Grave Expectations

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And with the help of the only obviously not-guilty members of their host family—sexy ex-policeman Sebastian and far-too-cool non-binary teen Alex—they launch an investigation into which of last year's guests never escaped the manor's grounds. Claire can see ghosts from the time her dead friend started making appearances ever since they were teenagers.

At first I thought it was an interesting (but not unique premise) Claire being a young woman whose best friend, Sophie, disappeared at the age of 17 and then reappeared as a spirit.This could be just up your alley if you enjoy the idea of a contemporary take on the country home murder.

If, like me, that specific cultural humour happens to be directed fairly solidly at Your Personal Brand of Existence, you'll probably get along very well with it. In fact, all the deaths in this book are, with the possible exception of Nana's since she helps get the investigation going. There were times when the pacing was a bit variable, though it didn’t overly effect my appreciation of this promising debut.

Given her obsession with crime shows—not to mention Sophie's ability to walk through walls—Claire decides they're the best people to solve the case. Alice Bell has a gift for creating fun characters who bounce off one another in interesting ways (Claire and Sophie; Sophie and Alex), and I generally enjoyed the tone/humour throughout—there were even a couple of spots where she startled an actual laugh out of me, which is rare. A funny, distinctive, constantly clever genre-bending supernatural crime novel' - Bookseller You may also be interested in. Catherine Kirwan A great read, with great characters, lots of humour, some misty-eyed moments and lots of swearing. In fact, Sophie rarely leaves Claire’s side, because she’s been haunting her ever since she was murdered at the age of seventeen.