Grave Expectations
The hilarious and gripping bestseling cosy crime debut from Alice Bell
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
A KINDLE TOP 5 BESTSELLER
'Fast, funny and furious, this book has bags of humour, bags of heart and a proper murder mystery at its core' Janice Hallett
Claire and Sophie aren't your typical murder investigators . . .
When 30-something freelance medium Claire Hendricks is invited to an old university friend's country pile to provide entertainment for a family party, her best friend Sophie tags along. In fact, Sophie rarely leaves Claire's side, because she's been haunting her ever since she was murdered at the age of seventeen.
On arrival at The Cloisters it quickly becomes clear that this family is hiding more than just the good china, as Claire learns someone has recently met an untimely end at the house.
Teaming up with the least unbearable members of the Wellington-Forge family - depressive ex-cop Basher and teenage radical Alex - Claire and Sophie determine to figure out not just whodunnit, but who they killed, why and when.
Together they must race against incompetence to find the murderer - before the murderer finds them... in this funny, modern, media-literate mystery for the My Favourite Murder generation.
'Read this fabulous book' Ben Aaronovitch
'A delicious mashup of grisly murder, country house and semi-helpful ghosts' Stuart MacBride
'Fresh, funny and hugely enjoyable' Catherine Ryan Howard
Readers love GRAVE EXPECTATIONS
'Brilliantly funny!' *****
'Witty and smart and just a joy to read' *****
'A genuinely interesting mystery, cosy without being twee' *****
'I laughed out loud throughout and hardly put it down, loads of clever twists' *****
'Loved this book, it's fun and well written. Great new take on the genre.' *****
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bell shines in her sharp, funny debut, a supernatural whodunit centered on medium-for-hire Claire Hendricks. Claire and her best friend, Sophie, are headed to a former monastery in the small English town of Wilbourne Major, where Figgy Wellington-Forge, Claire's university friend, has invited her to entertain the family with her gift. Readers will quickly deduce that Sophie is actually a ghost who serves as Claire's spirit guide and eavesdrops on her marks to provide information that makes her powers seem more impressive. But Figgy's plans to hold a séance as a birthday treat for her grandmother go awry when Nana dies suddenly. Her ghost appears to Claire and Sophie to inform them that, while her death was natural, she's met the ghost of an unknown person inside the house's library who was recently murdered. Claire decides to help solve the mystery, and enlists some of Figgy's more trustworthy kin, while heeding Nana's warning that someone in the family was the killer. The adroit plotting, which cannily plays with mystery tropes, is amply leavened with humor. Fans of the British TV series Randall and Hopkirk will be eager for more adventures from Claire and Sophie.
