denouement by death.....

ok, so i put aside the iris murdoch novels because she had a penchant for knocking off a main character about 25 pages from the end....and gosh darn if the book i was encouraged to read.....a failed bookclub pick.....the weight of water by anita shreve.......doesn't have a surprise death about 1 half-inch from the end........do these female authors sign an oath prior to their writing career...the half-inch demise declaration......at least iris clokes her deaths well....one doesn't see who and when...but shreve isn't quite so talented.....and so i am disappointed that i anticipated the plot line......rather than amused/pleased/relieved/affirmed......i still have a stack of books upstairs recommended...i may just move on to don delillo or to some chinese author.....and be totally surprised as to the denouement(s)in question.......