BOOK BLURB
EVEN DEATH NEEDS COMPANY…
The Skelf women are recovering from the cataclysmic events that nearly claimed their lives. Their funeral-director and private- investigation businesses are back on track, and their cases are as perplexing as ever.
Matriarch Dorothy looks into a suspicious fire at a travellers’ site, and takes a grieving, homeless man under her wing. Daughter Jenny is searching for her missing sister-in-law, who disappeared in tragic circumstances, while grand-daughter Hannah is asked to investigate increasingly dangerous conspiracy theorists, who are targeting a retired female astronaut … putting her own life at risk.
With a body lost at sea, funerals for those with no one to mourn them, reports of strange happenings in outer space, a funeral crasher with a painful secret, and a violent attack on one of the family, The Skelfs face their most personal – and perilous – cases yet. Doing things their way may cost them everything…
BOOK REVIEW
The Skelf women are strong, dynamic and close knit yet still they can be vulnerable. Still trying to get over the events of the previous months they go about their business of death and investigation. During one of their many funerals they make friends with a group of travellers as they celebrate the life of the deceased. When tragedy befalls the travellers Dorothy decides that an investigation is needed. Meanwhile Jenny her daughter is off trying to track down her ex sister in law to tell her about a death as well as recovering the body of her ex husband. As if that wasn’t enough Hannah meets a female astronaut and her partner who need some advice following threats and harassment. Life in the Skelf household is never dull, quiet or mundane it is just deadly.
The Skelf women are a fantastic group of characters and ones that are a joy to read about. Within the characters are traits that you the reader can pick out in the females you know. From the caring carefree matriarch who nurtures waif and strays to the granddaughter trying to forge her own path as a newlywed academic. Capturing each nuance between all the characters and weaving in the story different events the book just ran away with me. I was fully invested in the lives and tribulations of all involved in the book. It was fascinating to read about the various methods used instead of a traditional funeral and I suppose as such can open up what could be difficult discussions. The book is filled with tears, laughter, fear, terror , new beginnings and best of all compassion and hope. Compassion for those around you regardless of their situations and the hope that every new day brings.
My thanks to Anne Cater for my tour invite and copy of the book. As always they are my own thoughts and opinions on the book.
STAR RATING 5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Doug Johnstone is the author of sixteen novels, many of which have been bestsellers. The Space Between Us was chosen for BBC Two’s Between the Covers, while Black Hearts and The Big Chill were longlisted for the Theakston Crime Novel of the Year. Three of his books – A Dark Matter, Breakers and The Jump – have been shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize. Doug has taught creative writing or been writer in residence at universities, schools, writing retreats, festivals, prisons and a funeral home. He’s also been an arts journalist for 25 years. He is a songwriter and musician with six albums and three EPs released, and he plays drums for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers. He’s also co-founder of the Scotland Writers Football Club and lives in Edinburgh with his family.
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