[1] Vesta Gul, a 72-year-old widow, is walking her dog in the woods and finds a note that reads: "Her name was Magda.

Vesta becomes obsessed with discovering who Magda was and the circumstances surrounding her death.

Death in Her Hands was originally scheduled to be published by Penguin Press on April 21, 2020,[2] but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[3] The novel was ultimately published by Penguin Press on June 23, 2020.

"[5] In a mixed review, Publishers Weekly criticized the novel's narrative as being overly unreliable and wrote that the novel "lacks the devious, provocative fun of Moshfegh's other work".