A Happy Death (original title La mort heureuse) is a novel by absurdist French writer-philosopher Albert Camus.

The main character in A Happy Death is named "Patrice Mersault", similar to The Stranger's "Meursault"; both are French Algerian clerks who kill another man.

Part 1, titled "Natural death", describes the monotone and empty life of Patrice Mersault with his boring office job and a meaningless relationship with his girlfriend Marthe.

Zagreus implies that his life is a meaningless waste, and so Meursault decides to kill him in order to create his own happiness with the rich man's money.

"At this hour of night, his life seemed so remote to him, he was so solitary and indifferent to everything and to himself as well, that Mersault felt he had at last attained what he was seeking, that the peace which filled him now was born of that patient self-abandonment he had pursued and achieved with the help of this warm world so willing to deny him without anger."