness, especially towards his girlfriend Rebecca, makes him tough to root for at times. That complexity made him feel real.
His working relationship with Janice, the funeral director, was a gentle contrast to the rest of the chaos in his life. And I found the embalming details both morbid and fascinating, definitely not something you read every day.
Connor doesn’t sugarcoat addiction and what makes Dead Lucky stand out is how different it is. The writing is raw, sharp, and full of dark humour. I loved the ending. It wasn’t ambiguous, but it still leaves you turning it over in your mind, wondering, hoping, imagining what could happen next.
A brilliant, bold debut ⚰️
I really liked Jamie — he’s not a bad man at his core, just incredibly flawed. A hardworking soul who clearly has good intentions, but like many addicts, his selfishness, especially towards his girlfriend Rebecca, makes him tough to root for at times. That complexity made him feel real.
His working relationship with Janice, the funeral director, was a gentle contrast to the rest of the chaos in his life. And I found the embalming details both morbid and fascinating, definitely not something you read every day.
Connor doesn’t sugarcoat addiction and what makes Dead Lucky stand out is how different it is. The writing is raw, sharp, and full of dark humour. I loved the ending. It wasn’t ambiguous, but it still leaves you turning it over in your mind, wondering, hoping, imagining what could happen next.
A brilliant, bold debut ⚰️
July 10, 2025
Jamie is one of those characters that you cannot help like and unlike in equal amounts, whilst feeling sorry for him.
The author has perfectly portrayed a persons spiral in to addiction and the impact that it has on them and others around them.
Jamie is kind and caring, his emotions whilst dealing with his day job show this but then Jamie becomes manipulative, selfish and deceitful, the pub incident completely shocked me.
This shows how addiction can change a person, but there is more to them than just their addition.
A must read.
The author has perfectly portrayed a persons spiral in to addiction and the impact that it has on them and others around them.
Jamie is kind and caring, his emotions whilst dealing with his day job show this but then Jamie becomes manipulative, selfish and deceitful, the pub incident completely shocked me.
This shows how addiction can change a person, but there is more to them than just their addition.
A must read.
Read
March 28, 2025*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review*.
Dead Lucky follows Jamie Fletcher who works as an embalmer at a funeral home in Manchester but he has a gambling addiction which has led to eyewatering debt. His girlfriend Rebecca doesn’t know about his gambling and she wants to buy their first home together so Jamie turns to the bookies and places a bet.
This was a realistic portrait of a gambling addiction and it was annoying to read how reliant Jamie was on gambling even though that’s the whole point of the story. This was easy to read and it felt very realistic to the North of England (where I live and where the book is set). That said I didn’t really enjoy this book, the writing wasn’t for me and some of the dialogue was a bit gross and it just made me feel a bit bleak.
Dead Lucky follows Jamie Fletcher who works as an embalmer at a funeral home in Manchester but he has a gambling addiction which has led to eyewatering debt. His girlfriend Rebecca doesn’t know about his gambling and she wants to buy their first home together so Jamie turns to the bookies and places a bet.
This was a realistic portrait of a gambling addiction and it was annoying to read how reliant Jamie was on gambling even though that’s the whole point of the story. This was easy to read and it felt very realistic to the North of England (where I live and where the book is set). That said I didn’t really enjoy this book, the writing wasn’t for me and some of the dialogue was a bit gross and it just made me feel a bit bleak.
May 16, 2025
Jamie Fletcher likes a flutter. He works all day at a funeral home in Openshaw, Manchester, embalming bodies whilst his phone pings with the latest betting results. You name it, he’ll bet on it.
Dead Lucky is a tragicomedy with a real clear sense of place in Northern England and a very strong narrative voice. We really live the highs, lows, the hopes and the fears of a gambling addict through Jamie’s first person perspective.
Not always an enjoyable read given the subject matter and the destruction Jamie causes in the lives around him, and sometimes ‘place’ feels leaned on a little too heavily.
Nonetheless, a very strong debut novel - funny, often unsettling, fundamentally real.
Thanks to NetGalley and Corsair for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Dead Lucky is a tragicomedy with a real clear sense of place in Northern England and a very strong narrative voice. We really live the highs, lows, the hopes and the fears of a gambling addict through Jamie’s first person perspective.
Not always an enjoyable read given the subject matter and the destruction Jamie causes in the lives around him, and sometimes ‘place’ feels leaned on a little too heavily.
Nonetheless, a very strong debut novel - funny, often unsettling, fundamentally real.
Thanks to NetGalley and Corsair for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
March 19, 2025
Possible spoilers
What a likeable chap Fletcher is, at least until he isn't.
As he falls harder into his addiction and his every action is hurtful, and manipulative and selfish.
Sounds exactly right for an addict.
Besides that, we have hard working Fletcher, who enjoys his job, is good at it, and seems to genuinely care about the people he's laying to rest.
The author really brings home you can be more than just an addict.
Sad, funny and a bit desperate at times, I really enjoyed this one.
What a likeable chap Fletcher is, at least until he isn't.
As he falls harder into his addiction and his every action is hurtful, and manipulative and selfish.
Sounds exactly right for an addict.
Besides that, we have hard working Fletcher, who enjoys his job, is good at it, and seems to genuinely care about the people he's laying to rest.
The author really brings home you can be more than just an addict.
Sad, funny and a bit desperate at times, I really enjoyed this one.
July 22, 2025
thank christ I get sweaty on a $10 multi, a gutting addiction tale and shows just how easy it can fall apart.
November 1, 2025
Sad reality of addiction that left me anxious at times. Also a graphic insight into embalming that was intriguing and also scary!
November 23, 2025
Couldn’t continue with this book. It’s gritty and could be gruesome for some but it was the hopelessness of the gambling addiction that made me decide it was too depressing to finish it.
January 17, 2026
January book club book. Funny book about life, gambling and a funeral home and the ups and downs of life in the North.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews